ONE SHOT STORIES COMPILATION

11. YOUR LOVE IS SO UNREAL

Naalala mo ba nung unang magkakilala tayo? Hindi ko akalain na ituturing kitang mundo ko—ang bubuo sa kahungkagan ng pagkatao ko. Every laugh, every smile, every word you said lit up my world. I was hopelessly in love, wrapped in the warmth of your arms, believing that we would never change.

But we did.

Unti-unti biglang nagbago ang lahat, your touch became colder. Madalas hindi mo na ako kinikibo na para bang hangin na lang ako sa paningin mo. Nagising na lang ako isang araw na wala na ’yong dating lalaki na minahal ko, ikaw pa rin ’yan ngunit bakit para kang isang estranghero? You stopped looking at me the way you used to—with love, with tenderness, with that glimmer that made me feel like I was the center of your universe.

I tried to pretend everything was fine, tried to convince myself that the silence wasn’t suffocating me. Pero ang bigat, ang sakit sa dibdib. Habang ang araw-araw ay lumilipas, palayo ka nang palayo sa akin... and I couldn’t hold on. Nagmakaawa ako, ibinigay ko ang lahat para bumalik tayo sa dati, pero ang tigas ng puso mo. You were still here, but I felt more alone than I ever had.

One night, I asked you, “Do you still love me?”

You didn’t answer.

Tears streamed down my face as I lay beside you, listening to the sound of your heart. The life we once had slipping through my fingers. Gusto kitang kamuhian dahil sa sobrang sakit, for leaving me even though you were right there, but all I felt was emptiness.

And so, I let go.

I packed my things. I looked at you one last time, hoping for something, anything that would make me stay. But you remained silent, lost in a world I could no longer reach.

Pero isang bagay ang hindi ko alam—one thing I couldn’t have known...

Habang inililigpit ko ang mga gamit ko, I saw your favorite photo of us—our smiles wide, our arms around each other, that perfect day at the beach. I picked it up, staring at it for a long time. Mayroong kakaiba. Ang iyong mukha, ang iyong ngiti… I looked closer. The more I stared, the more your features seemed to blur.

Ikinurap ko ang aking mga mata, naguguluhan ako. I rushed to grab my phone to call you, but when I scrolled through my contacts—your name wasn’t there. I checked our messages—nothing. I searched through my phone for photos, for any trace of you, and found nothing but a void.

Then, I found my old diary... flipping through the pages, searching for your name, for any detail of our life together.

Ngunit wala talaga.

No memories. No notes. Nothing. My hands shook as I realized… you weren’t real. You never were.

Ang isip ko at ang kalungkutan ko ang gumawa sa ’yo. Bawat detalye, bawat kaganapan, I had fabricated an entire relationship, filling the emptiness in my life with you, a figment of my imagination. All the love, the joy, the heartbreak—it was all inside my head.

And now, even the illusion of you was fading.

As I stood in our—no, my room, the weight of the truth crushed me. You never grew cold. You never changed.

’Cause you never existed. I forgot that I'm a writer, capable of creating the perfect character in my head.