Summer Medicine

Pat's POV I just finished talking to my mom on the phone. As usual, she's worried not because I'm in danger or something but because I'm far away from home. "Room 04?" The front lady asked when she saw me. "Yes, 04." I answered then she gave me a key and sticky notes that come in different colors. "Enjoy your stay." She smiled. "Um, what is this for?" I asked, pointing at the sticky notes. "Oh, my bad, I forgot to explain. That is for that room." She pointed to the room that was not very far from us. It looks just like a simple room; a white room with a brown door. "Do you want to go inside?" She asked. "Sure." I answered and smiled. The lady started walking towards the room habang ako naman ay nililibot ang tingin sa paligid as I follow her. "Get inside. Just take your heels off first." "Oh, yeah." Just like what she said, tinanggal ko ang heels na suot ko at pumasok sa loob. Kung gaano kasimple sa labas ay gano'n naman kaganda sa loob. There's fairy light, candles, comfy looking bed and books. Just like the room I ever wanted. I also noticed the huge cork board on the wall, I bet the sticky notes goes on that board. "What do you think about the room? Ms..." The lady asked, smiling. "Oh, Pat." "Yeah, I know. I read your files. I'm Emma Urbano." She chuckled. I know it's bad to assume someone's age, but she looks just my age. "Nice to meet you. The room is pretty. It's like my ideal room. Um, the board..." "Oh yeah, that one." Naglakad siya palapit sa napakalaking cork board at sumunod nanaman ako sa kanya. There's only seven sticky notes, napaka-unti para sa napakalaking board. "Every day, you can go here and write on that pretty sticky note what made you happy today, and then you will stick it here." Pagpapaliwanag niya sa akin. "Bakit ang unti lang ng mga nakalagay? Few guest?" I asked. "Nah, they just don't want to do it." "Hmm." "It's fine if you also don't want to. It's not required to do that." I looked at the seven notes at binasa yun. May date na nakalagay at yung iba dun ay nakaraan pa, mukhang bihira lang talaga may pumasok sa kwartong ito. "The rain." "A stranger smiled at me." "I called my cat today." "I just finished the book I was reading." "Cookies." "This new song I listened to, I love it." "Ang ganda ng ulap." Yan lang ang mga nakasulat sa sticky notes na nakadikit sa board. "A stranger smiled at me" is my favorite. "Should I show you your room?" Emma asked. "Yeah." Lumabas kami ng room nang may biglang tumawag sa kanya. "Hello? Oh, I'm touring someone right now. Is it that urgent? Oh, shoot. Okay, I'm coming." She said then the call ended. "Pat, I'm sorry may emergency eh." "No yeah, it's fine. I can go alone. I have my little map here." The place is huge, so a map is necessary. "You sure you're okay?" Tanong niya pa at nakangiting tumango lang ako. "Okay, thank you. I'm sorry again." She said while running away, and I just waved at her. Dala-dala ang maleta ko ay naglakad ako papunta sa room ko. I'm not sure where it is but I'm confident that I can find it. The place is pretty big pero hindi naman nakakaligaw. Nasira ang gulong ng maleta ko kanina so I have to carry it. Kanina lang nasira nung nasa medyo batuhan. Hindi kasi semento yung parking lot nila kundi mga pebbles. Pasira na rin kasi talaga yung maleta ko kaya natuluyan na kanina. Even though I'm struggling, I still managed to get to my room nang hindi naliligaw o nagtatanong sa iba. Kinuha ko yung susi na binigay sa akin ni Emma kanina. Bago ko lang napansin na may maliit pala na-tag yung susi saying "happiness". I smiled bitterly and opened the door. Hinila ko papasok ang maleta ko at agad na umupo sa sofa. I sighed deeply. I looked around the house, and it's pretty nice. Minimal lang, and it smells and looks super clean. The house is not big, talagang for one person only. There's a small kitchen space, a bed, a table, and a sofa. "I'm finally here." I whispered to myself. I am at a forest house camp. I found this place on the internet. They said it's a place for healing at summer break naman namin kaya pumunta na ako. I looked out of the window and I saw a lot of trees and a pathway to somewhere. I took my phone from my bag and took a picture of the view outside my window. I was surprised nung malaman kong phone is allowed here because it is not allowed in most places like this. Muli akong tumitig sa labas then I decided to go out. Hindi ko matiis yung napakagandang view, iniwan ko yung phone ko sa kama at lumabas. Naglakad-lakad ako habang nililibot ko ang tingin ko sa paligid. It's windy and quite, not in a creepy way but in a beautiful and relaxing way. Not very far from my room, I sat down on the grass and looked at the trees. I like staring at trees because whenever I do, I remember good memories from the past even though there are only a few. "Hi." "Oh gosh!" Halos mapatayo ako sa pagkakaupo ko nang may isang lalakeng nagsalita mula sa likod. Nilingon ko kung sino and I saw a stranger smiling at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He said. "Um, yeah, it's fine." Not really. Para akong babawian ng buhay sa gulat, sobrang magugulatin kasi ako. Just a random noise and my heart would stop for a second. "Can I sit beside you?" He said and I slowly nodded. I'm not sure if I want company. I'm not comfortable with new people close to me. "You like staring at trees?" He asked. "Yeah." "Why?" Tanong niya ulit. "It's beautiful." I answered. The wind got stronger and colder. Hindi na siya ulit nagsalita and it feels a little bit awkward, so I decided to ask him too. "Do you like staring at trees?" Pagbabalik ko ng tanong niya kanina sa akin. "Absolutely, it's like an escape." "Yeah." I agreed. "Trees doesn't give me migraine no matter how long I stare at them, unlike my phone." He added. "I totally agree." I looked at him and he's just looking at the trees. He's tall and moreno with sharp facial features. I can say that he's attractive, but for some reason, he looks... deep. "Malabo mata mo?" Tanong niya at tinuro ang salaming suot ko. "Oh no, it's just anti-radiation glasses." I said as I removed my glasses. I forgot to take them off. "Why? Do you always use your phone?" He asked. "Yes, I'm a writer." I actually use my laptop more than my phone. "Really? You're the first writer I've ever met." "That's an honor." I smiled and he chuckled. "What kind of things do you write?" "Romance novels and poetry." I write for living. I still live in my parent's house, but I spend my money on my stuff. I guess you can say that I'm independent. "Matagal ka nang pumupunta dito?" Tanong ko. Mukha siyang masiyahin for this place. Well, depression, loneliness, and other stuff can be confusing because it doesn't have a face, but he looks like he's full of happiness for some reason. I can't tell specifically why but he is. "Since June." Sagot niya. "2 months ago?" I asked and he just smiled at me. "You're new here, right?" "Yes, it's my first time." I will be here for a month katulad ng karamihan na nandito. Yun na kasi yung pinakamahabang pwedeng stay dito. "Welcome." "Thank you." I smiled. "You look young." He said. I get that a lot. People keep telling me that I look like a high school student. "I'm young. I'm still a student." "Oh, sorry, I see. How old are you? If it's okay to ask." "I'm 21, but I feel like I'm 25." It scares me, that feeling. I always feel like I'm running out of time. I'm obsessed with time. "I feel like 25 too." "Really? How old are you?" "I'm 25." We both chuckled. "Baliw." I said. "How does it feel?" I asked. "What?" "To be 25." "Um... pretty normal?" "You're not sure?" "It's better than being 20." He answered. "Really? Why?" "People don't treat you like an adult at 20. They will treat you like a real adult when you're 25." Yeah, I get that. Some older people still call me "ga" or "neng". I don't know if it's because I look younger than my actual age, but it's okay, and I don't mind. I guess looking young is both a curse and a blessing. "That's cool." "Yeah." "I'm afraid of getting older." I said with a deep sigh. "Why?" "I don't know. I don't like changes, in general, I'm afraid of it. It scares me." "Yeah, I understand. I've been there." He's 25 and I'm 21, so he surely experienced things that I am just about to experience. "How do you cope with it?" "I haven't." "Oh." I should stop assuming things. I don't want to offend him. "But I realized one thing." "What is it?" I asked. "It's not that I'm afraid to change. It's because I'm afraid to change not being happy." "Hmm?" "It's like getting older every day, but you're not happy. You're getting old, but you don't feel like you're doing any progress in life. You feel stuck." Like you're just simply existing and not really living. "They say we can't control time, so live a happy life and don't be stressed about something you can't control... sounds easy." I added. "But it's not." He said. "I think you're really a deep person." I said to him. "Everyone is." "You think so?" "Yes, look at you. You look like a deep person too. Full of mystery." He said and I laughed. "Really, huh?" "Yup." "Is that a compliment?" "Yes, of course." He smiled. "Okay, if you say so." Biglang may tumunog na nanggagaling sa bulsa niya. It's his phone, he looked at it and typed something. "Um sorry, kailangan ko na munang umalis. See you later Ms..." "Pat." I said. "Pat, okay. I'm Max." "See you later Max." He waved at me and then left. I looked at him walked away and smiled. It was nice to talk to someone on my first day here. It feels like a good start. Maya-maya pa ay tumayo na rin ako at bumalik sa house 04 para magligpit na ng gamit ko. I put my comfy clothes in a small drawer while I hang my dresses on the other side of the drawer. I brought dresses just in case kailanganin. I almost bring our house here. Next, I entered the bathroom at inilagay ng maayos ang mga gamit ko dun. I lay on the bed after organizing my stuff. I looked at the ceiling and started to think. I don't know what will happen to me here for the whole month of August. Mamayang gabi raw ay may bonfire with other people after dinner. I think they made it so we can engage with other people. I'm not comfortable talking when there are a lot of people listening to me, so I'm a little nervous about it. I hope my stay here can really heal me somehow. I am still hoping. I don't want to go yet.