The Storm and the Waves

Rain always call me outside the house, and bathing in it, I called out my friend. Wet, we went to the store and bought a bottle of Cali Shandy each. I asked my friend to come with me to the beach.

The storm made the waves much bigger, something that we only see in other countries. It was brownish red with dirt mix in it, and totally fearsome.

My friend was freaking out when I sat on the breakwater. I let the wave clashed to me. Out balanced, I earned a few bruises, and lost one slipper. But I wanna do it again.

“Gago ka Miko, baka may lumulutang na bote dyan,” my friend cautioned me.

I smiled at him, and heed his advice. I walked in the nearby house where the waves still reach the yard. I stood at the back of the gate, held the railings, and braced myself for another huge clash.

I looked at my friend, standing safely nearby, and I grinned, “Try it.”

Encouraged, he stood beside me. And with me, we screamed together for another blast.

And this time, I kept my eyes open, and look to my friend beside me. Around me was the brownish red water and bubbles abound. My friend’s eyes tightly shut, our whole body shivering, and after that wave, he looked at me, smiled, “Thank you”

I said, smiling, “Shut up, here comes another one.”

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I went home that day, with my white shirt hued to brownish red, with a few bruises, with one missing slipper,

but most of all, with my friend’s grateful smile permanently etched in my memory.