The afternoon sky appeared bright on that day. The sun’s gleaming radiance entering my room through the gaps of the closed window blinds was more brilliant than it had ever been. My spirits were high and my heart was beating quickly. I could not wait any longer for the moon to come and dominate the heavens. I could still remember how long we did not see each other. For six days, I longed for him. I longed for the saccharine smile on his face. I longed for his caresses in the cold nights in the middle of the fields. I longed for his undying care and compassion for me. I longed for him. And on that very day, I was happy to know that he finally returned. He finally received my message hidden under our favorite chocolate cake. I could not explain the excitement that seemed to want to burst out of my heart. I could feel happiness slowly taking over my whole self. And yet part of me could not help but worry. Part of me could not stop thinking that someone had probably spotted him and brought him to the authorities for the murder he was accused of while he was away. I knew he was innocent. I knew he did not perpetrate that obnoxious misdemeanor. He loved even though I was nothing but a pathetic loser. He loved me with all his heart. He was willing to sacrifice everything he had just for my sake. His heart was too pure for such a vile crime that was being blamed on him.

It all began on that seemingly average autumn sunset, two days after he went away for his journey. Just like most of my days, I was there, sitting quietly inside my room, looking at the outside panorama through the gaps of the wooden blinds. I was there, staring blankly at the rich golden foliages of the trees around our town. The sun was slowly setting and the night would soon begin. Suddenly, my eyes caught a group of black birds fluttering around in circles in the sky. It had been a long time since I saw a black bird in our town. I remembered what my mother told me when I was a little girl. She told me that before my father perished, she saw a group of black birds resting on a branch of one of the trees in front of our house. And because of that tale, I had always pictured black birds as a premonition of misfortunate events. As I saw the feathered creatures soaring in the atmosphere, I could feel my hair stand on the end. I could discern that something bad was going to happen. Just then, I heard a disturbing commotion from below. I stood up from my sitting position and peeked down at the ground. The villagers were there, in front of Henry’s house, and they seemed to be buzzing over something sensational. Curiosity confronted me. I wanted to go down the stairs, go outside, and know what was going on. But my fate had forbidden me to do so. A few minutes after, I saw the council slowly arriving to the tumult.

I was startled when my mother barged into my room. An alarming expression of terror was painted on her pale face. She was there, looking at me with her horrified eyes, and she seemed to be trying to tell me something. She hastily ran to the window of my room and pulled me away from it. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but I couldn’t find the right words to come out of my mouth. She was holding my right arm tight, dragging me away from the window and to the other edge of the room. “Don’t go near the window,” my mother told me in her trembling voice. “There are many people outside. Someone might see you.” As her cold hand held mine tight, I could sense the shock that dominated her whole body. The black birds – I knew they brought nothing but disaster. I knew that they would bring misfortune to the town. After finally gathering up enough courage in my heart, I slowly asked my mother about what happened. And as I as interrogated her, I could feel the strong pulses in her wrist.

“Mother, what happened outside? What was the commotion all about? Why is the council here? What are they buzzing at?” I couldn’t control myself asking that barrage of questions that wanted to burst out of my mind for quite some time.

“Somebody… someone… a man… a man was killed!” my mother said while grasping for breath. In her ailing condition, it was really difficult for her to figure out about such horrible things. I placed my hand at her back and gently moved it up and down and comfort her of her shock. It was the first instance I heard about someone who was murdered in our town.

“He’s dead… he’s dead!” my mother cried. “Miguel is dead!”

I was flabbergasted. I knew him. My mother told me a lot about him. Miguel Corrino – he was an industrious merchant in a distant village. He would always come to our town once in a while to check on his beloved nephew Henry. I often saw him outside talking to my mother, and they seemed to get along well together. They’re close friends, after all. Although my mother never admitted about it, I could see the he liked my mother. Who would not be attracted to her? She may be pale and frail, but she was not yet that old and she was beautiful. I could still vividly remember one crisp afternoon when I saw Miguel give my mother a pure, white flower which she accepted with a smile on her lips.

“Rosa!” a sharp call of a woman was heard from downstairs. She was trying to get the attention of my mother. “Rosa, are you there?” I heard her footsteps as she stepped in our house to see if my mother was there. Quickly, my mother stood up and signaled me to keep quiet as she went out my room and closed the door tight. I got on my hard, uncomfortable rattan bed and squeezed myself into the corner, afraid and worried about what would happen. Still I could not fully believe that Miguel is dead. Still, I couldn’t fully accept that the death finally claimed his soul. I could not imagine what kind of person would murder such a kindhearted, hardworking commoner who happened to be one of my mother’s closest friends. Even though I was never able to meet him and talk to him, I could feel that he was one of the best people that ever existed. Yes, I knew that it was quite exaggerated to say that to someone I had never conversed with, but I knew that if mother likes someone, I would also like that person. As soon as I heard my mother and the woman who called her go out of the house, I got tempted to look through the gaps of the wooden blinds once more. I stood up from bed and slowly walked towards the window in spite of my mother’s warnings.

And the next thing I knew, he was considered as the prime suspect in the morbid crime. Even after several days, I still couldn’t understand how they came up with that idea. I didn’t know what made them think that he was the one who committed that misdeed. The most reasonable explanation I could think of was that it was because he suddenly disappeared in the town. Yes, that was probably the reason. But they were wrong. I knew with all my heart and mind that his soul was too pure to even think of murdering a fellow man. I knew him and I knew him well. He would never do such thing. I swear to the heavens that he was not the culprit they were looking for. But alas, there was really nothing I could do. I was always useless as long as I could remember. I could not do anything but sit in my room all day and watch all of those misfortunate events. I wanted to tell the truth. I wanted to tell the council how he was too good to commit such crime. I wanted to tell them that he was not in town because he was doing me a big favor, and not because he was trying to escape from his sins. It was my entire fault. Everything was my fault. If he did not go away to sacrifice everything for me, he wouldn’t have been accused of that wrongdoing. It was my entire fault. I was the reason for everything. I hated myself so much. As I continued to gaze at the afternoon sun, I suddenly noticed that it was not so bright after all. A teardrop slowly fell on my right cheek.

I tried to comfort myself. I told myself that I should not worry. I should try my best to put all of my anxiousness in one big ball of air and release it to the atmosphere. Only a few hours remain, and we would finally meet. I knew that when the moon rises and governs the sky, we would finally see each other again. When night comes, we would finally be together again. At last, we would get the chance to talk to each other under the evening skies in the middle of the auburn fields. Then we could face the problem together. He was the only one who could give me strength and encourage me to live a life of courage despite the kind of living destiny had chosen for me. I closed my eyes and pictured his sweet face once more. And that imagery I had formed in my thoughts made me long for him more.

Night had finally come. Once again, I could hear the sound of the crickets from the outside. My room had once again been eaten up by the dark shadows. The town was once again at its tranquil state, with only the branches of the trees slowly moving with the evening wind. The chocolate cake my mother baked for that night was already on the table; she had given it to me just a few minutes earlier. Everything was perfect. The time had finally come. I would finally see him again. Once again, I slowly sneaked out of my room and closed the wooden door as softly as possible. My whole body was cold and it was shivering out of anticipation. When I saw that my mother was already fast asleep in her room, I once again escaped and walked out of our house. I looked around me. It was night. It was the time of my freedom. It was my time. Once again, I dashed through the roads of the town, feeling the cold chill on the wind touch my whole body. As I ran, I could not help but think about him. We had not seen each other for six days, but I felt like I missed him for six years. I wondered how he looked like. I wondered what he would first say to me. I wondered if he succeeded on his journey. I could not feel my feet on the ground anymore. It seemed like I was gliding through the autumn air, flying to my destination – the fields where it all began.

At last, after sprinting for what seemed to be like five hours, I was stepping on the extensive fields, near the lone Acacia tree in the middle of the auburn weeds and the moon high above the sky. But he was nowhere in sight. I started to worry. What if he didn’t see my message? What if he returned to town and was captured by the council? I looked all around me but I couldn’t see him. Just then, someone approached from behind. At first glance, I thought I finally found what I was looking for, but it wasn’t him. It was him – the guy whom I met in that stormy night at that very same place.

“Hey…” he said. “It’s me again…” I knew I was not ought to talk to strangers like him. That was what my destiny was. But I was confronted by guilt. I knew that my running away from him on that drizzly evening hurt his feelings. And I knew I must apologize to him.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s you…” he seemed to be ashamed to talk to me.

“I… I just wanted to apologize for the other night.”

“I’m Neil. What’s your name?” he offered his hands to make a handshake with me.

“I waited for you here last night. Where were you?”

“Oh. I came late because I fell asleep.”

“I see. What are you doing here everyday anyway?”

“How did you know I am here everyday?” he looked stunned at what I said. “Umm… I’m here because I am waiting for someone to come and meet me.”

“Well… err… I have a confession to make.”

“I got the message in your cake which I think isn’t for me,” he said. “But please don’t get mad. I really didn’t know that it was for someone else.”

My hopes seemed like it shattered to a million pieces. For many hours, I anticipated that one precious moment that we would finally meet again after those six painful days without him. But it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. I couldn’t control myself. Tears fell down from my eyes and cried of the loneliness that had been with me throughout my whole existence. Destiny had been so cruel. I was nothing but a loser. I was nothing but a big pitiable loser. I wanted to run away. I wanted to run away from the fields and free myself from the chains that had kept be bounded for many years. But it was too late to escape when I found myself crying on Neil’s shoulder. His left arm was at my back, comforting me. For some reason, I felt some kind of warmth as he tried to relieve me of my sorrow.

“Promise me that you’ll always be here at night,” Neil said.

“Yes,” those words just came out of my mouth.

“I know you would keep your promise. The moon is watching.”

Next chapter to be published next week…