Chapter 41
There is a profound silence in the room. No one dared to speak a word-only the dripping of water from the bathroom across the department can be heard.
It is now clear in their minds that Miss Lisha is now pissed off.
"Speak, now." Lisha came back to her monobloc chair and tried to listen to their explanations, but Aaron seemed to be the only one who had the guts to speak to Lisha, whose head is twirling with different emotions.
"We knew who you are when we saw you the first time. All of us are interns here before the company hired us, right? It is more of what we have observed when we saw you, not totally gut instinct, as I remember." Aaron stated.
Lisha pondered for a second, rubbing her chin, thinking things deeply.
"Okay, then, what are you trying to say, Aaron? Get straight to the point, this discussion is being lengthy. Just answer my single question, and this issue is all done." Lisha grumbled, like a lion out of patie
Chapter 42She walked towards the second bedside table located nearer the VIP room door, opening a huge basket containing a bunch of flowers and a big vase. She opened her handbag and got some tissue wipes from it, and wiped the vase with tissue wipes to clean off some remaining dust from it.An elegant woman, in her middle fifties, graced the plain room of Tanashiri. She began taking out some meals from the meal basket she left at the entrance door and opened the meal containers. She also has some fragrant flowers packed into bouquets."You brought this all by yourself? Why did you not call someone to help you with all these errands?""I heard these flowers I bought are good for comatose patients. Experts say that the smell of the pollens of these flowers stimulates the nervous system of comatose patients that helps them regain their consciousness easily. I will visit our son every day to bring him newly-harvested flowers of this kind."
Chapter 43That day, she is not that usual cheerful and smiley face pretty girl in town everyone knows.The place has an eerie atmosphere. It is a weird place for her, with silent murmurs everywhere. The longer she stays in that place, the more agonizing it is for her. She wants to cry her eyes out, she is really terrified.Some people there have grim facial expressions, and most of them aren't speaking a single word. More or so, for her, they look like zombies. Pale in color and blank in expressions.From observing afar, intently, you can say and have a wild guess that the customers in this hospital are couples.All of the customers are paired evenly: every girl and woman has a boy and man sitting beside them, respectively.It has been more than almost thirty minutes that she is sitting there in a comfortable set of benches made of combined aluminum and stainless steel, and the metals, therefore, are contributing to the cold atmosphere feel
Clarita is shocked, unable to react to what had happened.It is the first time Paciano scolded her.Yeah, everyone in the school, both the school staffs and students know his hot temper, he is easily angered, even at minor things. He is known to talk back to their school teachers, and punch other students whenever he likes.She thought that she would never experience that kind of treatment from her boyfriend. She thought that she is special, and would treat her differently from others.In front of everyone at that."Why are you shouting at me? What-what did I do?" Clarita asked her boyfriend.Paciano suddenly grabbed Clarita's arms which are burnt. He inspected her arm. It is now turning red."You should have been more careful. You brought this upon yourself," Paciano said, in a defensive tone.She is now fuming-irritated at Paciano for being inconsiderate."Excuse me, you are the one who bumped into me when we got
Excuse me, Mister. If I may ask, why are you so eager about this?The doctor is still not finished sorting and finding other necessary documents for the medical procedure.He wants to get a hold of some papers to be signed for the procedure."I have a good future ahead of me," Paciano responded flatly.Is it only you that have a good future ahead of you?No. I cannot have my plans not put into action. I cannot afford to have a hard stumble this time on my path, I had so much hardship in my life and I put so much stake in the past to achieve my dreams. I must put my dreams and priorities first. I should not be weak-hearted. If I will be emotional and illogical, I won't achieve my dreams and aspirations in life at the right time."Hmmm. Alright. So I understand that you guys talked about this before going to me?"The FIRST SUMMER OLYMPICS in town will be held today, the day Paciano and Clarita skipped school. A long li
A shattering loud sound piercing the ears was heard in the hospital ward. It came from Tanashiri's VIP hospital room.Paciano and Clarita is inside, and they are having a commotion."What is that sound?" the head doctor who is busily engrossed in his medical records, headed out of his office, just meters away from the group of nurses that grouped themselves as they heard the sound, and asked the nurses sitting in the nurses' station.One of the older nurses made a sign for a nursing intern to get some news, and she ran towards the room to have some clue of what is happening. She stopped outside the room, tiptoed to reach the window to caught a glimpse of what is happening inside.There is Mrs. Clarita, holding a broken vase in her hand, and she is bleeding continuously.On the other hand, Mr. Paciano had a big slash wound in her face that could be a permanent scar if not attended as soon as possible.The nursing intern came back to her senio
"Where did we go wrong, Clarita? Everything was so perfect. What happened?" She walked gracefull towards the bathroom, almost tiptoeing, to get some squeky clean towels. Her footsteps cannot be heard, even if she is wearing some heels. It is wide open, and the door entrance to the bathroom is not narrow, so she just easily entered inside. She regained her composure again after the violent commotion that happened between her and Paciano a while ago, so her usual self is shown again, like who she is, really, usually, as is seen and known by everyone-a flawlessly groomed woman, a refined and delicate daughter of a rich family famous in town. She did not answer his question, but did continue what she is doing inside the bathroom while humming in the tune of some Beethoven piece that is her favorite. She has some talent in arts, in singing, and is very fond of music. She is sorting the soft towels based on their colors and sizes, and got the softest towels in her
"All these years, I thought everything is near to perfection, except for my father's abuse and cheating and my mother leaving us unexpectedly, without even saying a word. I got money, unlimited access to all ladies I want, and gourmet foods. Everything that my father said about my mother is really a lie; I should have listened to her cryptic words all along."They are sitting by the sand, surrounded by tall palm and coconut trees, as they watch the cargos being unloaded in the port by both the Chinese and Jewish workers alike; their sweats falling down to each cargo.They are sweating profusely even if the weather is calm and cool. Others are near to fainting, with the exhaustion and dehydration they are experiencing, but cannot afford to succumb to the needs of their physical bodies to lie lifeless in the hardwood constructed by the port.They are in a ceasefire now, as they are drained by them talking to themselves, nagging each other for days now, on how they
你叫什么(麼)名字? Jouri is still trembling from the cold. It is now spring in Shanghai, but the climate is still cool and she is just feeling uncomfortable, as she is not used to the climate in this place. She likes both cold and warm temperatures, but she is still used to that temperature in Warsaw. Cold, wet winters. She loves to play snowball and make snow statues with her young siblings. But sometimes, she got bored of it that she just did it as a routine to entertain her siblings and keep them from destroying the furniture inside their house and throwing some nasty tantrums. The things that she took for granted are all gone. If only I had cherished it a little more, I would not have bitter feelings now towards them. The wind here is dry and cold, it almost makes her lips chapped and bleed a little. But she is still grateful that some stranger offered her some food, and that gave warmth to her. She is tired from eating wild unseasoned raw rootcrops that it made her puke. It warm
Tanashiri woke up with a throbbing headache, with my father and mother sleeping beside me. They are seated close to each other. They seemed to have reconciled. I am in the hospital again after fainting. I fainted after seeing that girl on the train. Tanashiri headed toward the bus stop, all by myself, and boarded the bus. Thankfully, the bus conductor helped him carry his things and put them in the designated area of the bus. He sat in the remaining empty seat on the bus. He cannot drive his car because he still cannot move normally his limbs after his deep coma. He left his mother and father, still dozing off near his hospital bed. They have a lot of talking to do, so I must leave them by themselves. I know they are exhausted from watching me all night, all year that I have been in a coma. I wonder how my Q-boy's doing. Tanashiri took some pills and fell asleep again. This time, he did not have any dreams. It is just a pitch-black type of sleep, but not a deep sleep though.
I felt a warm wind gushing to my face, and I woke up, smiling.Yes, I woke up, in an unfamiliar place.I tried to move my legs, but I cannot. I tried to lift my arms, but when I did, I saw that I am on an intravenous drip. These intravenous connections are burdensome, I have got so much work to do in the office. I turned my head to the left, and there is my best friend, Lisha. Thank God she was in my life. My person and her name mean goodness, reality, and joy), and this creature is sleeping. She may be sensed my sudden movements, and she was awoken by my grunts."Oh, you are already awake, I thought you are going to meet the Lord, I guess it is not yet your time," Lisha laughed.Hiraya tried to remove the pins and needles inserted in her arm and hands. Lisha frowned, but still acted cutesy toward her friend.Nope. I am still sleeping. This all feels like a dream, and I know you also feel that, don't you?"Ouch! That shit hurts! You pinched me! Stop!"Lisha put down her handbag from
It is an early Monday morning, and there’s an aching sensation in my chest. Why is my life this way? It is been months and I dream of that man every time I fell asleep who looks like me. I should be scared because he looks like me, but I am not. Seeing him makes me feel at ease, and makes me want to talk to him some more. But when I try speaking to him in my dreams, I just wake up, not blurting even a single word to him. It is frustrating. It's been months since she, and Lisha left China without a word to their superiors. A handful of incident reports are made by the two to explain why they left the group.“Hiraya, wake up! Hearing my name is very disappointing. It is not like any other common Filipino name. Having that name makes me an easy target for bullies in school. My mother is a Filipino language teacher. She adores the Filipino language very much. My name means the product of a person’s faith, ideas, and goals. Sometimes I get thanks to her for naming me Hiraya, because I usu
"God, please listen to my cries. I learned this language because I think I will be nearer to you when I use this. I seldom talk to you, but this time, I will try. I am a normal boy. I have all the material things, but I still feel that something is missing. It was like that until I met Jouri. God, you know that I love her, don’t you? But we met at the worst times. Why did it come to this? How?"Why does this feel nostalgic for me?"I want to say bitter words to you, but it will be of no use. Maybe because I acknowledged you too late. I met Jouri too late. I am just thankful that you let me meet her. I feel so privileged to meet a woman like her.""גאָט, ביטע הערן צו מיין געשריי. איך געלערנט דעם שפּראַך ווייַל איך טראַכטן איך וועט זיין נירער צו איר ווען איך נוצן דעם. איך רעדן זעלטן צו דיר, אָבער דאָס מאָל איך וועל פּרובירן. איך בין אַ נאָרמאַל יינגל. איך האָבן אַלע די מאַטעריאַל טינגז, אָבער איך נאָך פילן אַז עפּעס פעלן. עס איז געווען ניט ביז איך באגעגנט דזשורי. גאָט, איר וויסן אַז איך
"I need to get to her, fast, or else, everything I did will be in vain," Qiu spoke to himself.Tanashiri is playing with the knotted strings with his bare hands which are now full of blood.He is now considering escape, for his well-being.After all, he is physically fully healed, and his spiritual existence roaming the times is just the problem. Once he came back to his world, everything will be back in its original state. He, being the new CEO of the company, and his family, now, will be at peace with each other.He will change his ways.But he cannot afford to leave his friend, and his curiosity is getting the best of him and his decisions.He is curious about the order of things in the past.Qiu, Li Jhie, and Li Jingjing are still running along the streets of Kaifeng. Understandably, anarchy is still everywhere.They ran until they are out of breath, and out of tears.Tanashiri sees a live BDSM he always watches in Manila, except that he is not watching it from the internet. Every
"Where is Jouri?"He woke up and searched around. They are in a big rundown hut, with the roofs decaying and snow running down from the ceiling.Jouri is not around. Everyone, men and women, young and old, are lining up to get some food from the soldiers.Scraps."Sir Qiu, get your ass moving around, time is fast ticking, we should get out of here fast," Tanashiri's voice is shaking inside his head.Tanashiri is scared out of his wits.He wants to leave, and knows the way, but does not want to leave his pal."Ano ba itong napuntahan ko, what an unlucky life," ani Tanishiri.Qiu gave him the chance to get out, but he did not heed his advice.Their own heads are in turmoil right now.He continued to walk with his feet and knees beaten up, and certainly, he knows the place.He looked left and right, and he calmed down a bit when he saw two people. Li Jingjing and Li JhieA usual scene of people scrambling for food and place to stay. Everything is in chaos. Noises of people crying, shou
The streets are in chaos. Everybody is shouting, the Japanese soldiers are searching every area, especially households and stores. Upon walking outside every area they searched, they are holding papers. Land titles. The vehicle is still full of people, disarray, when Jouri and Qiu looked at each other,unexpectedly. They seemed to read each other's minds. Qiu looked away, and searched for an opening. He saw that there is an empty seat at the back of the vehicle. A man had a heart attack minutes ago, and he was pushed out of the bus by one of the passengers. Qiu suddenly kicked his way out of the first row, and caught hold of Jouri's hand. 跳! Qiu and Jouri jumped from the vehicle. They tripped themselves all the way across the street. They are now safe. It is kinda silent in that area. Or they thought it was. They are now sitting on a cold brick, hiding themselves from the chaos. They are both breathing heavily, but Jouri's breathing is more frantic. And audible. Qiu put hi
A boom can be heard from a distance."Run! Run everyone! The protective walls and gates have fallen!"Everyone ran in different directions, except the four. Why did I jump in time? My time spent here is not enough! I want to change everything!Bombs continued to destroy the town meters away from them, and jets started covering the skies above them."Li Jhie, take Lady Jinging to a safer place! Fast!"Li Jhie ran near Li Jingjing's carriage seat and lend her a hand to get off the carriage.She cannot run fast because of her heavy dress."Take off your head ornaments and shoes, My Lady," Li Jhie said, softly.She took off her ornaments and shoes, then, quickly, he piggybacked her."Hold tight me tighter."Li Jhie carried Li Jingjing on his back.Meanwhile, Jouri is still standing, alone, at the entrance of the alleyway.What the hell is this woman doing?Qiu dragged her out of the alleyway.What are you trying to do, boy?A bus was passing by and it was filled with passengers, and a s
I am not adopted. I am a real member of the family, my family that was left behind on Poland soil. All her life, Jouri thought she is just adopted because she does not look Jewish. Because of it, the neighborhood, and her schoolmates, mocked her, and her appearance. "Your grandmother is Chinese, and she tried her luck in Poland. There, she met your grandfather, who is a Jewish businessman. You look like Chinese, unlike your siblings, because your grandmother's genes are more dominant in you," the frail-looking rabbi told her. She ran out of the restaurant as fast as she could, far, far away into the alleys of the streets of Shanghai to hide her mixed feelings. She does not know if she feels happiness, sadness, or both, knowing that she is not somebody her parents saved from an unknown orphanage. Jouri is enjoying her reverie when she heard three deep, loud sounds that echoed in her ears. Joyous conversations began to fill the place. People are starting to crowd in her place, and