The following day, I'm having lunch in the canteen with my friends. It's a typical lunch; the place is quiet as everyone settles on their own table. I'm starting to get used to it since I have Maddox, Luke, and Sam.
"Mad, have you asked Angel?" Samantha says when we start lunch. She looks at me and then at Maddox. I look at her back, squeezing my eyebrows, wondering what Maddox has to ask me.
"Oh, I haven't. Angel, I'm inviting you to our afternoon basketball practice after class. I can drop you home if it's convenient for you."
"Angel, please come; we can watch together; Luke is also one of the players." Sam chime in.
We are excited about the basketball practice as we head to the gym. Samantha and I hand clasps while Maddox and Luke behind us are already wearing their royal blue jersey. I am comfortable joining them as mom had given me permission to do so when I called her. And I already informed the driver not to pick me up since Maddox will surely drop me home."We should sit close to the players, so it's easy for us to assist them when needed." I didn't know we got a role to play here, probably an assistant or water girl.Sam is funny, but I guess it would be expected for her as Luke's girlfriend and me as Maddox's friend. "Yeah, I'm sure there's plenty of seats since this is just a practice.""Guys, we will join our team; you two find your seats there," Luke says, and then he
"Cassy is getting really annoying every day," Mad says, shaking his head in disbelief."Was Cassy like this even before?"Maddox scrunches as he presses his hands on the wheel. "Not really, she used to be a nice girl, not arrogant and a trouble maker, but I guess I didn't know the real Cassandra before. And now, she's showing it to everyone.""I guess so, Cassy is a brat who would do anything she desires and doesn't care if she offends people around her. Such a childish act; I don't know when Cassandra will learn.""That's her moral obligation, not our problem anymore. Anyway, we're close to Max's clinic. I'm excited to see him again; I hope he's doing fine already so we can continue rescuing dogs on the street."
The following day is hectic as we are preparing for the intramurals and exams is not so far. I come home late and exhausted when I receive a call from Dr. M's Veterinary clinic. "Hello, what is it?" "Ms. Carpio, we are waiting for you since you dropped by at this time. But we couldn't wait and wanted to inform you that Max is not in good shape now. Would you please come to the clinic now?" It's the front desk staff as I recognize her voice. "Yes, I'll be there, thank you," I responded and immediately cut the call. "Mom? mom?" I call out mom as I head out of my room, still wearing my school uniform.
The next day is tiring and unmotivating, but we have to go to the cemetery as early as 5 in the morning to bury Max since mom couldn't skip her work and I can't skip school. Lea comes home early as promised when I talked to her on the phone last night. She immediately wraps her arms around me, seeing me sitting on the couch. "Angel, I'm sorry I wasn't by your side last night. It was hard for me to come in the evening, and I had a bunch of school work too." Sadness clouded her features. Lea might not be a dog lover, but she feels what I feel about being her best friend for a long time. She's the sweetest. "You're here now. Don't worry about it; I understa
The silence is deafening. Unlike when Max was still around, he used to be our own alarm clock; and sirens rolled into one. Max stomps his feet on my face if I don't get up after a few scratches. Sadly our unit is lacking a spark for us to call it home. Max's photo on my side table catches my attention; he was still young, small when I had him on my birthday. My heart constricts thinking about him again, but I refuse to cry anymore. I want to remember all our beautiful memories together instead of just centering my thoughts that he is no longer with me. I fix all of Max's things, his sheet, pillow, and clothes, and put them in a box before I rush out of my room, starving. Mom leaves early for work, so I am left alone having breakfast by myself, which doesn't help my poor appetite. I only have cereals and milk for breakfast before I start cleaning the ho
Maddox put a blindfold in my eyes for the surprise reveal he said. It's not my cup of tea, but I agreed when he had to do it a few meters away from the shelter. Now he's guiding me inside to where his surprise is waiting. "Logan, just follow us, boy." Logan barks in response to his dad. Maddox's hands are on my shoulders, trying his best not to get me to stumble on the way. There's no noise in the place except the barks of dogs, probably the rescues they have in the shelter. The anticipation of the surprise reveal is killing me. "Here, we're here, Angel," Mad said as he squeezes my shoulder a bit.
The three trucks separate; to have better coverage in rescuing street dogs in the city. Davao City is massive, so we expect not to finish the whole city dog rescue in a day. The truck's back is a compartment where we have the equipment needed and even a first aid kit for the dogs. "Mad, how long have you been doing this?" "I started since my mom founded the shelter, almost 10 years now, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary before the year-end. Back then, I wasn't so passionate about it like I do now. It was my mom who opened my eyes to caring for pets and other animals. That they have lives like us humans and they are capable of taking and giving love."
While Cassy and her friends are still hesitant to give the rescue dogs a bath, Maddox approaches me to come with him. One of the shelter staff takes us to what appears to be an office, relatively small but tidy and bright. Full of drawers, probably the rescue dogs' records from the vet. There are miniature paintings of dogs hanging on the wall and dog figurines on the table at the right side of the room."Ryan, what do you want to talk about?" Maddox asks Ryan as he offers me to sit beside him on a beige sofa. I like how Maddox treats Ryan just like his friends. He doesn't show superiority to the shelter staff."Mad, I'd like to show you a video, but please don't let Cassandra and her friends know that I took this earlier," Ryan said with terror in his eyes. He must really be scared of Cassandra. I wonder what stupid things Cas
“Mad?”Maddox pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me. My hands voluntarily wrap around Maddox’s body. He is warm, unlike the Christmas weather. My heart is pounding in my chest like the beat of a drum as we keep our bodies close to each other even more.We are both speechless until I hear Maddox cry. I feel so bad for causing so much pain to him. I hate and blame myself for every hurt Maddox is bearing. I gently pat Maddox’s back.“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Mad.”“It’s okay.” Maddox loosens his arms around me. I glance up at Maddox, trying to make eye contact with him.I can't
It’s December 24, the loneliest Christmas in my life without mom. This is the only yuletide season that I don't like celebrating. I've never felt like having Christmas since mom was in her bad condition.Dad asked me yesterday if I’d want to have an out-of-town vacation with my friends but I declined. I don’t want to leave the city as it seems like leaving mom. I know dad couldn’t ask me to join them for Christmas since his wife would be against it. So, I told him I'm staying in my condo.I'm having instant food for breakfast as I am starving already. If mom was here, she'll surely prepare something nutritious for me, she won't settle for instant breakfast.The doorbell rings while I'm eating my morning oatmeal. I wonder who would want to visit me as
On my first day without mom, I visited our old apartment in the hope of reminiscing about those times with mom in our nest. I fix the things mom left as well as my room for me to stay in. Everything is in chaos.There are spider webs on the ceiling, and dust on the sofa and on the floor. The apartment smells like an old building that hasn't been used for years. I can’t believe how much dirt it accumulated during the short time we’ve been staying in Singapore and at my mom's funeral.I start cleaning the small living room, the kitchen, and the dining area. It took me almost an hour to finish even in just a small area. Next is my room before cleaning my mom’s room. My room is just as messy as the living area. I have to put some of the papers in the trash to make space for my school materials.
Time stops…I don’t even know where Cassy and her minions get the nerve to visit mom’s funeral. The audacity they have is incomparable.“Hey, what do you guys think you’re doing here? Seriously? This is not a show.” Lea asks Cassandra as she gets close to mom’s coffin.Cassandra snorts. “We come here with good intentions. I know this is hard for Angel to lose everything, right? Not just her mom but also Maddox.” Cassy says the latter with a hint of tease. "That's why we're here to ease her pain. I know how it feels to be left alone."“Cassandra…”I can’t be wrong, I know exactly
Lea comes to us in mom’s room. Lucy is on the left side of the bed as she was trying to help mom make it comfortable and probably breathe easily. Mommy is like running out of breath which is worse than usual.“Mommy…” I hop on the right side of the bed.Mom only moves her teary eyes. She looks at me, her lips parting like she wants to speak up but is unable to because of the shortness of breath.“Mom it's okay, I’m here. You don’t have to say anything, mommy.”“Angel, is Aunt Athena normally like this when she wakes up?” Lea asks, her voice trembling in fear.“No Lea, this is the worst one but mom will be
It’s another day in Singapore and our last day to be exact. With a heavy heart, I pack mom’s stuff to prepare for our flight.“Mom, are you sure about this?”“Angel, this is the best decision I know. Let’s not argue about this anymore. We will have more time together in the Philippines.”Dad didn’t disagree with mom last night. I don't know why. Dad probably only wants to give whatever mom wishes. He immediately booked tickets for all of us. Although it is hard for him as well. I saw it in his eyes last night, he was sad.I knock on dad’s door to check on him. He let me in. Dad's luggage is open while his clothes scattering on his bed. "Dad, let me help you," I volunteer as I
“What is happening here? Ms. Lucy? Candace?”They both look back at me while helping mom on the bed. I see mom is having difficulty breathing.“Mommy, I’m here.” I walk over to mom’s bed and sit on the edge of it.“I already gave her the medicine Angel. Athena will be fine in a few minutes.” Candace says.“Thank you guys, but you should have told me earlier.”Mom holds my arm. “Angel…” Mom says between breathing heavily. “I told them not to…” She pauses for another heavy breath. 'I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” It’s hard for mom to utter a sentence.
Around 11 in the morning when mom wakes up. Mom’s eyes look tired, the dark circles have been getting bigger and bigger for the past few days.“Angel?” Mom smiles lazily as she looks at me.I smile back at her as I walk over to the bed. “Mommy, I’ll help you sit on the bed.”Mom is so light that I think I could carry her like a baby. She loses too much weight while battling cancer. I sit mom in the bed and put a pillow at her back to make it comfortable.“Mom, what do you wanna have for breakfast? I’ll cook it for you.”“Angel, what’s wrong?”
It’s 9 in the morning and I’m here in the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. The dark circles in my eyes are getting bigger. I wash my face with water hoping it will help me awake as I only slept for at least 3 hours.It was hard to watch mom in pain last night. I was helpless thinking and knowing there was nothing I could do to ease her pain. Angelo and I were with mom until she was able to sleep.Mom is still sleeping when I walk out of the bathroom so I head to the kitchen to drink some water and check on Candace, Lucy and Angelo.“Good morning, guys. Were you able to sleep?” Candace and Lucy turn back as I grab a glass to pour some water.“Good morning, Angel.” They greet me in unis