Realization | Revelation
THE EPIPHANY
Alive
Story by: Charnamy Marin
August 27, 2019
The crows shrieking never failed to do their job in waking me up in the middle of the night. The pitch dark street welcomed me as soon as I opened my eyes.
I heaved a deep sigh as I noticed that I am not yet dead. What a pity. I have to suffer another day again.
I felt my stomach rumble because of hunger.
"Crap," I uttered and started walking down the cold dark street.
"Yo dude! Wanna rock tonight?" a guy shouted from the other side of the street.
The guy met my gaze. And before I knew it...
I couldn't move an inch.
"Don't move Null. He's staring at you," my Mom said.
I complied. The guy has poor sight so he couldn't see me in the dark if I won't move an inch.
Therefore, I survived from those murderers. Yet, my mother didn't. Since then, every time I noticed someone seeing me, I couldn't help but stop moving.
"You're weird. Why aren't you moving?" the guy asked.
"What the hell? I must be really drunk. I didn't even notice you're a mannequin. Haha!" the guy said and left.
I flinched as soon as I couldn't see him anymore. Well, they always thought of me as a mannequin. My complexion is not that far from that.
I continued walking to find some leftover foods which I'm consuming for 18 years.
Luckily, there's a stall offering leftover foods from a charitable institution. I'm grateful for it.
I was about to grab some bread but...
"Hey, who are you?" a female voice from behind said.
And I couldn't move again.
Why didn't I notice her?
"Huh? That's weird. Why aren't you moving?" she asked again.
This is too terrifying. I must not move.
"Ah, you must've been afraid that I'll see you moving. Don't worry, I've been seeing you every night for three years already, so this is nothing new to me," she said, and I heard her chuckled. My eyes widened instantly in surprise.
What?
So I've been observed for 3 years already?
That's insane!
I felt her move in front of me. A short-haired woman with a petite physique smiled at me. I could not help but blinked.
"Oh, you blinked. I must have surprised you," she said and put her index finger on her chin. She seemed to be thinking of something.
"Hmm, alright. You really won't move huh? Okay, I'll close my eyes. I have a pen and paper here. Write what you want to say, then drop the pen if you're done. After that, you can stop moving again as soon as I open my eyes. Okay?"
How the hell did she know that I'm afraid of being seen moving?
"I told you, I've been observing you for years already so I know a lot about you," she said while pulling out a pen and paper, as if reading my mind.
Then, why did she choose to reveal herself now?
"Ready? 3...2...1!" she counted and closed her eyes.
I don't know what's wrong with me, but I did what she told me and wrote...
You're so beautiful.
Whoa, what? Are you crazy Null?
I was about to cross out what I wrote but because of recklessness and nervousness, I dropped the pen.
Unconsciously, I picked up the pen and immediately erased what I wrote.
Little did I know, she was staring at me already.
She didn't see what I initially wrote, right?
But she lessened the distance between us...
And crash her lips to mine.
For the past years, I've never felt this alive.
She broke the kiss and I was bamboozled.
"And you're handsome too!" she giggled while staring at me.
Photo and Artwork Courtesy to:
Justin Dela Paz
