Wednesday, October 20, 2010

wish stick

tonight, as the harsh cool night breeze escapes to my window, i find myself staring at my monitor screen again. reading my thesis, which is a week pass its deadline, for the hundredth time. and all i could do, was just to patiently wait for the right words to come.

i decided to take a break for the warning of an upcoming headache is at sight. i took a box out from my resting bag, opened it up and saw a couple of cigarette sticks. my brain already developed dependence to the dizziness a puff brings. i wonder, until where it can bring me tonight.
behind my cabinet were piles of fresh clothes neatly stacked and just like me, they too, were also waiting.

i lit my first cigarette and took a deep sip. but for some reasons, flashbacks instantly flew like pages of the already staled book in front of me.

i remembered the very first stick i had almost a decade ago. it was the sweetest stick i ever had, no wonder i still could not drop the vice until now. or perhaps, it was more than that.

perhaps its the search of having the same experience again. the thrill and excitement of not getting caught and called a newbie; pressured by new peers in an entirely different place. trying to be cool, pretending i am not.

unfortunately, when i was already in the group, it was already too late. i was completely caught tangled with it. i just hate when i am not in control, especially of something that pertain to myself. i guess there is no longer any way now, but to claim it. nonetheless, i am still hopeful that someday i will surpass this--- that i will totally overcome this addiction.

when i felt the heat crawling near my lips, i forcefully smashed the dying flame on the ash tray as if holding the very stick responsible for me, losing my own control. but then i took the box again and saw my last. i laughed at myself, realizing it was actually a wish stick. i laughed because of the realization that i am almost a decade smoker but i am still doing the same routine: still believing that i am entitled with something before finishing a pack.

honestly, i already lost count of how many wish sticks i had and how many wishes i had said. but if there is something that i am certain about, it is the fact that i have been saying the same wish for myself (other than whats for my parents and close friends) over and over again.
a couple of years back, i used to ask my friends or someone i knew, how it feels like to be 25? what did they do during that time? or what they should have done during that age?

but for some reason they would always give me that strange look and awkward answer. basically, they would always say its irrelevant and insignificant to who they are now, that its just the same, nothing really special.

but i remained unsatisfied with their answers. probably because, i just couldn't stop myself from escaping the realization that i am already nearing that corner of my life; that i am always in competition with time; and that i would be stuck with my own uncertainties and unfulfillable decisions of staying in a profession that i really do not like nor imagined myself for the rest of my life.

at the age of 23, i was already torturing myself with these kinds of life dilemmas. instead of enjoying things as they come and go, like i would always tell myself, i tend to wonder with the things that are miles ahead of me, otherwise. i guess, thats what the film boy culture meant, its difficult to live this kind of life for you think like you are already 40 even though you are just 14. but how can you blame them or me, if fear, in its full bloom, is (still) lurking around our presence.

last july, i just turned 25, still unemployed but blessed with a supportive family and circles of friends, ever understanding and supportive. nonetheless, i knew that it was still not enough. thus, i was then determined to take the risk, to change and make this something special. so without even thinking, i signed a job offer that is way more than what i used to earn despite my pending debts, due bills and even my rent.

suddenly my phone rang again. i answered it and heard a familiar voice.

"prepare your things. we have already booked you a flight. you are going to bicol." then the line dropped.

in an instant, i opened my email, printed my ticket and copies of my tasks. closed my laptop, approached the neatly stacks of fresh clothes behind my closet and put them inside my sack. i went out and hailed an approaching cab. then on my way to the airport, i felt a very uncomfortable thing bulging inside my pocket. i took it out, found the same cigarette box and saw my waiting wish stick inside. for a second, i caught myself staring at it. flashbacks instantly flew again. but in my surprise, i slowly closed it, put it aside and told myself,

it had to wait. i still have to come up with a new wish.

11 comments:

RainDarwin said...

weh nag-reminisce din sya.

eh di hitit buga ka nung ikaw ay nasa UPCB pa este UPB pala! kasi malamig sa baguio di ba? sarap kaya mag-yosi sa ilalim ng pinetree.

Aris said...

nagbalik-alaala rin ako noong una akong tumikim ng yosi. hanggang ngayon sinusubukan ko pa ring mag-quit.

enjoy your bicol trip. pasyalan mo ang cwc. :)

bien said...

"prepare your things. we have already booked you a flight. you are going to bicol."

you must be loving your job.
very ethan hunt lols

gesmunds said...

i used to believe in a wish stick in every pack of cigarettes i bought. haha! well, wala namang wish na natupad. its okay,, masarap namang mag yosi,, un ang masaya dun! ;)

iprovoked said...

Waah, bakit ramdam na ramdam ko itu?! Pak! :]

Dori and Auj said...

psst.. we're back! :)

Auj: I suddenly remembered when I was still in UP and I used to set a lot of wish sticks until I dry my throat dead. haha

visit our site soon ulit ha! :)

follow us in twitter too: doriandauj

kalansay said...

aaaaaw.

enjoy the feeling.

so dahil 25 ka na, at pag tinanong sayo yung tinanong mo nun sa mga 25, ano isasagot mo? :p

natatakot din ako sa future... but isa lang ang pangontra ko... ang maging optimistic.

REDMAN said...

alam mo bang nakakatawa yang wish stick na yan dahil ang mga fren ko nakikipagpatayan pa para dyan lang at nagtatalo kanino ang wish stick pero sa akin kahit anong wish pwede dahil baka mamaya mag katotoo

citybuoy said...

ang yosi nga naman.. alam na nating masama satin pero go parin tayo ng go. lol

Anonymous said...

hey, san na ang post mong bago?

kiel estrella said...

a friend of mine write a column in inquirer's youngblood entitled 'being there at 25'. that was 16 years ago. i can't remember what he said except that the point was 'you have to be there'.

and from the sound of it, you are.