“Wow! Dad, teach me how to swim. Please, Dad! Please!” Nadine begged, hopping at where she was standing. Finally, she was on the mode to learn swimming again, after her drowning incident that caused everyone trauma.
“Okay, honey! Yes, I will.”
Nadine laughed her excitement away and looked at Sophia. “Dad, how about Sophie?” She wanted her sister to join them but she knew her sister’s fear of deep waters too. Grandma Lucy once told them that Sophia almost drowned in the lake when she was nine.
“Sweetie, your sister is also afraid of deep waters, okay?” Grandma Lucy intruded.
Sophia overheard it and flung a heavy sigh. At the back of her mind, she had already overcome it, and she overcame it with Jericho’s support.
They watched the three swim in the lake, and Sophia took photos of them.
Taking a brief look at Sophia, Elizabeth noticed her pulling face, as she focused the camera to her father and siblings.
“Hey, are you all right?” Elizabeth approached her across the dock.
“Mom, I am fine! I am! I am, Mom!” Sophia asserted so she could not take everyone’s joyfulness away.
“Are you sure?” Elizabeth flippantly confirmed as she caressed Sophia’s hair.
Sophia nodded, giving her mother a strained smile. Then she continued taking photographs to escape the clashes of her own mixed emotions.
When she finally took a lot of photos, she craved to rest her legs when, unexpectedly, she saw the huge blue stone in front of the lake house that was naturally square in shape. It was still the same where it was located, still surrounded with peanut grasses. She paced towards it and remembered the day when she was sitting there with Jericho.
It was Mother’s Day at their school but she made up her mind to skip the program. She was so downhearted that she was the only student whose mother was not there to attend it, so she swept her sadness away by agreeing to Jericho’s invitation to the lake house. That day, he waited for her outside their school with his assembled cab. It was an Italian scooter with a trunk welded with metal tubes at its side, supported by another wheel, making it a tricycle. There was a rectangular wooden plaque that served as a seat. Jericho was fond of inventing so he was able to pull them altogether. He thought of it as a means of taking Sophia to the lake house for it was, somehow, a one-and-a-half-hour trip from the town proper, and he did not want them to walk, nor to hitchhike with deer hunters.
Crystal clear, Sophia unearthed all these memories and smiled, a smile between sadness and joy. Her smile widened when she further remembered how Jericho spread a blanket onto the grasses for them to sit on, and he served her wafers and a can of soda.
At that memory, she could scarcely impede her tears from flowing. She needed to wipe them; she did not want to be seen crying by her family, so she hurried inside the lake house to pacify herself.
“Why is this still happening?” she asked herself as she opened the main door. “I thought I have moved on.”
Then, she went straight to the sink to wash her face, and ran for her shades to cover her reddened eyes.
Elizabeth and Grandma Lucy were watching the three enjoy the water when they noticed Sophia’s sudden disappearance.
“Where’s Sophia?” Grandma Lucy asked Elizabeth.
“She’s just taking pictures a while ago. I don’t know where she went.”
They continued wondering of Sophia’s whereabouts when Sophia walked down the dock and joined her father and siblings. The moment she dove into the lake, everyone was put to a tense halt.
“Sophia, no!” Grandma Lucy yelled with bursting panic but she was surprised to see Sophia swimming as if a mermaid.
“What?” Elizabeth was solidly staggered.
“Whoa! Did you just see that?” Nadine asked her father and Alex.
“I thought she’s afraid of the water,” they all asked each other.
Sophia finally got her head above the water and fixed her hair, uncomfortable with the way they looked at her, including her mother and Grandma Lucy from the bank.
“What?” Sophia asked them.
“I thought you’re afraid of the water,” Nadine answered while being carried by Philippe on his shoulders.
“Who told you that?” Sophia contemptuously asked, still uncomfortable with their reaction. Then she got out of the water and walked through the dock dripping wet, self-questioning why it was such an issue.
Instantly, Elizabeth came to wrap her with a towel and asked when she learned to overcome her phobia.
As well, Grandma Lucy went after Elizabeth to ask the same question.
“Long time ago,” Sophia replied and grabbed her flip-flops.
Hearing it, Grandma Lucy wondered heavily and drew a sharp breath.
Sophia was already shaking badly, hence, she excused herself and rushed inside the lake house.
The setting sun was already half-hidden by the wide mountains, and the Vabuerettis decided for an early bonfire.
Sophia gathered her hair in a ponytail. The wind entering the lake house was cold so she brought out her much-loved white shawl from her suitcase.
In a while, her grandma knocked on her door, with a smile so refreshing that puzzled Sophia.
“You just surprised me today,” Grandma Lucy said. “I thought you’re still afraid of the deep water.”
A nod, along with a partial smile, manifested from Sophia, hesitant to admit that she actually overcame it with Jericho’s help. But the brief silence she shared with Grandma Lucy reminded her of the bonfire.
“Um, I guess, everyone is already outside,” Sophia said in a bowed head.
“Yes. You’re right,” Grandma Lucy agreed, and they walked together to the venue.
Everyone gathered around as soon as the fire livened up, and they cheered for Nadine to perform.
Nadine was always willing and vigorous for any presentation. She sang a bubbly melody and bopped some lively dance moves before them, making everyone clap in awe, even their workers who joined them at that time.
“Okay, it’s time for Sophie now!” Nadine gamely told everyone as she went back to her seat beside Elizabeth.
“What? No!” Sophia griped.
“Sophia, Sophia, Sophia!” they cheered.
“No, I don’t sing. I don’t dance!” Sophia grumbled further. “Trust me, I’m a terrible one!”
“I don’t think so!” Alex countered, his face appearing very teasing.
“Oh, actually Alex can sing!” Sophia struggled to avert all the attention from her. “He’s in a band and really an excellent singer. I guarantee you, your cheers will all be worth it.” Sophia strongly gave fine points about her brother, desperate enough to end her agony.
It was pretty obvious to everyone that Sophia did not want to perform and so, Nadine suggested playing I’ll Act, You’ll Guess Game.
“What’s that?” they wondered.
“Oh, this is how we play it. I’ll describe a word or a phrase and you’ll guess it only through my gestures within two minutes,” Nadine explained, in full hope to be understood. “Like a charade!” she added.
“Oh! Okay! I bet that’s a lot of fun!” Elizabeth agreed.
And to make everyone participate, they grouped themselves into two. Philippe, Sophia, Bea, and two Vabueretti workers composed the first group while the other one was consist of Elizabeth, Alex, Nadine, and the other two remaining Vabueretti workers. As for Grandma Lucy, she served as the mediator and the scorer at the same time.
They tossed a coin to determine which team would go first and it happened to be Philippe’s, and Sophia was assigned to do the demonstration. She went to Grandma Lucy to listen to what she would be whispering and was surprised of what she heard: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, her grandma’s favorite song, and it was too long for her to portray it.
“All right, timer starts now,” Grandma Lucy announced as she took a look at the wrist watch she borrowed from Alex.
Sophia held up four fingers to denote four words and
moved her fourth finger.
“Fourth word!” her groupmates said.
Sophia nodded agreeably and started shaping in the air a rainbow.
“Mountains?!” Philippe initially guessed.
Sophia moved her head side to side indicating that her father’s guess was wrong.
“Half-circle?” Bea also guessed.
Sophia again swayed her head, the frown in her face turning deeper while their opponent group loudly teased them.
“Um, wait! Is that a rainbow?” One of the Vabueretti workers yelled asking.
Sophia joyfully nodded and the rest of the group was now getting excited.
Sophia moved her second finger, meaning they had to guess for the second word, and she symbolized the word over by placing her right hand over her left one, doing it again and again.
“Hand over hand?” Philippe once again guessed.
“Over?” the other Vabueretti worker guessed, and Sophia again agreed.
Bea remembered the song that Grandma Lucy always listened to. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow!” she shouted.
“Yes!” Sophia leaped for joy and so did her groupmates.
“Huh?” Nadine reacted, quite disappointed. “That was difficult but it took them just a while to guess it!”
“Okay, your turn!” Philippe challenged the opponent group.
Elizabeth’s group got up from their seats, pressuring themselves that they had to guess it too and they decided Nadine to do the demonstration.
“Okay,” held Nadine in a very babyish manner and went to Grandma Lucy to listen to what she would be whispering.
Grandma Lucy paused for a minute, thinking of a phrase as difficult as the first one. But she found it hard to think so she asked them to wait for a while. Then the movie Titanic popped in her head and she instantly whispered it to Nadine.
Nadine was confident. It was just one word and it would be easier for her groupmates to guess it. Then she raised her left index finger with a wide smile.
It was, of course, a delight for her groupmates that it was just one word and it would be much easier for them compared to the previous one.
Now, Nadine started to illustrate a ship in the air and repeated it twice.
“A boat?” Alex initially guessed.
Nadine conveyed it wrong by moving her head sideways, giving them an upset look. She drew it bigger for them to identify that it was a ship, a bigger one.
Aggravated, they could not still get her.
Now, Nadine became even more irritated and repeated highlighting a big boat in the air, doing it again and again.
Sophia already had in mind that it must be Titanic but she just laughed, helping herself not to slide the word out of her mouth. They had a VHS tape of it at her grandma’s and she even remembered how Bea cried at the end of the movie; too much affected she was those days!
Elizabeth and the rest thought even harder, frustrated that they couldn’t guess it.
For Nadine, she illustrated it over and over again.
“The movie 2012,” Alex guessed again.
All of a sudden, Elizabeth realized that it might be Titanic. “Tita—”
“Oops, time’s up!” Grandma Lucy declared.
“What? Are you sure?” Nadine’s group protested.
“But I was supposed to say Titanic,” Elizabeth shared.
“Sorry, two minutes is up already!” Philippe insisted on his mother’s behalf.
“Fine!” Nadine exhaled noisily and went back to her seat, admitting their first defeat.
“You should have spread your arms. Remember, the I’m flying scene of Jack and Rose in front of the ship!” Sophia made fun of her sister.
“Whatever!” Nadine fought back, her lips pouting and right eyebrow lifted up.
It was Philippe’s group again. Unfortunately for him, he was assigned to illustrate.
This time, Grandma Lucy already thought of something and it was the Bible.
Philippe exhaled noisily and started to demonstrate. He raised his left thumb and smiled.
“What?” his groupmates wondered, unsure if he was depicting one word or he was just giving them a thumbs-up sign.
“Dad, does that mean one word... or you’re just giving us a thumbs-up sign?” Sophia confirmed, holding her laugh.
“No!” Philippe defended himself and explained to everyone that the thumb was actually the first digit and that he meant one word.
“Oops! Warning!” Grandma Lucy imposed. “No talking!”
“I’m sorry, Mom! I’m just trying to explain.” Philippe defended himself as they laughed at him in full blast.
Not to confuse his group anymore, Philippe moved his left index finger. He illustrated the Bible by shaping a rectangle in the air. Rectangle could mean a lot to them so they guessed the following:
“A door?”
“A window?”
“A flag?”
“A refrigerator?”
Philippe was already getting frustrated. He widened his eyes and looked at his hands as if he was holding a book.
“A book?” Bea guessed.
“Yes, Auntie Bea! It must be a book,” Sophia synchronized. “But what book?”
“Okay, let us guess a title of a book!” Bea told her groupmates when their opponent was already doing a countdown.
“Eight, seven, six, five...”
“Oh, no!” Sophia and the rest screeched, quite dismayed.
“Okay, time’s up! You were not able to guess it,” Grandma Lucy told them. “It’s the Bible!” she then smiled.
“Oh, okay!” Philippe’s group reacted.
Nadine abruptly yawned and everyone noticed it. It was supported by the drooping of her eyelids.
“Honey, you’re already sleepy. Time for bed now,” Elizabeth said and allowed Nadine to lay her head on her shoulder.
Hence, all of them decided to stop the game although some were still at the peak of their enjoyment.
They ended the bonfire, laughing, saying that it was a night to remember.
The night carried on, and Sophia was still up at the terrace looking for some cell phone signal. Giovanni was probably incensed now, trying to reach her. The sky was shimmering and the tall trees were dancing when she suddenly heard a flock of birds nearby. On impulse, she looked at the source, hoping to see a disturbed flock of wild birds, but as she kept on staring, something seemed to hit her head. It was a gigantic pair of white wings! And, oh so beautiful!
What a heart-stopping moment!
Hands still shaking, she realized that her senses could have deceived her, and she tried to believe so. Then, she returned to the lake house and ran to bed, still troubled by those gigantic white feathers.
Chapter 5
The Resemblance
In the wild Forest of Evergreen, the Kravenas were still reined by Datu Ilak. His son, Abanir, was hailed as the tribe’s first sepe. He was trained for any form of fight, providing an accolade to his masculine emergence. His wings were so fine and white that could outshine the clouds at day. His eyes were so splendid for they changed colors, depending on his mood, and they were shielded by thick and long eyelashes—the features that discredited him as mere, ordinary Kravena, and dubbed him as the apple of every female’s eyes.
He was roaming around one night, away from his tribe, when he was distracted by a flame coming from a distance. His senses were very sharp so that he perceived it instantly. At first, hesitation controlled his thoughts. But as he noticed the flame slowly cease, out of extreme curiosity, he approached the place.
There, a bizarre house was revealed. Hiding from the shadows of tall trees, a horrifying bolt from the blue seemed to strike him in the head.
A creature! There was a creature he hadn’t seen before! Something without wings, that made him gawk, completely!
He lingered, scrutinizing, wondering what it was. An enemy, he thought.
As the peculiar creature endured standing at the terrace of the lake house, Abanir’s enchanted eyes nev
er blinked, wondering why it didn’t have those gargantuan wings to ascend into the air.
He persisted in observing it and flew back. Only then, when he was up in the air, did he realize that the peculiar creature could have seen him.
He came back to Kravena, horrified. His hakaro, Rabel, came to him and asked where he just went, complaining that he had searched the entire tribe to see him. But Rabel noticed Abanir’s odd look.
Abanir’s eyes had widened more and more, and changed into green, filled with fear and query, and that made Rabel fall into a pond of questions.
“What happened to you, Raha? You seem strange tonight! Why?” asked Rabel, eyes puzzlingly alarmed.
“I saw something!” Abanir fought for his breath. “It was strange!”
“Strange?” Rabel stepped closer to him.
“Yes, Rabel! Strange!” Abanir met his eyes. “A very strange creature!”
Looking through his raha’s eyes, Rabel’s mind battled. What was he pertaining to? Then he said, “Oh! Maybe, it’s just a wild animal meandering around.”
Rabel’s eyes shut close and his head swayed. “No. It was something that looks almost the same as us but... has no wings to fly.”
Rabel’s jaw dropped, eyes widening. He now knew that it was a human. He had an encounter with one before, while he was with Banaak in the Mountains of Yandal. But he must not tell it to his raha. Not now.
“Raha, it’s just an animal that we seldom see, for they live away from us,” Rabel then insisted.
Abanir looked him through the eyes, clutched him at the shoulders, and said, “No, it was almost like us. It can not fly but it was—”
“What, Raha? It was what?”
“It was beautiful. Wonderful. I can still picture its face in my mind!” Abanir then appeared exceptionally amazed.
Scared for his raha to fall into something dangerous, Rabel stressed, “Raha, I told you—”
“Told what, Rabel?” asked Kaya, the mother of Abanir, who had unexpectedly gone outside the palasyon, and saw her son and Rabel arguing.
Being proclaimed as the tribe’s reyna when Datu Ilak married her, the tribe members called her Reyna Kaya since then. Abanir was not the only son. When the royal couple was accepted by the tribe, they planned to have more offsprings. Along came Sanaya, then Karan. Sanaya was proclaimed the tribe’s only sesa and Karan, the second sepe.
Lost in the Wilderness - The Forest of Evergreen Book 1 Page 7
