Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When I was a child, I used to argue with my brother on who should sit by the window. I win, always. Then I would stick my tongue out at him. He’ll be pissed so our parents will decide to go to the last row− where you will feel every single bump of the road. But hey, at least we both get to sit on the window seats.
I placed my hands on my lap. I covered myself with the golden yellow curtain, not minding the stare the bus conductor is giving. I plugged my earphones to my ears. The soft, disco-vibe song started. My mind wandered while the wheels of the bus cycled. Imagining countless things— a breakthrough of some unanswered questions. But the answers I got made me more confused.
Maybe some answers will lead you to more questions, eh?
It was rainy. Droplets of water covered the window. The weather formed a mist on the glass. I wiped it off using my bare hands and leaned my head over the chair. I felt a tap on my shoulder, it was my mother.
"Stop using the curtain as a blanket, that might be dirty." She opened her bag to get the alcohol, I rubbed my hands together after she sprayed it.
"I'm not using it as a blanket," I defended. One of her eyebrows raised. "Really? So what is the purpose of wrapping the whole thing unto you?"
"I also don't know." I honestly responded. She sighed and drank half the bottle of water. The conductor went next to us so she payed.
"For personal space, I guess?" I answered again. She pursed her lips and sighed for the second time. I continued on watching the world outside the bus' window. We passed by a rice field. And then a town. And then another town. And then a river.
"How long will it take us to go back home?" I asked. "Three hours, maybe."
"Oh."
We are dropped at a bus stop near a university and an intersection. We crossed the lane to take a ride on a jeepney that's waiting at the other side of the road.
After four hours—yes, my mother's estimation was wrong—we got home. I am so tired. I lied on the bed and did not even bother to change my clothes. All I want to do is sleep even though it's literally four o'clock in the afternoon. The lid of my eyes feels heavy. Maybe I'll just take a nap for... Thirty minutes? I remembered that I still have assignments to do. Am I doomed? No.
Hopefully.
--
I can't understand anything. My mind is like a blinking cursor; waiting for my mind to load, waiting for my fingers to type, and waiting for my mouth to shout, "Eureka!"
Help.
How can I solve this if I do not even know the main problem? How am I supposed to know the equation if I should be the one finding and giving solutions to it? But first of all, how do I decide which problem?
I sighed while playing a little flashlight— the ones that can be used as a keychain.
