"Que sera sera…"
The wind was never something tangible to man’s eye’s, yet the speed of the jeepney can make any man swear he shining ebony locks was the breezy element itself. Her hair and the way the steady gusts of air folded and waed her flowing white dress made her a sight to behold. Indeed, he can’t help but star admiringly aty the magnificent apparition sitting across him on that raging transport.
"Sir, if you would continue to stare at me like that, I’m afraid that I’ll have to slap you," she stated .
"Lo siento, señorita" was his quick apology.
"Are you really spanish, or are you deliberately trying to impress me? Because I can tell you now that it’s not gonna work."
"No, on the contrary, I thought that you were spanish maiden. Forgive me my child, I should’ve known better."
"Child?! First you ogle me, then you try to flirt with me, and now you belittle me?" she now shouted, disgust ringing in her voice.
"Nay, my child. For I am a priest newly ordained and assigned to the town of Lihan. And if my stare have deeply disturbed you, then allow me to offer my humblest apologies, for rarely do I come across a beauty like you."
Upon hearing this the lady blushed a deep scarlet. "No, I am sorry, I should have noticed. Forgive my rash words, father."
"Forgiven, my child. May I know the reason why you happen to travel so late at night? Surely at this time of the night you would not go around just for leisure."
"I am on my way back home from Manila. Something held up near the terminal, hence I am still on the road after nightfall. How about you, Father? Why be up and out so late?" she inquired back.
"I just happened to look for something precious to me, yet my search didn’t yield fruit."
She frowned.
"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden, my child? What ails you?"
"Marianne, call me Marianne, father. I just realized something earlier today. Sometimes, those that we value so much, when we lose it we become so sad. But sometimes, sometimes when they do come back, we can no longer cherish them anymore."
"How can you say that, Marianne? Anything tragic to happen to you lately?" the young priest asked, concern in his eyes showing through.
"I used to have a fiance. His name is Drake. I really loved him so much. But his parents had to go back to their home across the sea, and Drake had to come with them. I waited for a year for him, yet I never received a word from him. And now that he’s back…" she suddenly burst into tears, unable to finish her story.
The priest switched places and went to her side. "Here, take my hanky. Sometimes, things like that really happen. We get hurt so much we want to end everything, but we have to live on."
"Like you’ll understand what I feel, Father." she replied in between sobs.
"The name is Yohannes. Or just call me Yohan for the meantime. Yes, I happen to understand what you feel. More than you know, Marianne."
This brought a surprise to the weeping lass. "Don’t tell me you fell in love before you were ordained, Yohan?"
"Let’s just say that her name is Natasha, and she’s the reason I nearly left priesthood." He replied with a somber look on his face. "Oh, I’m nearly at my destination."
"Me too. Yohan, can we go together?" she pleaded.
Then they were gone.
The next morning, people at the jeepney terminal were abuzz with talk. Some kind of rumour was going aroung about a driver and his rounds last night.
"Efren really has lost it" said one.
"Lost what?" asked a latecomer, just arriving for his daily rounds.
"His mind! Didn’t you hear? He’s been raving mad since early this morning. Very early this morning." A third answered.
"What did he say? What’s he raving mad about?" again the latecomer asked.
"He said he had passengers from the netherworld last night. A white lady and a priest without a head rode on his jeepney from Atlag bridge to that tree in San Juan." The first driver replied. "He also said some kind of weird music would stop playing from his stereo, even if he turned it off."
"What song was it Again? That with the spanish lyrics?"
"Que sera sera…"
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