I HEARD this voice and I knew, this is the voice I want to listen to for the rest of my life.
It was five years ago when we last saw each other. I bet he’s happier now with whom he’s with.
It pains me. It still pains me. And maybe, it will still pierce me until I stop hearing songs, until tomorrow stops beating. He left like water in a lake and I don’t think it will ever rain again.
I can still remember how I cheered every time he’d stay on stage and sing. I’d even utter the same words with him along with the tune back from where I stand. He was full of passion, full of heart. He echoes the soul of every song he sang and I’d stand there, staring, admiring the guy I loved from the very start.
He was soft-spoken. Not that expressive though. He uttered cautious statements of love. He never showed weakness. He was strict and sometimes, I hated how jealous this guy could get. But then, he’d tickle me and I’d laugh like a four-year-old playing with her dad.
I just miss him and how he can magically turn simple and typical surprises into acts excitingly out of the box. He even taught me to sing and we’d just spend the whole afternoon singing untimely choruses. There’s also this one time when we just played with the seesaw in a random playground we came across. I felt air-weighted, burden free, just laughs and the both of us. Maybe it was his capability to think of what truly makes each moment special and act on those moments.
Yes, he was unexpressive. He was shy. Yes, he chose to hide his deepest thoughts of love and instead, showed actions of it. Yes, he was irrationally protective. But that’s just his way of expressing his deep care and maybe, he doesn’t know any other way of showing it. He even tried to be the best man there ever was for me. But, he left.
Today, I’m standing on stage, in front of a large crowd, singing for the guy I loved from the very start, and I’m hoping he is down there with the crowd uttering the lyrics of the song we used to sing. But I knew five years ago, it wouldn’t rain again, and the lake is already filled with dust and fallen leaves. No, you’re not with the crowd, you are up there and I hope I made our vocalist proud. I hope I made my dad proud. (Kyle Nance L. Delgado/Corpus Christi School)