Future Sight Pt. 6

I went to my sisters’ place and stayed there. Right next to their place was my parents’ place. So my sisters did have their dreams realized. Janice is an engineer and Ruby owns her own restaurant. My father still works as the president of an insurance company. He still has five years before his retirement. As for my mother, she’s just at home working on her cross-stitching and her aquarium. I’m not worried. They have a pretty good pension plan.

I visited my favorite aunt at Cainta. After that, I went to the mall. As I was walking inside, I saw this shop named, ‘KC.’ so I went inside and saw that it was a boutique and hobby shop. One of the salesladies asked me if I needed something. I told her I was just browsing. I asked her what KC stood for. She said that KC stood for the names of the founders of the business, Kayne and Carl. Huh! Karen and Carol? Then I asked her where they were. The saleslady said that they were at a fashion convention at Paris. I told her, ‘This must be a very successful business.’ Then she said, ‘It should be. There are 53 other branches all over the country and 10 outside.’ Carol and Karen did make it good.

That evening, I went to a bistro to relax. That night’s special guest was the band of Dexter and Nelson. They just came from their world tour. Even though I didn’t enjoy country music that much, I stayed and listened to their music. They’re my friends after all.

Two weeks have passed and I have to go back to Cebu. At the PNA, I saw Karen and Carol who also arrived from Paris. I told them I heard about their success with their business. Like old times, we had lunch together. We had a little catching up to do. They had to go to Manila the next day. Both their husbands also have their own business. Like Carol and Karen, they’re partners.

The final days of my vacation were over. As for the others that I never heard from or seen, I could only guess what lives they now have. I’m just happy because I know that most of them have successful lives. Who would have thought that they would make it big? And I mean big, very big.

As for me, I went home to my sweet, caring, and loving wife and to my beloved twins. The next time I go back to the Philippines, I’m gonna bring them with me so my wife would see our old friends and my children would see what a nice place the Philippines is.

End.

Future Sight Pt. 5

One week has passed and I had to go to La Union to visit my grandmother’s grave before I go to Manila and visit my parents and sisters as well as the rest of my extended family. I said goodbye to Rhodora and her family and thanked them for their company. I thanked my doctor as well because I stayed at his place for one week.

I arrived at La Union at about 10 o’clock in the morning. I still have 2 hours before I get back on my way to Manila. I lit up a candle and said a little prayer. That was the only time that I visited my grandmother’s grave. As I was about to lay the flowers down, I gazed upon the name on the tombstone next to my grandmother’s. It’s the name of the person that I have hated the most. I hated him even though I never really knew him. I gave him the nickname of ‘Trigger Happy.’ I realized that I never did forgive him for what he has done to me a long time ago. I guess it was high time that I did. I took one of the roses and laid it down on his grave. I’ll never know how he ended up being dead. But I do know one thing; he’s just a man capable of making mistakes and he deserves another chance. But it was too late.

I wanted to see the changes since I’ve left and a ride on a bus was the ticket. On a stop over at Pangasinan, a familiar face came inside the bus and sat beside me. Jeffrey? Well, well, well. I never thought I’d see him. He said he’s the chief engineer on research and development at UR. Good for him. He said a lot has changed since I was gone. He wasn’t always successful. But he learned a lot. He had to strive hard because he married at an early age and had to support his family. As far as I can see it, he’s doing quite well and I am very proud of what he has accomplished.

We parted ways at the bus terminal. I will never be sure if I’ll see him again. I only had three weeks left on my vacation. So little time yet so many places to go to and so many people to see.

To be continued...

Future Sight Pt. 4

It was time to visit the school where I graduated from, Saint Louis University. I opted to visit the president of the school because I heard that the president is the priest who helped us out when we were still in high school. A smiling Geraldine Siagto greeted me at the door. She told me that she is the Vice President of the school. She also told me that Dr. Vincent Tabor is the chief resident of Saint Louis Hospital, which, she adds, is the top rated hospital in all of the country. I wanted to see him but he wasn’t around. He was on vacation at Boracay with his wife and kids.

As Gig’z and I were walking, she gave me a book. It was titled, ‘The Infinite Powers of the Human Mind: How to Make People Follow Your Every Command.’ To my amazement, Candice Balud authored the book. I always thought that she would be successful, but not like this. She has unleashed her power of hypnotism and it was so strong that I sent her a Ferrari just after reading her book. I haven’t seen her in years so it was fine with me. A Ferrari is nothing compared to the help she has given me before. And besides, there’s a lot where that Ferrari came from.

At my doctor’s place, I turned on the TV to watch WBL, World Basketball League. It was the Philippines vs. Russia. There was nothing Russia can do. Russia was down by 19 points at the end of the game. I wouldn’t be surprised. The best basketball player since Michael Jordan played for the Philippine team. And that player is Glenn Moyano. He’s now a sports superstar.

I took a stroll down Burnham Park on the next day and saw Leslie. She was with a bunch of children. I didn’t want to bother her with her work but she saw me and walked towards me. Then she said, ‘Pakain ka nga.’ Some things do stay the same. But at that time, I readily said yes. We went to a corner store and bought fish balls. Hey. It was better than nothing. And like I said, some things do stay the same. I asked her if all those children were hers. She said that she was just helping them out. It’s part of her job. She went back to her work and I went on my way.

I felt like I have been walking for hours. Then I reached the Baguio Convention Center. There was something going on inside so I went in. I sat down and listened to the person delivering a speech. I looked at her face and thought. She looked familiar. After her speech, I went to her and asked her if I knew her. We looked at each other’s faces for a while then it hit me. Oh my! It’s Rhodora. The closest friend I have ever had. It’s been more than 20 years since I last saw her. The only things that I had of her were the pictures she gave me when we were still in high school. She was just 16 back then. But now, she’s a very successful career woman with a loving husband and a five-year old son. I was just so happy for her. She invited me for lunch and I happily accepted. She was my tour guide for the rest of my stay in Baguio.


To be continued...

Future Sight Pt. 3

On the next day, I had to take a flight to Baguio. Another flight, another lag. But I’m used to it.

On that one-and-a-half-hour flight, I sat next to Atty. Pedregosa. He said he was on vacation and he was going to visit Red Cross. I asked him what has been going on at the local chapter while I was gone. He said that Andres Ramos III is now one of the big guys of the Red Cross. That was no big surprise to me. Jhim and Froi now own their own engineering firm. Jhun now works in a research lab at Vietnam, probably working on a new miracle drug. As for the rest of the guys, I was to see them for myself because I decided to join him on his visit to the chapter.

At the chapter, I saw Ate Ma-an. She was still there. I was no longer a Pledge 25 member because I was already old for that. But I still gave 450 cc of blood for old time’s sake. Kuya Bobby, Jeff, Naki, and Arnel were no where in sight so I asked Ate Ma-an where they were. It turned out that she had no idea where they were.

It was time to say goodbye because I had to go ‘home’ to the place where I grew up. It was time to see that place once again even though my parents and sisters no longer live there. I just wanted to see that place one more time. It’s a good thing that my doctor still lived there. He let me stay at their place while I was in Baguio.

I toured the whole city and found a really amazing building. I found out that Wilgie, a well-known architect, designed that building. That building looked like a flame. Well, that’s what I think, at least. That building is known as the trade center of the whole city and is the pride and joy of its citizens.


To be continued...

Future Sight Pt. 2

After I have settled down at the hotel, I noticed that I have left one of my bags at the airport. I went back and guess who was the head of customs; Aristotle Yalung. Actually, he’s the Chief of Customs. He’s just there and it was my lucky day. He invited me for lunch and I accepted. It’s been 16 years and I still don’t pass on a free meal. Some things never change.

We had a chat while having lunch, of course. It’s been years since I last saw him. Then suddenly, some stupid question popped in my head. I asked him what ever happened between the rivalry of GMA and ABS-CBN. I was surprised with his answer. He said that there is neither a GMA nor an ABS-CBN, there’s just WTV. He told me that Reginald Wong bought both of the stations and made the most successful TV station in all of Asia. That was a real accomplishment as far as I was concerned. And to think Reg was just an engineer for ABS-CBN when I left nine years ago. Amazing.

The time to part with Aris had to come once again. We said ‘good luck’ to each other and went our ways.

I went to a nearby mall to go on a window-shopping just before I go to Baguio the next day. I was nosing around when I saw this toy. It wasn’t a kid’s toy. It looked like a calculator or laptop in about the size of a tamagochi. A saleslady came to me and said that Paul Ryan Ballesteros invented that toy. Wow! It’s another one of those surprises. When I looked at the saleslady, it was Ate Donna. I almost didn’t recognize her because she was slim. She told me she owned the place so she wasn’t a saleslady, no doubt about that.


To be continued...

Future Sight Pt. 1

(Written in 2000. A little glimpse of the future. For me, at least. It's a bit long so I cut it up into six parts. Don't worry, this is one of those old stuff that I have that didn't suffer editing. The acknowledgement says, 'Special thanks to those guys whose names have been mentioned in this short story. As for the ones not mentioned, you are also thanked for your future is not held by a hand.')

It’s been 16 years since I’ve graduated. Among my friends, I was the last one to graduate. Poor me, but still I was lucky because every time one of my friends graduated, I got to eat . . . a lot.

I’m now working as the president of a company that makes Triphlon, a substance that has replaced gasoline for the last ten years. Why am I the president? I should be. I invented Triphlon. I’m currently residing at a subdivision located just outside the city limits. Oh! I forgot to tell you what city. It’s the city of Paris. My plans of going to the US never came to because of the sudden drop of the county’s economy.

I just arrived a week ago from a month’s vacation in the Philippines and a lot have happened.

The Philippines is now one of Southeast Asia’s economic giants. Number three, following Vietnam and Indonesia. Surprising, isn’t it? Vietnam; we ignored that country so much that they were able to develop some kind of miracle drug. And Indonesia rose from its ashes right after it’s major revolt. It took her five years to attain her present rank overpowering Japan, Unified Korea, and even China.

I first stayed at this hotel near the Philippine National Airport located at the country’s new capital, Cebu City. It was a big surprise for me. I was in Paris watching CNN when Joanne Suyam, one of their anchors, reported that Christopher Panapan is the new president of the Philippines. Pretty young for a president but he’s a born ruler. He overthrew the reign of Miriam Santiago who ruled for about 14 years. One of Kryss’ decrees was to make Cebu the new capital of the Philippines because of it’s being the center of trade in the Southeast Asian region.


To be continued...