Wandering into the darkness

4:4 mt

...My body has been walking for hours devoid of thoughts, I wandered throughout the city all through the night, when I looked at my watch it was flashing 4:04. I looked around, I was in a small dark alley, the smell was musty and the air was cold. My feet had been here before, but my eyes had not.

Thoughts began coming back to my empty mind, thoughts that are saying that I have an empty stomach. I looked back and saw the neon glow of a 24 hours sign of a fastfood chain, I went through my pockets and produce enough money for a hamburger and a coke. As I was set to move towards the store, I felt someone tugged on my shirt. I turned around and saw a young child clothed in rags, face darkened by dust and grease, and wearing not a pair of decent slippers. He was pushing along a broken down cart, made up of whatever he was able to pick up on the street. The cart doubles as his house. What caught my eye is an old tattered church banner that serves as his roof on the occasional rain that this unfriendly city have.

“…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

I looked at my money, I looked at the store and I looked at the child...

In the brink of drowning

3:15 mt

I was struggling. I was running out of air. Water was all around, but my lungs still feels like burning. I was sinking fast deep in the salty water, deep into my sorrows and deep into my pains. I was in deep deep trouble. Light was beginning to fade, heavy is what I feel with this new pair of rubber shoes I'm wearing. Darn these shoes I kept thinking, I'm moments away from non-existence and my last thoughts will be about these shoes. Darn these shoes. Darn these shoes if only I can remove them, I might have a fighting chance for survival. Though I doubt that, even without my shoes, I still need to learn how to swim. If only I used the money my mom gave me to join the swimming lessons last summer and not bought those funky pair of sunglasses which I broke the very next day. Darn those sunglasses. Light faded, hope faded, darkness is all around. Darn, darn sunglasses.

Care for a smoke? I said yes. My cousin said no. How about some beer? I'll try that. Cuz’ just shrugged his head. We're going to this new bar, want to join us? I was about to say yes, when he tugged my shirt and said that we need to go.

We walk in different crowds my cousin and me. Where his is straight, mine is crooked with a lot of turns as well as dead ends. Both our paths have their share of obstacles. Where on my path I stop and run away in every challenge we meet down the road. He walk on straight, though at times they fall but they make it a point to stand up and continue on their journey. I have been trying to drag him to join me on the road I've taken; he would just pat me gently on my shoulders and kindly say no. He would then extend his hand and show the entrance to the path his taken and encourages me to enter it; he also offered that in this journey he'll stand proudly at my side. There are occasions that I almost had that first step, but then I'll see my foot and I think it needs a new pair of rubber shoes.

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Pablo Alpas Literary Pieces

I'll be posting here also the works of my grandfather, Pablo Y. Alpas.

Stained Letters

I'll post here all the stories I have written down.