#1
They were the perfect couple. Pretty girl, handsome boy. Together since high school, they built their lives side by side. Eventually, they settled down and lived in the States for good.
Years later, she came back. Alone. Her old glamour lost. She locked herself up in her room. At times when her family catches a glimpse, they see her muttering unintelligibly to herself. She's losing her mind.
Turns out, they were happy in the first few years of being abroad. Two successful people in love. But somebody else caught his eye. She tried not to notice, but suspicions turned to fact. Tired of her "paranoia", he sent her home and went with the other one.
She stays in her parents' house in Manila. She's better now compared to her initial state when she returned. She now dresses better, and combs her hair. But she's still frequently seen seated in their porch, smoking, staring into space. No one knows what she's thinking.
#2
She loved him though his separation from his wife wasn't legally finalized yet. He promised and promised, so she stayed, though her friends repeatedly admonished her, telling her she could do better. Before him, she was single, pretty and successful. Now she found she can't stay away from him, especially that they now have a baby.
But now he's threatening to leave her. He doesn't want her anymore, and that's that. She suspects he has a new girl to replace her as his toy.
She just finished her shower that morning. After he dropped the bomb of not wanting her anymore, he stood up to leave. She followed him outside the house, forcing him to talk to her. They could still fix this, she said. He ignored her and got in the car. She wasted no time getting inside too, her hair still wet and uncombed. He told her to get out; she resisted. He drove out of the subdivision. At Julia Vargas Street, he told her to get out once more. She said she's not getting out until they fixed this. He said, "Kung hindi ka bababa, ako ang aalis. Maiwan ka dito." She fell silent. He moved, and she realized he's getting out of the car. "Sandali!" she said. Half a second after she closed the car door, he sped away without a word.
She stood motionless for a while, and with a sigh of defeat turned around and started to walk home. Barefoot, her hair disheveled, and nothing but her bathrobe on (read: nothing, as in nothing underneath), she walked from Julia Vargas to the executive village in Pasig City that she called home.
#3
During college, I was a student assistant for one of the administrative offices of my beloved University. I remember that we were swamped with paperwork (as always), yet I could feel a different kind of uneasiness from the girl sitting beside me. I looked at her, and she said, "Ate, ano ba'ng gagawin ko?"
The desperation in her voice alarmed me. I tried to take it easy; maybe she'd take it easy, too. "Mukhang lovelife yan ah. Yihee."
"Wala na kami."
"Ano'ng nangyari?" Oh, the teenage years. It's probably just a temporary spat, easy to fix.
"Ate, patay na sya..."
Wait... WAIT! A person I've known for less than two weeks is unburdening herself to me. I can't take this.
"HA? BAKIT?"
She then told me about their love story. The boy's cousin courted her originally, but for some reason, they ended up together. Months later he was diagnosed with leukemia. She could only spare weekends to be with him as she's studying in Manila and he's based in their hometown.
She gave him a CD compilation of love songs one day. To keep him company while she's away, she told him.
Days went by. She suddenly got word of his lapse. She's the first one out the door once her class was dismissed. Still in her school uniform, she commuted all the way to Batangas. But it was too late. He died moments before she arrived.
On the way to his final resting place she learned from his mom that her CD occupied his player practically all day, everyday. Her heart broke once more when she heard the familiar notes of one of the songs in the CD playing before they finally said goodbye.
As I watch you move
Across the moonlit room
There's so much tenderness in your loving.
Tomorrow I must leave,
The dawn knows no reprieve.
God give me strength when I am leaving.
So raise your hands to heaven and pray,
That we'll be back together someday...
#4
She wasn't able to get any sort of formal education, but she found no truer love. They had no children, but knowing they're each other's family is enough. He's a coconut farmer. They led a simple life in the province, south of Luzon (and I mean, EXTREME South).
One day he was busy adjusting a ladder, preparing to harvest fruit, when animal noise caught his attention. He investigated and found two dogs ferociously fighting. He tried to shoo them away, but one of the dogs went to him with fury and bit him. He went home to have his wife tend to his wounds.
The next few days, he had raging fever. He was brought to Manila for anti-rabies shots but seemed not to get better. The virus already spread in his body. His last words to her: "Di kita pababayaan."
He died in the early evening. She figured she must return to the province fast and get financial support from relatives so she could bring home his body at the soonest possible time. But she doesn't know how to read the signboards of PUVs towards home. Through questions she finally found the right ride, but the driver said there's no space for her in the vehicle and this is the last trip... they're just waiting for a man who sat in the front and probably took a leak somewhere.
They waited. The man didn't come back. "Nasa'n na kaya yung mamang yun?" the driver wondered as he let her have the man's space in the vehicle. The trip began.
The ride ended in a town a few kilometers away from her home. She has one more ride to take, but it's already late and again, the driver in charge of the last trip told her they're waiting for a man who occupied a seat in the front and just disappeared... probably to take a leak. Half an hour later the man still didn't return. She got the ride.
When she finally stood in their yard, thanking her stars for being home at last, his last words hit her. "Di kita pababayaan."
Was the mysterious man in both vehicles her husband's soul, reserving a seat for her so she could safely get home?
#5
They were both singer-songwriters who enjoyed fame in their day. Real-life sweethearts but there came a time when they couldn't seem to go on with the relationship. The boy realized this first, and wrote her a letter, reasons why he's walking away. The girl, heartbroken, turned the letter into a poem, and told the boy to make music that'll give life to her lyrics. This is the local song we now recognize as "Paalam Na":
Nais ko lang malaman mo
Laman ng aking puso
Baka di na mabigyan ng ibang pagkakataon
Na sabihin ito sa 'yo
Di ko ito ginusto
Na tayo'y magkalayo
Ngunit di magkasundo
Damdamin laging di magtagpo
Paalam na aking mahal
Kay hirap sabihin
Paalam na aking mahal
Masakit isipin na kahit nagmamahalan pa
Puso't isipa'y magkaiba
Maaring di lang laan sa isa't isa
Sana'y huwag mong isipin
Na pag-ibig ko'y di tunay
Dahil sa 'yo lang nadama
Ang isang pag-ibig na walang kapantay
Nguni’t masasaktan lang ang puso ang pagbibigyan
Kahit pamamaalam ang siyang bulong ng isipan
Darating sa buhay mo
Pag-ibig na laan sa 'yo
At mamahalin ka niya
Nang higit sa maibibigay ko
NOTE: These are true stories gathered from my conversations with people (except for the last one which I got from TV).
