DREAMS, Vague Dreams

“Narra? Kanina ka pa nakatingala sa painting na yan. Gusto mo yan, ‘no?”

Napapitlag ako sa pagtabi ni Nhecias sa akin. Nakitingin din sya sa tinitignan kong larawan. I sighed.

That painting.

Muli kong ibinalik ang tingin sa painting. The painting showed a man who was painting a picture of a silhoutte of a lady. It’s just simple but I admired how creative the painter was. And one more thing, I had a feeling na ako yung babaeng silhouette ang histura na ipinipinta ng pintor. Ewan ko. Napanaginipan ko na kasi ito. Yung aktwal?

“Huy,” untag ni Nhecias. “Tinatanong kita, e.”

Tumingin ako sa kanya. Nakakunot na ang noo nya sa akin. “Ano bang tanong mo?”

“Ewan ko sa’yo. Kanina ka pa kasi nakatingin sa painting na yan. Ayan lang yung tinitigan mo. Marami kayang mas maganda dyan.”

I just smiled. Nhecias knew nothing about my dreams kaya hindi rin nya ako maiintindihan.

“Punta tayo sa may abstract. Mas maganda iyon. ‘Di ba, fave mo yung abstract painting?”

Yes. I was a fan of abstract painting. I appreciated how creative the painter could do such painting with just the use of different colors and strokes on the paper. By that, a concept could be made.

“Huy! Earth to Narra Michaella Andicoy! Baka gusto mong pumunta muna sa canteen? Kanina ka pa, a? You do not even answer my questions.”

Napabuntung-hininga na lang ako. Nhecias was so kulit. I had told her a while ago na mauna na syang mag-canteen dahil nga pupunta ako sa painting exhibit na naka-pwesto sa may court. Bigla ko kasing nakita ‘tong painting na kanina ko pa pinagmamasdan.

I almost fainted when I saw the painting. That was exactly the dreams I’d been dreaming for almost a month. I did not call it nightmare. It was just dreams that crossed my mind when I was asleep. And I did not know why the name of that painting bugged me.

The chimera.

“What’s chimera?” I suddenly burst out.

“That’s a monster from Greek mythology. Don’t tell me you don’t know that? Nag-Mythology subs na tayo, oy!” Nhecias tugged me. Hindi naman ako naalis sa pwesto ko.

“I know,” I mumbled, eyes fixed on the painting. “It’s just that I have seen that in my dreams.”

“Ano?” Ulit niya. “Dreams? Don’t me nga, Narra! How could you possibly dream that, e, taga UST yung nag-paint? Don’t tell me bestfriend mo yung painter nyan? Tapos kakwentuhan mo ng dreams mo, tapos drinowing ka nya? Naku, huh!”

“Don’t be riduculous. It’s not like that. Believe it or not, nakita ko na yang nasa painting. Yang silhoutte na girl? That’s me. Standing behind the painter. We’re talking pa nga, e.”

Hindi ko narinig ang sagot ni Nhecias kaya naman lumingon ako. Only to find out the ridiculous look on her face.

“Do you want me to bring you to the hospital?”

“What?”

“What-what ka dyan. Tigilan mo ko sa hallucinations mo, Narra Michaella, a. Hindi ako natutuwa. Kaunti na lang talaga at iisipin kong baliw ka na nga at kailangan mo na ng psychiatrist.”

“You’re so mean,” lumabi kong turan. Ang sama ng ugali ng bestfriend ko. Isipin daw ba kong baliw? How good could she get?

“I am mean kaya tigilan mo na yan. How could you say that? Dreams-dreams. Hallucinations yan. C’mon, tumingin naman tayo sa iba. I saw more beautiful painting than that.”

Hinila nya ako paalis sa tapat ng pwesto na yun at dinala sa may abstract section. Hindi ako natutuwa sa nakikita ko because The chimera painting kept on bugging me.

How could a dream like mine have been shown and visualized in a painting I, myself, didn’t make? The same replica of my dreams was just the painting. There’s a man in a spacious cabin, sitting comfortably in front of his canvass with his brush and paint on both of his hand. I was just behind him for a night, looking at his back for he never looked back at me. The following days had been like that. After a week of dreaming the same scenario, he looked back and greeted me “Hello”. Vague yung mukha nya. Hindi ko makita. Hanggang sa naka-kwentuhan ko na sya habang sinisimulan nyang magpinta. Weird, I knew.

“Look at this, o. May hidden silhoutte din ng babae sa abstract! Ang galing. Tignan mo, Narra,” Nhecias nudged me.

Tinignan ko yung sinasabi nya. Wala naman akong makitang silhoutte. Tumango na lang ako sa lahat ng mga sinabi nya. Baka magwala pa yan kapag hindi ko sya pinansin. Katulad ko, art fanatic din sya. Inilipat ko na ang tingin sa iba pang painting. Hindi ko talaga nagugustuhan yung mga nakikita ko. Gusto ko yung The Chimera.

Nang mag-lunch na ay pumunta kami sa foodcourt. Buti na lang at tinamad mag-canteen ang magaling kong bestfriend kaya sa gilid na lang kami ng court bumili ng makakain. Pagkabili ay pumuwesto kami sa pinakataas ng bleacher. Kanina pa makulimlim ang ulap kaya naman hindi kami maiinitan dito. Itong court namin ay hindi closed court. Tanging bubong lang ang meron at stage. Tapos open na sya.

As we ate the food we bought, I lazily roamed my eyes in the court. Maraming students na tumitingin sa mga painting. Hindi ko alam kung bakit nag-exhibit yung mga taga-UST at FEU rito sa school namin. Basta ang sabi ng professor namin, tumingin kami at mag-fill out ng form kung saan bibigyan namin ng komento yung painting na nagustuhan at pinakaayaw namin.

As of now, yung The Chimera talaga ang gusto ko.

“Meron ka na bang nagustuhan na painting?” Nhecias inquired.

Tumango ako. Tumawa naman sya. “Alam ko na. Yung The chimera, no? Grabe sya, o!”

“Huh? What’s wrong with that? Maganda kaya yun.”

Nhecias snickered. “Oo. Sa panaginip mo. Ang simple kaya non. Oo, creative, but it shows what? Yung dreams mo?”

I glared at her. “So ano ngayon? Sa maganda sya sa paningin ko, e. And kung napapanaginipan ko? Sasabihin mo na namang baliw ako? Ewan ko sa’yo. ‘Wag mo ‘kong kausapin, a?”

“Tampo ka na nyan? Ganyan ka naman, e!”

Hindi na ako umimik. Nhecias could be my bestfriend but she could also be my enemy. Lagi kaming war nyan dahil laging nasa intersection ang aming mga idea. Meaning, laging salungat ang ideas namin.

I heaved a sigh. Inaliw ko na lang ang sarili ko sa pagtingin sa mga taong naglalakad. Maraming unfamiliar faces. Siguro sila yung mga painter na nag-e-exhibit ng mga gawa nila. I admired them na. Ang galing nilang gumawa ng larawan na akala mo may buhay. Such creative talent must be flaunt in front of everyone. Mahirap kayang humanap ng inspirasyon para sa mga ganyang bagay.

Hinanap ng mata ko yung pwesto ng painting. Nasa may pinakadulo sya ng exhibit. Napakunot ang noo ko nang may namataan akong lalaking nakatayo roon. May nagkagusto rin sa The Chimera!

Bumaba ako ng bleacher. Tinawag ni Nhecias ang pangalan ko pero nag-wave lang ako sa kanya. “Sandali lang!”

Lumapit ako sa painting na gusto ko. Nakatayo pa rin yung lalaki. Nakatalikod sya.

De javu.

I had seen his back before! I knew it! Familiar sya sa akin.

Medyo lumapit ako sa painting. I saw the guy’s head tilted into my direction. Napatingin din ako sa kanya at ngumiti. Tapos ibinalik ko na ang tingin sa painting.

Hay. I really liked it. Gusto ko syang bilhin kaso wala naman akong pera. Patunay lang yan na yung panaginip ko ay totoo.

“Taga-rito ka po?” Wala sa loob na natanong ko. Nagulat ako sa sarili ko. Nagtanong ako? Narra Michaella, you’re so madaldal.

“Nope. I’m from UST.” Mas nagulat naman ako sa pagsagot nya sa tanong ko.

Oh! Kaya pala mukha syang RK. Rich kid.

“UST? E di, kilala mo po yung nag-paint nitong ‘The Chimera‘?”

“Yup. Why? Did you like this painting?” His soothing voice was so familiar. Narinig ko na rin.

I nodded. “Ang simple nya kasi. The strokes are just the normal ones. Tapos madali lang syang i-paint. Natural lang kasi. But the catchy part in there is that may story behind the scene. Para sa akin, iyon yung dahilan kung bakit lumutang yung ‘Simplicity is beauty’. And additional pa yung title. So catchy. ”

“How can you say that there’s story behind that?”

“Well, every painting has a story, di ba? So, kasama na yang The Chimera. Saka kasi…” I trailed off and looked at him. Would he think I was being insane if I told him that I’d seen the scene on the painting in my dreams? I barely knew him. I did not know him rather.

“What?” Curiousity was audible on his voice. Nakakunot yung noo nya at bahagyang nakaawang ang mga labi.

Napangiti ako. Ang gwapo pala ni Kuyang taga-Uste? Ngayon ko lang napansin. Well. Napangiti ulit ako. “Wala. Baka kasi sabihin mong insane ako.”

“Why would I?”

“Nothing. Don’t mind it.” Umiling-iling ako.

Bahagya naman syang natawa. “You know what? I have visualized that scene before I even saw it.”

“Huh?” Tama ba ang narinig ko? Nakita na rin nya?

He chuckled. “I was a bit insane if you must notice. I have seen that painting in my dreams. See, a bit insane, isn’t it?”

I chortled. “Oh, no! I tell you, you aren’t. I just happened to dream it, too!” So hindi talaga ako baliw. See? May katulad akong napapanaginipan din ito!

“Really? What a coincidence!” We both laughed. “I thought I was the only insane here, then there you are…”

“Don’t worry, we’re both sane,” I beamed. “so, tell me what your dreams are about. Kailan ka nagsimulang managinip? Ako kasi last month pa. The exact position of the man in that painting are just like in my dreams. Parang nabuhay yung panaginip ko!”

The kuya’ng taga-UST glanced meaningfully at my direction. Parang sinasabi ng tingin nya na ganoon din sya. He’d been dreaming the same exact dream.

“I wonder…” I whispered, then, cleared my throat. “…who that painter is. Vague kasi ang histura nya. Hindi ko maaninag. Ikaw? Nakita mo ba?”

Nginitian nya ako. Yung genuine smile, alam nyo yun? Parang ganoon.

“I know who the painter is…”

“Oo, malamang. Taga-UST ka, e.”

Humarap sya sa akin at ngumiti. “Do you believe in destiny?”

Huh? Bakit nya tinatanong? Ngumuso ako. “Ewan ko. Depende kasi yan sa pagkakataon.”

“I now believe in destiny. You do now, don’t you?”

“Hindi kita ma-gets.” Iling ko.

“I am the painter of that masterpiece. I named it The Chimera because someone asked me to do so. She’s the girl in my vague dreams, the one talking to me as I finished my work. Now, what do you think?”

I gaped at him. The vague dreams I kept dreaming for over weeks were real? Omo! Well, I’m not insane at all! I held my hand on him. “Nice finally meeting you. I am Narra Michaella Andicoy.”

“Ditto, sweatheart. I’m Aldrin Buenavista. And now, I do believe in destiny.”

—

E.R Baguinaon (08172017)