Characters In My Life

She was there yesterday. I wanted to talk to her, deeply, really. When I first saw her there at the tennis court, she was with the daughter of my older brother's rich boss. She smiled at me and as usual, I saw the face of a young girl which I have always been proud of. She was out of my sight for more than five months. In the last three years of my life, I just saw her twice. She just turned ten years old the other day.

I was so happy to see her, but outrightly saddened by the fact that she had to leave my mom and my dad. If I were her, I would have done the same. My parents just couldn't give her a birthday party. Just like her, my parents never threw me a party once in my entire life. Not that I could remember of. They'd rather buy a few kilos of rice and third-rate meals to support the huge family they raised.

How my sister missed and yearned for that, I should know. Out of the ten years, she rarely had a birthday celebration at home.

She was eating some chips with her newly found friend. They were having a real good time as they were singing some childrens' songs. I asked her how she was and she said she was ok. She quickly told me to buy my mom a pair of jogging pants so she could take them with her when they go back home. Our hometown is a six-hour drive from Manila.

My sister was a little timid as usual but starting to be more sociable. I felt happy but a little scared. I have seen children my sister's age here in Manila and I can clearly see the difference of urbanized upbringing from that of a rural one. There was some fear in me. She is the only girl in the family, reserved, respectful, and sweet, and I just worry a lot about her.

I heard from my brother that it was his boss who gave her a party the night before. Again, I was so delighted but there was some twinge of jealousy in me. How I wanted to take her with me to the mall yesterday, perhaps have her a train-ride experience, or go to the zoo. She hasn't had these experiences yet. I should have bought her a gift, instead but I didn't, thinking that we could go out together that day. I failed but was a little satisfied to see she was doing well and enjoying her short stay in Manila.

I left when it was dark, around 8:00 p.m. I was looking for her, I wanted to say goodbye and see her for the last time before I departed because December can't just wait, but she was gone. I just felt sorry, I never initiated to invite her out, she must just turn me down. She must have been enjoying the company of her newfound playmate.

Walking on my way home, I looked at my wallet. The only one thousand-peso bill was there (about 20 dollars). "Could this buy, the tens of pens I kept promising her before? Or the colorful notebooks and pair of rubber shoes I didn't give her? What about the girl scout uniform? And the stickers? Maybe, I should try harder next time."