Afloat

Seated near the life-size poster of a man promulgating a clothing brand
Unfamiliar voices clouded the girl’s mind
She sits there, nonchalantly
Her eyes wandering
Observing people’s crooked smiles and arched eyebrows
Her senses falter, she loses track of time
Books piled up to her nose
Papers scattered in front of her, like stars seen when the sky is clear
She reaches for her phone inside her dusty purple bag.
None. No message from anyone, not even from her sim card’s service line
She places the device on top of the pile of books by her side.
She takes her pen and her little notebook
Scribbles a few lines trudging, pounding inside her head
Eager to be caught in the pen’s charmed ink
Her thoughts, rushing, bumping like wild beasts
Her hands, her pen, cannot keep up with the impossible
Words ran frantically in her fragile domain
And then abruptly she stops, gasps for air, for life
Tears surface from the wells of her heart
She lets go of the pen and covers her face with bare hands
“I’ve had enough remembering for the day.”
She reaches for her pen, not to write a line or two
“Now, back to work.” She whispers to herself
As she picks another test paper to look through
—
Sums is currently a 3rd year student at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan