It’s been a decade already since I last visited my hometown. I spent half my twenties working myself to death just to contribute to society’s rat race, I’ve basically forgotten that I have a life outside of work. I snapped back to reality after hearing the news of my parent’s death, they are the victims of a reckless driver, the driver was arrested for reckless driving resulting in damage to properties, multiple physical injury, and two counts of homicide. Besides my father and mother dying, there are others that got involved and got injured in the process. My fiancée decided that it’s best to cancel our wedding for the meanwhile, I agreed, but it’s not because of the reason that I need to mourn, it’s because she’s done with the relationship. She explained how I was absent the whole relationship and that she endured everything for so many years and she had enough. I thought of begging for her to stay, but I understand her reason too. Besides, I don’t have that much will to beg for her, I’m stuck with what to do after my parent’s death. She left me in alone in the dark, weeping. After their burial, I decided it’s best for me to go take a break from work and visit my old hometown.
I stopped right at the entrance, memories came flashing back to me, I continued driving until I see an old high school. Yeah, this is it. It’s the high school I attended back then, just as I’m admiring the nostalgic beauty of my high school an elderly woman came up to me and told me what I was doing there.
“I just got back here after a long time, I’m just checking my old school out.”
The elderly woman then walked away, I noticed she shed a few tears but I didn’t think of it that much. The school wasn’t lock, but it’s close for outsiders. Maybe classes were in session, I entered through the gates and explored the auditory grounds, strange, there’s no security staff around. I bet I’d be kicked out if there are, but I already got in what am I thinking about. There are students skipping class, I remember when I used to that back then. I entered the school cafeteria, the cafeteria servers that I saw are still the same servers that served me my last meal in that school, they haven’t aged at all, not a single year since.
“Reid? Reid, is that you?”
“Really? It really is Reid. You’ve grown a lot.”
I’m surprised they remembered me still after all these years. I conversed with them for a while and this younger girl that seemed to be a student came up to me and introduced herself. Her name was Patricia Gilda, that name pulled some strings in me. It sounds familiar, but I can’t recall meeting someone with that name, but it felt like I already did. She offered to navigate my whole journey around the school and I accepted it. She started a topic that sounds a lot like my memory, a distant memory. She also speaks a lot like she knows me, the whole time that she’s talking I can only listen to every words that she said. And it came to the part where she talked about a boy that she loved, and the promise that he made to her. She brought me to a classroom, the room seems so familiar to me. As I’m processing everything she then started speaking again.
“this, this is where he made that promise to me.”
Why is this girl sharing too much? I barely met her but she’s comfortable enough to share such things to me. Before I can say something she told me to watch the desk near the windows of the classroom. Then blinding lights illuminated from afar and then people started to appear around the empty classroom.
Then, there was me, back there. With the same girl that is standing beside me. The then younger me started talking to her.
“Patricia, I’m moving to New York after this school year, I’m sorry I can’t stay with you. But I promise you I’ll return soon enough, I swear!”
“I’ll wait for your return then, bring my love with you out there. This won’t be the last time we’ll see each other.”
The blinding lights came up again and the people around disappeared, including my younger self.
“But that was the last time that we see each other. You didn’t return as soon as you promised, you swear.”
I finally remembered, everything. I couldn’t return due to my parents pressuring me to study even harder, I have no time to even think of other things. As I was to explain to her tears slowly came out her eyes and I couldn’t do anything but stand, I’m so confused about everything that happened so far. But a hall covered with screaming made me snap back to the situation. I turned back to the hall where we came from, I saw bodies lying everywhere. Kids running for their lives, teachers trying to comfort their crying students inside the classroom, students saying their final goodbyes to their parents, and Patricia dropping to the floor after she jumped in for a younger student. I can only turn my back as the gunman finishes off Patricia along with the student that she protected, despite turning away I can still hear the screams of terror around, Patricia’s body getting filled with slugs while I’m present to witness everything.
After the whole thing was done, I navigated my way out of the school to of course leave the place as everything around me is starting to turn into an old abandoned building that has been left dormant for a decade. As I’m one step away from the exit Patricia called out my name, I stopped without hesitation.
“Are you leaving me again just like that?”
I turned around to see that the high school, it’s back to its former enthusiasm. Patricia walking to me slowly and took my hand, dragging me with her back to the school, to revisit the past.