It’s been 6 days since I’ve returned to my forced hometown. Forced because while my umbilical cord was cut and buried in this place, my fondest growing up memories lie somewhere else. And umbilical cords are not the kind of appendage that’s usually associated with cheesy home definitions.
To keep myself interested, I have resorted to skating on thin ice. I’ve been pushing the SO to the edge of unreasonableness. What can I say, I’m bored. During those times when I’m successful in ungluing myself from the SO’s sticky grasp, I hop into a bus or a jeepney to go to my father’s barrio. It’s a 17 kilometer ride along narrow roads and mediocre scenery– that rice paddy extending towards the horizon is so passe.
In one of my jeepney rides, I decided to just cling at the back of the jeep, standing beside the conductor instead of comfortably sitting inside with the rest of the passengers. and playing with my smartphone. With the driver’s utter disregard for potholes and natural humps, the ride was almost an enchanted kingdom attraction, except there’s no harness or safety belt. Had I fallen from that ride, a broken leg would be the least of my concerns. But the ride was terrific! Hanging on for dear life while enjoying the waterfall of winds lashing mercilessly at my face was pure exhiliration. Throwing my head back and letting the winds have their way was like giving in to a brute force. the pleasure was indescribable. I felt like I was in control of my life. That at any point in that 17 kilometer journey, I could have released my grip and there would be nothing.
If I’m lucky, I chance on a bus that picks up passengers (some don’t. first class and all that) and I make sure I sit in the back, you know the elevated portion. It’s nice to be sitting in buses and not think about time. When I’m in the big bad city, I couldn’t wait for the trip to end, silently willing the driver to drive faster, to stop picking passengers. But here, with the windows wide open and sunlight streaming in, I couldn’t care less. It’s very refreshing to be free from the trappings of time.
It’s been 6 days since I’ve been here, and I have 6 more days left to forget about everything work related and just focus on the inanities of my daily existence. Except for a few hours spent concentrating on a mahjong table, most of the time I spend my days in pointless wanderings and wonderings. Exactly the kind of purpose-less vacation that I want.
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