Love in a Time Capsule

A Hero's First Love - Chapter 4

My eyelids flutter as I take in the solihiya design of a wooden chair, the same one I had seen when I first met Segunda. I whimpered as I felt the slightly painful thud of some parts of my body that came in contact with the legs of the chair.

As I finally got up from lying down, I looked around with my eyes squinted, trying to make sense of where I was. I mean, I knew exactly where I was, with all its glorious wooden furniture and designs, but it just didn't make sense for me to be here. I vividly remember sleeping beside Segunda in our chamber, so how come I woke up at her home again?

Then I saw a framed painting labeled "San Sebastian Cathedral" in all caps and computerized. I decided to come closer and saw framed photos of our relatives displayed on top of a wooden table. Some of the photos were black-and-white, while others were in color, but regardless, I knew they were relatives who existed way beyond when Segunda was alive.

I looked at my clothes and saw that I was not wearing my camisa. I was wearing my t-shirt and shorts instead.

I felt my heart sink and my gut tighten into a knot, and I realized I did not want to be here yet.

I can't help but remember Segunda—the way she eats and sleeps, and she always needs my help with even the simplest tasks. I can't go back here—not yet. I knew that Segunda needed me.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I ran as fast as I could, hoping that I was running so fast that I could catch up with time and go back to where Segunda was again. I found myself dashing away from the second floor, running down the flight of stairs until I reached the open doorway near where Segunda's portrait was.

"Segunda," I whispered to her portrait, my voice trembling and tears still streaming down my face. "Please take me back."

I waited for the mysterious feeling I felt when I saw her photo, willing for whatever force that was to pull me again and enchant me. I tightly shut my eyes while I clenched my fist and jaw, hoping for the magic to take its effect.

I waited and waited...but nothing.

"Oh, you're back!" Ate Lucing remarked with a mysterious look enveloping her face, a slight grin forming on the sides of her lips.

"Anak!" my mom exclaimed, her face etched with a worried look. "I was so worried! Where have you been?"

My mom forced me into a hug, and I looked at Ate Lucing, whose expression had now become unreadable.

"I-I was just upstairs..." I answered as I felt like choking on my own words.

"Huh? But Ate Lucing said you weren't there when she checked on you," she said in a puzzled tone.

"Ah, yes, I might have missed her," Ate Lucing said in a trance-like manner. "There are some slips in the corners of this house where you could easily get lost, and it will take you long before you can get back in your tracks again."

Mom looked at Ate Lucing like she was crazy and then looked back at me again.

"I don't know what Ate Lucing is saying," mom told me in a whisper, her hand covering her mouth as she spoke. "They say she really says the weirdest of things, but that might be from hunger. We've been looking for you for hours now. It's already almost dusk."

We went to the makeshift office near the main house and ate our meals. Mom kept glancing my way with a concerned look as if we'd been eating without anyone saying anything.

"Are you okay, anak?" she asked. "You look so down."

"I'm okay, mom. Just tired. I didn't get enough sleep."

She didn't look too convinced, but thankfully, she didn't press for more details. The truth is, I'm really not okay, but I didn't feel like talking after all that happened.

I am so sure I spent months together with Segunda, Ipia, and Pepe. The memory is so vivid that I am convinced that I did not just imagine all those things. But I also knew that the idea of me getting back in time was so improbable that I knew she wouldn't believe me even if I told her what happened in detail.

"Your Spanish latte is now cold, but it's still there," Ate Lucing said, eyeing me. "It's up to you how you'll accept it and how you'll make sense of what happened."

My mom's cheeks flushed red with Ate Lucing's remark.

"Oh, yes. About that... I'm sorry I forgot to take it away," my mom said, embarrassed.

"It's okay," Ate Lucing said. "I'll take care of it."

Mom breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, ate."

But I'm quite sure that it's not the coffee that Ate Lucing was talking about. I feel like she knows that Casa de Segunda is anything but ordinary. I even have a hunch that Ate Lucing knows something about the mystical phenomenon that I have experienced.

We finished our meals and gave the leftovers to Ate Lucing for her to bring to her family. Mom decided to just go back next time to learn more about the ancestral house. Ate Lucing also provided her with some documents she could look into for the time being.

"Kaye," Ate Lucing shouted, her muffled voice barely audible from the inside of the car. She peeked through the car window, urging me to roll it down. "You left this."

Tears once again rolled down my eyes as she handed me a white rose, the same one that Pepe gave me.

"There are really some incredible things in this world that we cannot explain," Ate Lucing said, waving goodbye. "But what matters is that the heart believes and remembers what the mind refuses to comprehend."