From A to Z

E

Before Adam could ask, Mateo pulled out his black sleeping bag and unrolled it on the floor. The three of them coughed because of the dust that was sent flying.

"Are you really going to sleep there?" Adam asked in between coughs.

"I think we can all fit in the bed," Zach commented.

"And make ourselves uncomfortable? I don't think so," Mateo quickly replied.

Before Adam and Zach could argue with him, Mateo has cocooned himself in the sleeping bag. The two looked at each other and shrugged.

"Should we put up the kulambo?" Zach asked after parting the pillows amongst themselves.

Seeing no reason to disagree, he and Zach tied the mosquito net to a nail or wood within the reach of the laces of the net where they can be stably tied to.

Adam laid down as soon as he was inside the kulambo. Today was a long day. But he felt ashamed of himself when he noticed that Zach was still sitting, his legs in a lotus position, saying a silent prayer. Adam thought of praying along with him but was a second late because Zach has crossed himself and laid beside him.

"Good night," Zach whispered.

"Good night," he greeted him back.

Although he was tired, Adam did not drift to sleep as quickly as he wanted. Something bothered him as he laid there beside Zach.

A man should not have a problem sharing a bed with another man, but he felt strange. He could not fathom the reason because he has not felt this way before. When he was little, he shared a bed with his older brothers. In their fraternity house, sometimes he shares his bed with Alex, Dennis, and Louis after a drunken night. But in none of those circumstances did he feel this peculiar sensation he was feeling.

Maybe it was the kulambo? The yellow mosquito net was like an enclosure which separated the two of them from the world. The sound of the kuligligs (cicadas) was hushed; the noise of Mateo's snore was filtered down. Only one sound remained: his breathing.

Maybe that was what was bothering him. Yet, even though it bothered him, as he slowly drifted to sleep, his breathing unknowingly followed the rhythm of Zach's.

When he woke up shortly before six the following morning, Zach was not beside him anymore. He thought that the two were together, but he saw that Mateo was still cocooned on the floor, snoring soundly like last night.

Adam quietly fixed the bed. He removed the ties of the kulambo and neatly folded it. He did the same to the bedsheet and the pillowcases and returned them to the cabinet. He folded the mattress into half and sandwiched the pillows in between, the same way he found them yesterday.

Zach was not in the hall when Adam stepped out of the room. Instead, he found him outside of the house standing underneath the mango tree. He was holding up his camera, taking photos of the majestic sun as it slowly painted the purple sky with its bright yellow color as it rose above the line of darkened trees.

"So, did you wake up early just to catch the sunrise?" he said when he reached where Zach was.

Zach turned towards him. His face was beaming with happiness, reflecting the bright beauty of the sunrise.

"Well, it was worth it," Zach said softly.

The two of them silently gazed at the rising sun and the plainness of the world it was slowly illuminating. The tomato field in front of them was full of wilting trees after being harvested; even the vines on the trellises to their right have disheveled. But the sunlight gave them a certain glow that made them beautiful to look at.