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anihan-spills · 5 years

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Girl in the Mirror (Part V)

V. Catherine and Sienna

Catherine and her family sit facing the television as they eat breakfast. The black and white monitor showed a big man in a barong behind a podium. The television voiced, “As of the 21st of the 6th month, I sign Proclamation No. 1081, placing the entire Philippines under Martial Law—”, before the statement was cut off short. She sat glumly before the television was turned off by her father.

“Marcos is getting all the news lately.” Mr. Lamanya said, shaking his head, as he stood from the couch to walk to the dining room.

He was greeted by Mrs. Lamanya, who placed the plate of scrambled eggs on the table. “And soon, there will be no news.”, she says glumly.

“Political drama…” Catherine sighed.

The mother placed three empty plates for her family. Mr. Lamanya was the first to sit and to get a spoonful of scrambled eggs and rice on his plate. Catherine entered the room and grabbed the brown leather jacket on the chair that stood in front of an empty plate. As she left, Mrs. Lamanya stared at her daughter with concern.

“Honey!” Mrs. Lamanya exclaimed, “Don’t sleep on your breakfast!”

“I need to work,” Catherine replied, going back to kiss her parents before bidding goodbye.

Mrs. Lamanya frowned and held Catherine’s shirt. This made Catherine groan. “And where is your so-called work?”

“At Mulat Theatre,” Catherine replied glumly.

“Oh!” Mr. Lamanya chimed in, “That’s where Sienna’s play is!”

“Y-Yes…” Catherine sighed.

“Oh! So no wonder!” Mrs. Lamanya chuckled, “You’re going to interview her! That’s so sweet! No wonder you got the assignment. Both of you have been best friends for such a long time—”

Mrs. Lamanya was cut off by the sound of the loud knocking on the door. The mother frowned as Catherine went to the door. The tension grew as she jittered, turning the doorknob, only to see Titoy. The blockmate waved his hand in enthusiasm.

Catherine, with a walkman in her hand, trots on the street with her friend.

“How are you, man?” Titoy asked his friend to initiate the conversation.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Catherine replied back. “We’re off to Mulat today?” “Yeah,” Titoy answered. He turned to face Catherine, looking tense. “You good?”

“I-I’m fine,” Catherine answered, taking a deep breath.

“Oh, okay!” Titoy smiled, “I was hoping I could interview the three main actors while you could interview... Sienna?”

“Sienna?” Catherine chuckled uneasily, “You know her and I kind of hate each other now, right?”

“Yeah, but why?” Titoy shrugged. “Wasn’t she—”

“She’s reckless! And she doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut!”

“Like you so do?”

Catherine sighed and looked away.

Titoy laughed and punched Catherine on the arm. “Come on! I’m just joking! Anyways, there’s a party later tonight. You wanna go? Y’know maybe meet boys? Men, maybe?”

“I’m not kissing anyone tonight.” she laughed.

The two continued on.

Catherine and Titoy walked into the theatre. They saw the whole cast entangled in a catastrophe — Sienna was angry.

“No! That's not how you do it!” Sienna shouted in rage. “That's not how the scene goes! Look! It says: "Is this a dagger I see before me?", not: "Is this a small sword I bought in they goddamn toy store two weeks ago!" You are him! The treacherous ruler! And if only I could say his name right now, I would! What would the people who are gonna interview us gonna say when they're going to come over here later and they see us like this, huh!?”

“Sienna, we’re here,” Catherine said.

Sienna turned around to see Catherine and Titoy staring blankly at her, obviously appalled by her behavior. Sienna stomped away after saying: “Take five!”

The whole cast would look at each other, making murmurs that would only talk about Sienna's outburst. Catherine tried to run after her before ending up in the middle of nowhere — specifically some dark place backstage. She continued to walk slowly before chancing upon the mirror. She admired it slowly before chuckling. “Wow, don’t you look pretty.”

And of course, hearing pretty, I’d appear before Catherine, smiling. I appeared… too sudden. “Hey! you do too!”

She stared at me. She just stared. Then a single moment passed. She closed her eyes and fell down on the floor.

Let’s say about five, maybe ten, minutes later, she groaned, waking up. She looked around at her surroundings before sighing. She sat up straight and looked at the mirror once more. “Gosh…” she muttered, “Am I dead?”

“I heard all college students are,” I said, making her turn and stare. I noticed her becoming light-headed again, so I interjected. “Allow me to introduce myself. Hi! I’m Lucy. I’m the girl in the mirror.” She continued staring before voicing, “So I’m not dead?”

“Uh, I hope so?”

She fixed herself in a more comfortable position. She asked, “What are you? Who are you? Why are you there?”

“That’s a long story.” I chuckle, “Maybe another time?”

“No, it’s okay.” Catherine smiled, “I can handle it.”

This made me blush. “A-Are you sure?”

“Yeah! Go on. I’m telling you, I can handle it.”

I breathed in and released. “Well, my first owner was Alberta — snarky and very, very smart. She loved the stars and the planets and all that, but she wasn't really allowed by her parents to do so. She wasn’t really allowed by society to do so. One day she helped this guy on his scientific paper and I… never knew what happened after that. Maybe she successfully snuck out? Maybe she went to the convent? Maybe she was burned at a stake? One thing's for sure, I will never see her again.”

“Woah…”

“Then there was Eugenie — confident and very, very beautiful. Her mother died very young. After that, she went looking for her father. One night, she met an American soldier to sneak her in the base camp. She met a man who she knew was her father, but the man denied everything. I never knew what happened to her next. Maybe her father took her in and accepted her? Maybe she was imprisoned? Maybe she was caught and killed? Another thing's sure, I will never see her again.”

“Gee…”

“Last, there came Maria. She was reserved and very, very, very simple. Sadly, this simplicity of her hid the abundance of her problems. She only told me she was raped by her father’s Japanese comrade. She continued to be advanced on multiple times. The man even proposed to her in front of her father, so she had no choice but to say yes. One day, she met a slave and helped her escape that night. I never knew what happened to her next. Maybe they ran off to a far-off place? Maybe they were seized, throwing the slave but saving Maria? Maybe they were both killed? Then I know, I will never see her again.”

“Wow, you’ve been here for a long time, haven’t you? Maybe even before the Spanish period, you’ve lived.”

“A long time doesn't mean I've learned a lot. Sometimes, you'd wish you'd have more.”

“Well, what else would you do?”

“Get to know where the people I knew ended up, I guess.”

“Gee, I never knew something would happen such as that. Ironic for me. I'm a writer. I'm supposed to be looking at different perspectives and different stories. But at that one time I failed to do so, I lost my best friend. At that one time, I chose to be silent. At that one time, I chose to be a coward. Then I told myself I'm so sick and tired of politics. Maybe I was just so sick and tired of not taking a stand.”

That moment, Titoy entered, jumping around giddily. “Uy, Cathy! There’s a party later?”

“Tonight?” Catherine frowned, “Isn’t there curfew?”

“Sleepover party!” Titoy smiled, “Sige na! Sienna will be there!” Catherine exhaled and turned to the mirror, only to frown when she saw me gone. She sighed and turned to Titoy, nodding. “I’ll go.”

The walls of the room were draped in neon, and almost psychedelic, colored embroidery. Catherine held a red cup of juice in the corner, staring at everyone with disbelief. She was the only one immune to Rey Valera’s “Kamusta Ka” And in the corner of her eye, she sees a girl with flowing brown hair. She knew her well. It was Sienna. After a single moment, their eyes meet. They stared from the opposite sides of the room. A tear exited Sienna’s eye. Catherine took one step toward her friend, but Titoy stood in front of Catherine. “Hey!”, he smiled. Being the mettle she was, Catherine pushed Titoy away and continued walking slowly towards Sienna, eventually leading herself outside.

She saw Sienna walking under the dim streetlights whose circles touched each other at one point of their circumferences. Sienna’s head was bowed low, hands were in her jean pockets. Catherine breathed in, summing up the confidence to run up to her friend. Eventually, they did. Each step made Catherine’s heart beat faster. Sienna looks behind her, and as she saw Catherine run up to her, she decided to spare herself for fun. Sienna ran faster. They were like two children playing tag late at night. Catherine eventually caught up to Sienna, making her friend fall. They gave off one last laugh before the two looked up and saw two soldiers holding rifles. Their hearts skipped beats.

“What are the two of you doing here late at night?”, a soldier asked from behind. Catherine and Sienna jumped, startled by this. The soldier grabbed Catherine’s arms and held her back as Sienna was done the same.

“Teka…” one of the soldiers smirked at Sienna, “Ikaw ba si Sienna Magdangal? Yung komunistang mandudula?”

“Hindi pagiging komunista ang paglalaban ng demokrasyang tinanggal ng pangulo niyo!—” Sienna shouted back. She was interjected, however, when she was slapped by one of the soldiers.

Catherine looked around, hoping she could figure out an escape on time. Then, she thought of something — something she thought she would never do.

“I know what we could do before we throw them out to jail.” Another soldier chimed in.

“Really?” Catherine voiced out, grinning. “Come closer. I’m going to tell you something.”

The soldier smiled and went up to Catherine. Catherine went up closer to him and kissed him. This made Sienna and the other soldiers drop their jaws. A second later, the soldier flinched, pulled away from Catherine, and screamed.

The soldier that held Catherine lose his grip. She punched the two soldiers, taking their guns from them. Catherine pointed those two guns at the soldier holding Sienna. The soldier apologetically let go of Sienna. Catherine smirked. And the two ran away — off to a dark alley to catch their breath.

Catherine and Sienna looked at each other before smiling. Those smiles eventually turned into laughter.

“I never knew you had the power to do that!” Sienna punched Catherine’s arms, laughing once more.

“I never knew I had it either!” Catherine admitted back.

Sienna placed her head on Catherine’s shoulder. Sienna sighed. She reached for Catherine’s fingers and played with them for a bit before smiling. “You know, I’ve been taking unprofessional therapy from someone. She helps me with a lot of things. My family who doesn’t believe my ideals would add up to shit, worries about my job, and like... saying I'm sorry to you. Especially if I wasn't able to understand why you wanted to—”

“No! I'm sorry! I wasn't able to adjust for you. Politics, business, and the economy can get pretty stressful — especially now. I guess I have to learn to accept that — especially if I want things to change.” Catherine sighed. She looked away and continued, “Life is a party. Sometimes, we get to be decoration. But by the time we somehow, miraculously get out and become the moving sculptures we are, we'll make sure to watch each other so that none of us will break. I’ll watch over you. I’ll protect you.”

“You will?”

“Yeah! Duh!” Catherine exclaimed before smiling softly at Sienna, “I love you.”

Sienna smiled. “I love you too.”

Catherine stared at her in disbelief — the good kind. Then, a thought passed her mind. “Where do we stay for the night?”

“I think I know.” Sienna grinned. She looked at the open side of the alley that revealed the Mulat theatre standing as a savior.

The two held hands as they walked to the backstage. Sienna stopped in front of the mirror. Catherine raised a brow before Lucy revealed herself.

“Finally!” Lucy smiled, “Operation Get-Sienna-Back-With-Catherine is successful!”

Sienna chuckled. Her amazement contrasted with Catherine’s shock.

“H-How did you?—” Catherine asked before being interjected.

“She’s my unprofessional therapist.”

All that’s well ends well.

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