Chapter 8 Take It

• (TYRON)
• At last, some quiet place. It was what I needed.
• My head was throbbing but thankfully the tears had stopped. I closed my eyes and tried to block the memories from coming back again. How I wished something could make me forget my miseries. Something to live for, especially now that a person dear to me was gone.
• I wiped the wetness off my cheeks and attempted to savor the peace.
• The chirping of cicadas…
• The gentle rustling of trees...
• The cool night air brushing against my nape…
• Until a loud sound and the shuffling of small rocks destroyed the quiet. I swiftly turned my head around to see who or what it was. My body moved on its own when I saw it was a woman on the ground. But she has already stood up and was collecting her things from the dirt when I opened the car door. Three pieces of white roses remained on the ground so I picked them instead.
• “This must be yours,” I held out the flowers.
• She smiled out of the blue and panic suddenly rose up to me. She knew me, of course. My face has been all over the news for a month already.
• “I was really about to give them to you,” she said.
• Why?  I gave her a bitter smile. Because you pitied me?! I wanted to cut the conversation short and drive off somewhere again but my hands reached out to give the flowers back to her.
• “Those are for you. There must be a reason why I slipped and you picked them up. You looked upset when I first saw you so I want to give them to you,” she said “It should remind you that everyone in the world has their own problems to deal with too.”
• I was confused so I called her out. She played deaf to my call and continued walking. Without thinking, I ran after her and grabbed her by the arm. I withdrew my hands immediately when I noticed her staring at it with concern, “Hey…”
• “Take it,” she looked back at the roses.
• @SenaMangampo