Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Chapter -1 Friendship

In the Rek land, Albert and Steven were best friends from childhood days until present, sometimes they were having their conflict because their mental abilities were not identical to each other, when their hearts held each other, both of them would support their heart to love one another.

One day, Randy, Steven’s father, asks him, “ Oh! Thank you very much my son, it’s good that your back. You know I am worrying about your situation. We did not sleep from the time you had left us. Where have you been?”

“Sorry, I didn’t come back to our house because I was joining with my friend, daddy,” Steven said.

“ Is it true? I think that’s not, you know, I was expecting that you were missing. I went to Albert’s house. Unfortunately, you were not around. To tell you frankly, I wanted to kill myself. I haven’t found you, even the lightness of the sun has witnessed my sacrifices and depression; to find you. Imagine 6 days ago, you did not go back to our mansion. So, what should I expect from you? If you were in my shoes, what would you feel?” father told him.

“I’m very sorry dad, honestly, my friend and I had gone to the mountain; to find gold. Surprisingly, the earthquake has arrived. What about here daddy? Had you experienced it at the same time? “ he said.

“Really? Honestly, we did not experience it,” he said.

Steven further says, “it’s good that you could still recover from the disaster. Next time, don’t go back to the mountain, we must be content with what we have for my son. Anyway our business is growing. Hopefully, it will rise soon.”

“Really daddy? But I want to earn money rather than from you. Actually, I have forgotten to mention you; we had found a snake under the land. You know, the snake is the reason why we are back. The snake had helped me and my friend,” he said.

“Oh! How come the snake helped you? Candidly, I don’t believe that. Snakes are the devil. Thus, no one has trusted the snake,” And he replies, “oh! That’s the reality , you know! When the snake tried to come on me. I felt like that. Surprisingly, the snake had shown it’s pithiness on me and my friend by breaking the soil under the land.”

And Steven tells him, “if the snake did not help us. Surely, I won’t be back in this mansion again. You must be over the moon today. Maybe my life will not end at that moment.” ( At this time, Randy has cried loudly, while his son has narrated about his past event.)

“Yes I am on the top of the world today. Though it’s sad to hear it my son because of the miracle; the sun is still rising today. So, we must celebrate this day for your arrival,” he said.

At this time, Che calls him via his mobile phone, “hello Steven! It’s my pleasure to hear your voice. You know, I had sought you but you were not around, we thought that you were gone.”

“It’s wonderful to know that you had sought me last time. Actually, I had been under the land. There, we tried to find some minerals under the land. Unfortunately, there was an earthquake.”

And Che replies, “really? It’s sad to hear. Steven tells her that the snake had helped us. Menchie tells him that, ``I did not believe your statements.”

He tells her, “I don’t force you to believe me. Actually, I am just narrating what happened to me and my friend. She tells him that oh! I apologize, would you continue to tell me?”

And he further said the snake who had helped me to escape there. At this time, she listens to him only without interrupting him. Afterwards, she tells him that your experience there was dangerous. “And I am very thankful that I have talked to you via this phone.”

In the morning, Steven did not wake up early due to too much exhaust . His father did not go to his room yet, his father has prepared food for them. While sleeping, his phone rings, he does not pick up his phone. After two hours, Alfred visits him, since he is still feeling. Hence, his father is the one who entertains him. He is waiting for him until he wakes up. Steven goes to the bathroom; go take his bath. Randy tells him “you have a visitor. And you know , he is waiting too long.”

Thus, he does not continue to take his bath. He entertains Alfred, “I would be invited you; to celebrate my birthday.” At this time, Alfred did not know yet about his situation.

“If my dad allows me to go to your house,” he tells his father. Suddenly, Mr. Randy does not allow him. To that, he has tried to ask for permission from Steven. Unfortunately, he does approved his permission. Therefore, Alfred goes back to his hometown.

Albert's house is very far from Steven. Therefore, Steven does not go with him to his house. There, he is lonely and has a lump in his throat. And then, he expects that his mother and father would get mad at him. While travelling, he does not concentrate on the way. Upon arriving, he is schock, “oh! My goodness, what happens to our house here? Where is my mother and father?”

At this time, the house has fallen down, and then, there are some parts of the house that have not yet fallen. Due to his bravery, he has entered the house, while finding his father and mother. Lyca, his neighbour has shouted,

“Albert! Do not enter your house, the wind is still on the verge.” Meanwhile, she comes out to the house.

“Don’t go, the wind might fall on the remaining parts of the building.”

“Oh no! I have trusted myself. And the wind cannot break my body, it’s just a wind. And the hard materials could not break my head and body.”

“No just follow me, there are a lot of people who are dying due to that problem.”

“Where is my mother and father? Albert asked.

“Actually, your mom and dad are already in the barangay centre. You know last night, when you were not around. There was a strong earthquake and strong wind,” she said.

“I don’t believe your statement, my father and mother are not dead yet. So, I would go to our house again, to find them, maybe they have taken their rest only,” she informed.

“Don’t go there, just follow me, the wind is still strong. If you won’t believe me, look at our environment here. The trees and some of the houses fell.” At the time, Lyca brings Robert to the hall. There, he sees his parents who are dying.

“ Mommy and daddy, why did you leave me? I had sacrificed to find gold in the mountain, but you have left me. How would I survive now without you? I am still young, I still need your hands and heart. Mom and dad, please open your eyes. I don’t like to accept this veracity. If you would be, I would like to end my life,” while he talked to his parents. Lyca is still crying about his situation.

Before they left this area, “as a neighbour, you could still survive without them. You know my father and mother had already passed away yet, I still survive. You must bear in mind that everything is temporary. And you must be thankful to yourself because you are still alive. I am here to help you. Just accept the reality, don’t down yourself, you should need to have more energy to fight this storm,” she shared.

“I still need them tita. You know, I did not go home last time because the soil had pulled under the land, while we were breaking the soil. Fortunately, I am still alive but my family has left me. It’s good that no one has helped me to go back here,” he told.

“I understand your situation but you should accept it.”

The dead bodies of his father and mother are in the house of Lyca, before they will bury the dead. At this time, Robert has realised how to contact his friend.

“Hello friend, where are you now? You know, I am down in the dumps because when I arrived yesterday, our house had fallen.”

And Steven replies, “I am very sorry for your lost cousin. When will you bury your parents?” “We will bury them tomorrow. Okay cousin! I will inform my dad so that we can attend for the final day.”

In the evening, Daddy! Robert’s mother and father are dying. “We need to go there tomorrow, to attend his parents' final day.

“Okay, we will go there tomorrow, my son.”

In Lyca’s house, there are few people who have visited the place where Robert's parents' dead body has stayed, due to the many dead in the community. One hour later, Steven and his father arrived. There, Steven has given a condolence to the family.

“Just be strong, my cousin. We are here to support you. Our heavenly father who knows it. What we could do is to pray for them.”

“Thank you very much.”

After they have taken their breakfast. Immediately, they go to the cemetery, to finalise the dead body. There, the two dead bodies are being buried. Afterwards, they brought Albert to their house. On the other hand, Lee and Chie have arrived at the house of Alfred. They have brought food for them.

“Hi Chie and Leah, thank you for coming. I did not expect to come with us,” he said. (They reply, “we are here to surprise you.”

“Oh! Surprise for what?”

“I would like to introduce my two friends. This is Steven, he is a single and handsome guy, while Albert, a handsome guy who has engaged to Mary.

“Oh! It’s my pleasure to meet you, Chie and Leah,” Steven said.

“Thank you so much Mr. Steven.”

At this moment, Chie has shown her smile only to them. Then, Steven and Robert are over the moon; to play the game. They said that they don’t want to go to the beach.

“If that is your decision. I would also not go there. In this case, Lee has requested them.”

And she further says that they will enjoy playing with us on the beach. And Steven interrupts, he would not go there. But he wants to go to the sea. Everyone likes his suggestion.

In the seashore, they have placed the foods, soft drinks, and fruits on the table. Chie says, it’s good if Robert, Alfred, and Steven will swim on the sea before me and Lee.

“Yes, your plan is great. So, we will go to the sea now,” Alfred said.

While they are in the ocean, Leah says, “it’s good friends if we will join them so that we would have our bonding.”

“Yes, your idea is good. Why didn’t you object earlier? She replies, actually, I was following your decision. Now, I have realised I want to join them. We are here; to build our friendship. And then, we are here to enjoy our day.”

On the sea, Steven, Alfred, and Robert have ridden in the boat. “Oh! I am very happy to have you guys. This is my first time swimming in the ocean,” Steven said.

“Really? Is this your first time?” Alfred asked.

“Yes it is,” he said.

Since, they want to enjoy it more. Hence, they did not go back to the seashore. And Albert tells Steven, “can we now go back to the seashore?”

“Yes we can.”

“I think we still have to swim, we still have sufficient time; to take our bath here,” Steven said.

And they have replied that, “yes definitely but we still need to go back here. We must have our breakfast. Afterwards, it’s now the time to go back here,” to that Steven agrees.

At this time, they go back to the seashore.

“How was it? Have you enjoyed it there?” Leah asked.

They replied, “yes were.”

Chie replies, “it’s great to hear it.”

Albert, “will you join us later?”

They have replied yes, “we will just want to feel what you have felt now. That’s our aim to go here.”

Steven, “maybe my dad is worrying about me,” and they have replied, “no he is not. We must enjoy our day here. Your daddy will understand our event here.”

The ladies are giving food for them, while the gentlemen have started to eat. After preparing the foods on the table; they joined to take their lunch even though they had already eaten some food while eating. The gentlemen are talking about their good experience while the women have shared that they are bored while waiting on them. After they have eaten, Alfred has suggested “since we are done eating, it’s good if Lee and Menchie would join us.”

Menchie, “yes we will go there even if I don’t know how to swim well.” And Leah has added, “it's a very nice idea, I would join also so that I would be happy today with you guys.”

At the time, Steven is the one who drives the boat yet, the rest of them are riding it. While driving, Robert is extremely happy even if his parents had gone. And Chie and Lee, “it’s great to ride but we are still afraid the boat will sink,” the women have admired how Steven excellently drives the boat.

Alfred, “that’s how he drives this boat! He is an expert in whatever field he would take.”.

“It’s amazing to see him, Steven, would you teach me how to drive?”

“Are you interested?”

“Yes, I am. Just wait , I will let you drive it later but now just give me the time to take this opportunity,” she said.

Since, the boat can’t carry them. Therefore, Alfred finds another boat, and they go to the seashore; to rent another boat. Fortunately, they have found it. Lee remains on the boat of Steven.

“Are you still okay?”

“I am okay. I would teach you to drive this later,” Steven said.

“Would you teach me how to drive it? “

“Just observe me, you are not an expert yet, you should not operate on it.”

“Okay but later please teach me,” she said.

At the back of Steven, she is very noisy. “I like you Steven the way you drive this boat. It's amazing to see you.” And then she says, Yehey! Yehey! Yehey! “ Excuse me Lee , stop shouting.” However, she does not follow him.

On the other hand, Albert has driven the other boat. Beside him; Alfred and Chie, “if you need help Chie, just tell me,” and “no thanks, I can carry this one friend. Just trust me friend.”

At this time, the wave becomes strong and Steven together with Leah are far from them. They have ignored what they have seen. Moreover, they still want to go to the center where the ship might pass. With that, Alfred says, “let us contact Steven,” Chie replies, how? We don’t have phones here,”

And Albert further tells him, “we would just use our body language so that they will go back to the seashore.” Upon using their body language, however, Steven and Lee did not notice it. Chie is very scared when the boat has started to sink. “What should we do?”

At this point of time, Lee has started to drive the boat. Steven says,”just stop Lee”, the wave is strong, “we need to go back to the area where Alfred and Albert have stayed. You know, we are very away from them. (The big wave has pushed to the boat)

“Oh! My goodness, the boat has started to sink, Leah, please don’t stop holding me,” while holding Leah, unfortunately, he has left his hands. Albert and Alfred have wanted to help them. However, they are still saving Ms. Chie. Moreover, they are very far from them. With that, one of the fishermen has helped Steven.

“Sir, just ride this boat,”

“Thank you very much sir.”

“I still have a partner. Would you help me to find her?”

“Yes I could but how? I think we still need to save our lives, the waves are strong. Perhaps, we would sink our boat.”

“By the way, why didn't you know her? Actually, she has left my hands as I have tried to swim. Sir, I will go there. The fisherman replies, “Just save your life, we could not see her.” So, he brought him to the seashore.

On the other hand, Albert and Alfred know how to swim. Therefore, they could save their lives. In contrast to that, Chie doesn’t know how to swim, but she has been saved by the two men. On the seashore, they have waited for Steven after knowing somebody has saved him.

“It’s good to wait for him here,”

“It’s good I would join her; to go home so that her father will know about it,” Albert said. And then, they will not worry about their daughter.

“I would bring Menchie to her house now,” Alfred said.

“Okay, just take your time and take care always, I will be keeping in touch with you later.”

On the seashore, Steven wants to go back to the sea; to find her. And the fisherman tells him, “Ms. Lee has been eaten by the shark.” In spite of it, they did not stop to find her. However, no one has followed her. With that, Alex, the head in the barangay has informed his co-officials,

“We would ban people from swimming in the sea,”

And the officials have agreed with him. The people in the community have talked about this current occurrence. One time, Alfred visited the community leader “sir, we hope that you will give a solution about the situation of Lee”.

“We will do our best to find her.”

“Thank you sir.” The community leader has told her that “we would work together. It is useless if we are the one who would find her.”

Mrs. Tenyang is worrying about her daughter. In fact, she goes to the sea. Upon arriving, the police “maam, we would not allow you to enter this area.”

“No, I want to find my daughter here,” the officer answered, “we are very sorry to tell you, we won’t allow you to enter here.”

“You know sir, my husband had lost his life on the sea,” she told.

Pulis answers, “it’s sad to hear therefore we would not let you enter here.” With that, Mrs. Tengyan cries and the PNP personnel have brought her into the house. Thus, Mrs. Tengyong, the mother of Lee, got furious about them.

“If my daughter won’t be back. I will file a case that you are the one who rape her,” And the PNP personnel has responded, “no sir and ma’am , we don’t know about your daughter yet, we don’t have the intention to rape anyone. Afterwards, the PNP personnel left her.

In the evening, Steven has realised he has left his phone on the beach. Here, “oh! But how, my dad has locked the gate. It’s already 2:00 am but I cannot sleep. What should I do?” (He has thought about Lee. Sometimes, he imagines that beside him, Lee is sitting.)

In the morning, he goes to his daddy, “daddy! Can I go to the beach?”

“No I won’t allow you to go there, by the way, why do you want to go there?”

“I want to get my phone,” “Hey Steven, I am very sorry to tell you. I will not let you go there. I have received information that nobody is allowed to go to the seashore. Your life will be endangered,” daddy please?

Since his daddy never allowed him. Thus, he plans to escape, “I would sleep early in the evening. But, if my dad won’t sleep how would I escape here?”

Randy knows that his son has slept already. Therefore, he has started to sleep after verifying on him. At exactly 11:00pm, Steven opens his door and then closes after. This time, Randy hears it but he doesn't wake up. He believes that the dog wants to go out.

Steven goes to the beach; to get his phone where he has been left. Upon arriving, there were no PNP personnels. Thus, he feels over the moon, the place is very silent except for the voice of the waves. Even if there is no bulb yet, there is the light of the sun which helps him to see the place. He doesn't go to the cottage due to something has put into his mind but he has ignored it.

As he enters the cottage, he turns to the left side. Hence, he has seen a siren who is staying beside the giant stone, approximately 15 metres from him, “oh my goodness! Who is that woman? Would I go there? Is this real? Am I blind? What should I do? My phone is lowbat. How could I take a photo of her?” The wind has passed his neck. Thus, he won’t like to continue and he says maybe she is a shadow. When he gets closer to the area. Hence, he has identified that the woman is Lee. With that, he decides to approach her.

“Hey Leah! Why are you here? Is that you?”

“Please come here Steven, I want to talk to you. I want to hold you,” she said.

“No, I won’t go there with you,”

With that, Lee comes to him, hence, Steven runs away from her. When he turns his neck, Lee starts to swim on the water.

“Lee, you should go home, your mother needs your presence.” Lee did not answer his questions. And then, she swims on the surface of the water. Thus, Steven decides to go back to his house.