The Pillow 7: The End of Dawn

 He was not quite sure how to digest the information. It was not as if he was never prepared. He knew the day would come but he had not expected it so soon. There was not enough time it seems, to heal the wounds or to overcome grief. But he was neither elated nor disgusted. It was just one of life's harsh realities. Maybe he was still holding on to some ill-defined emotion that never quite saw the light of day. At least, he could say with some degree of certainty that she was one of the few he truly loved and cared for. At least now, there is closure...


….she is married!


Ironic, that they talked of marriage just days before they parted ways. It was just one of those bitter lessons one had to learn the hard way—NEVER take advice from an ex-girlfriend!


They were on the rooftop where a small kitchen and dining area was situated. She lived in a ladies dormitory—a fairly cozy dig dwarfed by the monstrous skyscrapers in the Makati business district. They had been at the grocery earlier in the day and she had just finished making some pasta and dessert which she stored in the fridge. She and some coworkers were having a celebration of some sort. They were both staring out in the distance smoking, unmindful that it was taboo to take a male friend in. Though her roommates were out of town, the dorm was not totally empty so they tried to be as quiet as they could. She stubs out her cigarette and motions for him to go down.


He had not expected to be invited into her room. He looked around in awe, that he was in her private space. “This is where she sleeps...”, he thought, as he put his nose to the sheets. She knew how to keep house—something that endeared her to him all the more!


She turns on the radio to muffle whatever conversation they were about to have and asked him to sit beside her. She rests her head on his shoulders. He holds her tightly, never wanting to let go and they started kissing...


She turns up the volume on the speakers as she felt herself moaning a little too loudly. Her clothes were dropping to the floor where he lay her down so as not to mess up the other beds. He was thankful for the concrete floor but he thought better than to pump too hard. He was always careful not to hurt her given her petite frame.


As the first few rays of sunlight cast linear beams across the floor they were lying in, she was cradled in his arms. Her eyes were closed but she was wide awake. Gently, he was stroking her face, wiping the sweat and kissing her tenderly in the forehead. She was tired and wasted but he knew she was happy. He felt he was the luckiest man alive!


Little did he know that was to be the last time he would be in that room.



*****


He is jarred awake and he finds himself sitting in the same room where they spent so many nights together. It took him years to deal with the fact that he would never wake up on the same bed with her again. There are too many memories of her stuffed in boxes, photos and deep in his subconscious.


The dragons have come to dreamland once more.


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