8.3

A sleepy HJPP woke up in the morning today from the sound of the howling wind. She watched as maya birds smashed onto the glass window just beside her bed. She worried that the rain might enter and drown her papers and books that were temporarily on the floor (too many readings, too little space). However, she felt so thankful, so blessed that the shelter was sturdy enough to keep the whole household safe.

She sat up on the bed and watched as the winds blew rain water as if blowing sand. The wind was so strong that even birds could not race against it. HJPP laughed as birds were thrown onto the window. It was a funnier than watching fish bump their faces onto the glass surface of an aquarium.

The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the living room. Afterwards, she read contemporary Chinese short stories. Having read Chinese short stories gave a strange feeling.

Anything Chinese felt so familiar yet also so distant nowadays. It clearly was unlike the old days. She wondered how much a bicultural identity crisis could affect her life, or her writing. She's always considered herself Filipino, but history and eveything else proved otherwise. Identity will remain a touchy subject.

The book was lovely though. It reminder her so much of a province far away from here. She's only ever been there twice, but the memory lingers.

She met a dude there, a childhood sweetie. His name is RDL1. Today, upon learning that RDL1 had a twin, she banged her head on a desk. Well, they didn't look alike. How unfortunate. He has a twin brother named RDL2, younger by a few minutes.

In every stage of her life, it seems, she meets an important guy. RDL1 from childhood, JSA1 from pre-teenage, and now KHJ1. These important men come with a twin sibling.

KHJ1 is a brother's namesake. He has a twin brother, KHJ2, who is a seminarian. They're cool brothers (no pun). JSA1 and JSA2 are neighbors and running buddies of HJPP. They're both engineering students and are so good at math that it makes her want to cry. RDL1 relates to her in everything. That was how they started out as friends. Many years ago in a faraway province, they kissed among tall uncut grass--well, they were barely five and too childish to comprehend what coupleship meant, but if childhood sweeties were to count as actual boyfies, he would have made the first and only one.

Today, HJPP got into an actual fight with KHJ1. It was hell.