First Part. Two: Voice

She blinked.

She hastily tapped the light switch to her left to flood the room with the fluorescent light.

She blinked again to adjust her sight and absorb the sudden rush of reality.

She was in her boarding house. In this 4x4 room with two double decked bed and she was lying on top deck of one of the 2 bunk double beds.

She sighed.

This has been so strange.

She recalled, this kind of occurrence only took place whenever there were some disturbing emotions she had.

Such as what happened today.

Luke.

There was a quickening beat of her heart.

She sighed again.

There was one time during her 13th birthday when a nephew of their neighbor tried to pass on her and she was so appalled to experience that tingling sensation. He touched her left growing breast and the surge of emotions she felt afterwards.

When she went home, she felt a strange force brewing inside her.

The boy was a pretty face and the content of the girls' talk in their area. He was 17, then.

Everybody was surprised when he frequently visited her and gave her chocolates and other teeny-weeny stuff.

She was amazed.

Bewildered yet happy.

Then there was some lapses in her memories.

She lost her mind for 6 months or she was told.

No one tried bridging the gap.

She just collected everything from a patched hole on their ceiling to faded shirt she gave to one of her cousins.

The last time she stared at the ceiling there was this hole where you could peer on the sun one eyed and the shirt was still new.

Where did her time go?

When she emerged back to herself, she just thought everything was normal.

She went back to school only to discover it was already another school year and she didn't finish her former year.

Again, no one filled in the gaps.

She has no one to talk to, not even her cousins who seemed so frightened and keyed to move.

Her aunt continued to deteriorate.

There were images coming to and fro her dreams every night.

She struggled.

Usually, she woke up under a sycamore tree, lain on the bed sand under the sea, floating on a misty foam of clouds or sweaty just lying flat on the torn matted floor of their humble hut.

Every day that followed haunted her like a nightmare.

She creamed and struggled.

Oftentimes, no one came to her but when she opened her eyes panting, she could see her cousins were all awake with fear on their eyes.

She would be the one to be comforting instead of to be comforted.

Giving them promises, everything would be fine and she was just having a bad night but it turned out to be nights and nights of unfolding nightmares.

She never knew how to utter a prayer yet she said: "Let me sleep! Let me sleep!" And this had been her mantra every night and true enough as if there was this someone who snapped out the devil and she fell to the deep of slumber.

It took her another 3 years to finish high school.

No friends at all.

House, library, washing clothes, cook, eat, sleep and then she graduated.

She tried climbing the top of the rank but there were already casted to that throne.

Yet, amidst her hollowness, she graduated with flying colors and now she is part of the prestigious school in the country.

Luke!

There was that force again beneath her.

Dragging her from her bed.

She screamed.