They Know The End

Matt

1:52 pm

I never slept in the afternoons. The last time I did that I was eight years old. My mom and dad would make it a point to unfold a mat and make me sleep. It will make you grow taller, she used to say.

Then, one day, I forgot to sleep and she didn't mind. It grew on me and now I just spend my afternoons swamped in homework, reading some books, or working out. I almost forgot what it felt like to sleep in the afternoons.

Until now, of course.

Even if it was a 40 minute sleep, I never felt so good.

Russell was shaking me when I groaned a little too loudly. "Wake up!" he exclaimed.

"Huh--what?" I mumbled, disorientated.

"We have to et out of the bus! We arrived at the last spot."

My body craved for more rest, but I shook my head awake and stood up. I saw that all the seats were empty, save for the driver's. The guy was napping, seemingly satisfied with his work. Luckily, he didn't lock the doors.

I took my backpack and we walked out of the bus. As the heat of the sunlight hit me, I remembered whoere we were and that the climate wasn't naturally cold here. I sighed in disappointment.

"What?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I replied. "Let's find some shade."

We looked around and saw numerous buses parked idly. There was a shaded path that led past the bus parking lot and onto the entrance of the mall. We went under there and made our way there.

I noticed that Russell was a bit nervous. He stuck to me closer than before, unlike when we were at SM Seaside. He didn't even bother talking. He looked around warily, as if he was looking for danger.

I checked out the destinations of the buses, until one of them caught my eye. There was a bus that led further to the north to a popular park in the area. But the bus won't arrive until 2 in the afternoon.

I took out my phone from my backpack and checked the time. 1:53 pm. Seven minutes.

"What is it?" he asked me.

"We can go further north," I said to him.

"Do we have to?"

"Well. . .you asked for this, so. . ."

"Fair enough." He took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm good."

"We can go exploring the mall while we wait."

He shook his head. "Let's just. . .wait." He moved to some tables and chairs beside a closed stall and sat on a chair. I placed my backpack on the table and sat down across him silently.

"So. . ." I asked, after a moment of silence. "What did you think of the trip?"

He managed a small smile. "It was good. And fun. I've never went this far before."

"I see."

More silence.

I looked at the dress he was wearing. "How did the idea of you wearing dresses come about?"

He sighed. "It was very interesting, actually. After we. . .moved, my mom revealed that she had been keeping photos of her glory days. She was such a renowned chef that she was invited as a guest to lots of events and. . .she had designers who made her dresses. She gave them to me to throw them away, but I kept them with me.

"I guess looking at the pictures made me want to try what it was like. . ."

To experience her glory days, I wanted to say, but I didn't. "I get it."