They Know The End

Matt

5:13 pm

I realized I had never taken enough naps in my life, ever. It was satisfying to wake up of your own accord.

Sadly, Sasha had to wake me up from my nap. "Get up, princess," she said, chuckling. "We're here."

I grabbed my backpack as we exited the bus we were in. I shielded my eyes from the glaring sunlight. "Wh--where are we?"

I looked around and I was greeted by the familiar smell of carbon. In front of us was a nifty park, with barely any people. It wasn't as vast as I would've liked, but it was a park nonetheless.

"In the south, obviously," Sasha teased. She then looked at me and read my look in a second. "If you're planning on going any further, that's not a good idea. We need to be back before nighttime."

"We still have to adhere to that?" I pouted. "We can have the best night of our lives right now."

She raised an eyebrow. "Bro, I still have to get back to my parents. And so do you."

I remembered my parents, who were probably sulking the entire day. My mom was probably at work, despite the huge bombshell that I was going to die. My dad probably took it the hardest and was still reeling.

"Do you have parents, Rus? If you don't mind me calling you that," I heard Sasha ask.

"I have parents, but they don't care about me," he replied, ignoring the second part of her sentence.

"Let's go to the park," I offered. "We can hang out and get some food and. . ."

"Good idea," she agreed.

"As long as we get home soon," he added.

I looked at the sky and saw that it was starting to turn everything tinted blue. Some of the street lights were turning on and there was an influx of people from the school and church nearby.

We looked left and right on the street before we crossed for the park.

-

It was a simple place. There was barely anything special about it. But it made up for it with the atmosphere it created.

Everywhere I look, I saw groups of people sitting on the grass or on the benches. There wasn't a human being alone here. It made me a bit happier that we weren't the only ones in the world.

Sometimes, it's good to remember that humanity is all in this together.

The yellow string lights connecting some lamp posts together and bordering some buildings gave off a homely vibe that I couldn't describe. If I were to try, I would say that it was like the Filipino stereotype in movies: warm, friendly, and accommodating.

All the roads led to the plaza at the center, which had a statue that I didn't see before. We only saw this place in passing, and before then, it was just another place I wanted to be in.

And here I was, realizing the true value of it. Things always surprised me, because I always think that they would go one way instead of the other.

Anyway, we saw a huge roller coaster and ferris wheel in the distance. It was further from the park and closer to the port.

"We should go there," Sasha recommended.

"I've always wanted to ride rides in an amusement park," I added.

"Okay, then, stop talking and get moving!" Russell exclaimed.

I just laughed.

-