Tragedy in the Room

It was only ten years ago. Ten years that tragedy had struck our home

"Lolo! (Grandpa!) Why must the heroes die? Don't they deserve a happy ending too?"

"Hay, hija! Sometimes death can spark a flame. A beacon for the people. To do something bigger than themselves" Lolo Pacifico quoted as he closed the leather book with a sigh.

Likha was only just a child that day as her grandfather sat on a brown rocking chair with a book on his lap. She remembered every detail. The old living room. The white curtains. Finally, the brown furniture that has a touch of Filipino culture. Everything seem ancient at that time as if they'd travel back when the Spaniards colonized the Philippines.

She then turned to her grandpa. He seemed so calm and wise. There are only a handful of his cotton white hair that hung around his head. Even at an old age, he seem so...alert as if danger could strike at any moment yet Likha didn't notice that when she was young. There isn't a single day she could remember where her grandpa didn't wear his signature white shirt and a certain pendant that holds a pretty green crystal. There are times he would fiddle with it yet she couldn't understand why.

"TAHO! TAHO!" a voice called out from the outside. It was the local vendor. Young Likha perked up in joy when she heard his call as she tugged on her grandpa's hand. "LOLO! Let's buy!" She demanded as he responded with a joyful expression "Of course! Let me just get my-".

As he stood up from his chair, Lolo Pacifico fell to the floor face flat. "Lolo! Ok lang po kayo? (Are you ok?) Lolo!!" She asked with fear in her voice as she shaked his body to wake him up. Likha took a closer look at his face. It holds so many pain as his hand clutched around the pendant tightly. As a child, Likha's first instinct was to shout. To shout until the whole barangay can hear her.

"Tulong! Lolo ko! Tulong!" She shouted then looked back at her grandpa and pleaded "Lolo! Please gising!(wake up!) Lolo!". Tears streamed down her face as people started to fill the living room. Some were her neighbors. Some wore uniforms of black and blue with bright yellow vest. One of the men in uniform tried to pry her away from her fallen grandpa. "Let me go! Lolo! Lolo! Gising na please! Mama! Papa!" She shouted once more as tears hit the floor. She punched the man's arm so many times yet her attacks are weak. She felt helpless as she watched from a distance. "Dahan na (Calm down). We're here to help your lolo" the man said as he dragged Likha out of the living room, away from him. As she did, she saw a few glimpses on whats going on. A man pumping her grandfather's chest as one of her neighbors talked animatedly on the phone. Likha only managed to pick up a few words of their conversation.

"Martha yung tatay mo! Kailangan mo na pumunta dito at...". She didn't hear the words coming next as Likha covered her ears and kneeled to the ground. "God please... Don't take my Lolo yet" she prayed as she couldn't stop the tears from hitting the floor. She could no longer see what is happening to her beloved grandpa. The fear was too much until she finally shouted

"LOLO!"