“We don’t have all day Rachelle! The Hundred Islands won’t wait for us you know”, my friend Tina yelled at me as she let her obnoxious boyfriend, Mark, wrap his arms around her waist. I hurried to the docks carrying the heavy cooler from our van containing nothing but beer, all by myself. I’m the one carrying it though I don’t drink. I glanced at the upward and rested for a second after that burst of energy. I admired the cloudless summer sky.
“Yeah! Chuvs is right! The Islands might have a board meeting.” Mark obnoxiously seconded as he laughed boisterously. I got pissed. I glared at him and rose an eyebrow His joke wasn’t even funny. And who in the world calls his girlfriend “Chuvs”?
“That’s enough Mark!” said my other friend, Joseph, stopping Mark in his tracks. “If you wanna help, stop making lame jokes. Be a man and help the girl you ass!” Patrick scolded Mark. I guess they’re both pissed too. Joseph and Mark took over, carrying the load to the docks.
I asked them, “So where’s the boat?” Patrick replied as he was watching his steps towards the docks. “Were going to rent two boats ‘cause one can only carry the load of five people, including the boatman but not including the stuff we’re bringing.” Joseph continued. “A stranger generously agreed to share his boat since no one else but he is riding it. One of us is riding with him, along with our stuff. “
“Please tell me Mark’s riding with our stuff.” I said. Joseph replied with disappointment. “Sadly, he‘s staying where Tina is because she said so. And our load is already the weight of two people. Only one can ride with the stranger.”
“I’ll do it.” Patrick said. I disagreed. “It’s ok, I’ll do it. Stranger’s better company than Mark would ever be.”
I stepped into the stranger’s boat. “Hi!” He greeted as I entered. I smiled and said,” Hello! Thanks for letting us share your boat. Sorry about the load.”
“Everything’s good. You’re welcome.” He said as he smiled and nodded.
I couldn’t help but observe him. He was wearing vintage shades and a plaid bluish shirt. He was wearing a camera bag around his neck suggesting that he’s a photographer. He noticed me looking at him. I quickly looked away.
The boat started to move. I was excited because we’ve been planning to go island hopping here in Hundred Islands for months. I had to eat Pancit Canton for lunch break to save money but it was worth it to be with college friends on a vacation, without our parents. The boat ride was thirteen minutes to the first island so I had nothing to do but text. I sent a group message to our other friends who weren’t able to come. They had a summer affair back in the Campus so they had to stay there Manila. “John, Niks, Erin. Wish you guys were here.” I closed the message and noticed that I was out of bars. The service in that area was bad, apparently.
I heard a clicking sound. I looked below my seat checking if something from our load fell off. I glanced at the stranger and saw him toying with this shiny blue Zippo lighter. He flipped it open and close. “You smoke?” I asked. He shook his head sideways. “Then why carry it around?” I added.
“Just for fun.” He replied. “How about you? Do you smoke?”
“Nope. “ I answered.
“Why not? I heard it’s relaxing.”
“Yah. But it’ll kill you.”
“Precisely why I don’t smoke. We only live once. So why not make it last, right?
I smiled and nodded. That last one finished the conversation but he was still looking at me. I’m not sure of what he was looking at. He was wearing those vintage shades, making it hard for me to see his eyes. I just looked away again to prevent any further exposure from his eyes.
We were nearing the first island. I wasn’t sure what it was called but I think it was the “Mayor’s Island”. The shore line wasn’t that long. I expected that because the Islands aren’t that big. There was a small house elevated near it. The boat man said that the house was the Mayor’s. Hence, the name Mayor’s Island. About a mile away from the shore, the stranger took out his camera. It was a Cannon DSLR with a zoom lens attached to it. He took several pictures of the island. He was displeased with them. When we docked, he took some more. It looked like he was including us in them.
“Guys, I think the strangers taking pictures of us.” I whispered to Joseph and Patrick. Tina overhearing, she said, “Oh? He is?” then she started to pose candidly, looking at the sky and the sea, pretending that she didn’t notice. The guys followed her, flexing their biceps as they carried the load from the boat. And of course, how would it be a candid photo shoot without Mark taking his shirt off and posing beside Tina. Ugh.
I hated getting my picture taken by strangers. It made me feel like I was being stalked. So unlike the guys, I just looked away as I covered my face. The stranger was persistent, constantly finding an angle that he could take a picture of my face. I walked around but he followed.
“Could you please just stop?!” I shouted in irritation. I crossed my arms and decided to face him. But when I turned, he was just inches in front of me. His hands and his camera were in the air, probably preventing his camera from hitting me in the face. I looked up to look at his face, but we were too close so I jumped back and looked down, slightly looking away. “Could you please stop?” I said again, but politely this time.
He apologized. “My apologies, but it’s just a rare opportunity to come across a lady with such a beautiful face.”
“I admire you’re flattery, but I just hate getting my picture taken by people I don’t know.” I said, still slightly looking away.
“I see. I will refrain from taking pictures of you now.” He finished. He smiled at me and I looked at his face and smiled back. I guess he’s not that of a jerk after all. Well, that’s what I thought for a split second. Click. Like a flash, he took a surprise picture of me while I was off guard. That cunning bastard, he acted polite just to catch me off guard. My smile instantly turned into a frown. He removed his eye from the viewfinder and smiled at me wider. “Ugh! Jerk!” I shouted. In my anger, I fast walked away from him. This fast walking lead me to a trail. I decided to follow it. I thought I just walk my anger off. The trail lead me higher and higher up the island. After minutes of walking, I stumbled upon the islands peak.
The view, it was stunning, panoramic. The sun was set so high in the sky, it sheds it’s light beautifully on the Islands. It was hot. Luckily, there was a hut there. Under the hut, I held on to the chains that kept people from falling off the side of the hill and leaned forward. The breeze countered the heat. I closed my eyes and felt it brush against my face. Serene, was the only description I could think of this. So peaceful. So beautiful. Then, “Click. Click.” I got irritated. I knew it was the stranger’s lighter. The jerk still followed me here?
“Beautiful isn’t it?” He said in a whisper. He stared at the distance, like me, admiring the view. Still irritated, I said, “It was beautiful till you looked at it.”
“Now that was uncalled for.” He said, still looking at the view.
“Why do you keep following me?” I asked raising my eyebrow at him.
He stopped looking at the view and said, “For your information, I didn’t follow you. I just came up here for the view. “
“What’s so special about this view? It’s nothing worth walking for. Admit it! You were following me.” I looked back at the view.
“My brother and I used to come up here. He taught me something valuable right here in this spot. He said, ‘Look at this well little bro. Life... and love is like... Well, this view’ ” He looked dazed far.
“Why is that?” I asked inquisitively, regretting what I said about the view.
“Those were the exact words I asked. My brother followed, ‘Well, it’s beautiful, isn’t it? And we share it with those who are dear to us.’ I thought he was turning gay, but what he said next proved me wrong. ‘Well, it’s only beautiful up to a point.’ He pointed at the horizon and continued. ‘See, it all ends there. And someday, we’ll get tired of all that we see. It will even disgust us at a point. But all we have to do is to keep moving. Because beyond that point where everything ends... are far more beautiful views to discover. Far more beautiful views to share.’ I told him that I didn’t understand. He told me I’ll understand it when the time comes.” He stopped and started toying with his lighter again.
I nodded and said, “Wow, that’s deep.” Then I asked, “So where’s your brother now?”
“Oh. He’s off somewhere far with my mom and dad.”
“So why didn’t you come with them. I dunno. My brother just didn’t want me to come with them.”
His brother must hate him. This stranger must have done something bad to his brother. Then I heard a snapping sound. The chain that I was holding on to broke. I was slowly falling forwards. I closed my eyes and screamed. Then I just stopped falling. The stranger was able to grab me. One of his hands held on to my board short while the other hand was holding on to the strap of my bikini top. He used his strength and pulled me back. I put my hand on my chest and tried to slow down my heart rate. I thought I was gonna die. “Now aren’t you glad that I was here?” He said.
Then he gasped. He looked down on where I was about to fall. He seemed to be searching for something. He then put his hand on my ass and patted it everywhere. Then he grabbed something beneath my board shorts. “Aha. There it is.” He said. I realized it was his lighter. It must have fallen there when he grabbed me. I slapped him hard and he fell to the ground. “You may have saved my life, but you’re still a jerk and a pervert!” I said. I took his lighter from my shorts and threw it at him. I stormed back to my friends.
When I got back to my friends, they were already setting up lunch. “So what’s for lunch guys?”
I asked.
Joseph, always noticing me first, answered me. “Well, on the menu today, we an exquisite selection of grilled fish sided with unripe mangoes, tomato, grilled eggplant, and fish paste. We have some beautifully cooked rice. We also have pork cooked in garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce. And for desert, blueberry cheesecake.”
Of course, I knew he was joking. “So you’re saying it’s grilled milkfish, adobo, rice and egg pie?”
“Yeah, but not the egg pie. The blueberry cheesecake was serious.” He took out this container from the cooler full of beer and opened it in front of me. It really was blueberry cheesecake.
We took some picture taking of our own with Patricks digital camera before we ate. We wanted to take a group picture but the guys argued on who was to take the picture. Nobody wanted to miss a picture, so I volunteered. “I’ll do it guys. Sheesh. It’s just a picture.”
I aimed the camera at them and counted to three. Before my lips reached the number three, a click came from nowhere. I thought it was the camera, but then I remembered the perverts stupid Zippo lighter that fell in my shorts.
