Promise : 1

Morning.

I woke up hearing the sound of the birds chirping outside. It is always a good sign to hear it, since I believe it’s a premonition to a good day. I gaze outside, and saw our maid, Ms. Pauline, sweeping the front yard as usual. I stand from my sleeping position.

Not that I can stand any more than that.

See, I was paralyzed for a long time -- or not me, but my legs. Different doctors we went to said it was a complication of something hereditary, and was actually the first occurrence of such a complication. At first I can still feel my legs, but after a while my toes became too numb, and my whole legs followed. They were actually quite surprised when they found out it didn’t crawl towards the upped part of my body, or everything might have been harder on me.

My reminiscing was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door.

“Merlin, your lunch is here.”

My personal maid, Ms. Serene, opened the door and went in with my breakfast.

“Thank you. You can just leave it beside my bed.”

Ms. Serene smiled briefly before leaving the room.

The breakfast is composed of fried eggs and a couple of sandwiches, something that can be eaten while doing something else. Beside the plate of the fried eggs I noticed a letter. And I believe I know who it is from.

I opened the letter, and a picture was peeking through the envelope. So that’s why it looked thick.

“Hola querido!

Buenos dias! Or is it “buenas tardes” now?

Anyway, it’s not like there is any difference. It’s still a greeting. Muhahaha! I can feel you are falling for me more and more! I can see you blushing!”

Blushing? Yeah, this intro looks just like her.

“              We just rode a high speed train and are currently here in Madrid. But, on second thought, I don’t think we are still in Madrid by the time you read this, so I guess it’s wrong to say the “we are currently in Madrid”. Maybe we are in Seville or Barcelona? So maybe I should write “we are currently in Seville or Barcelona”? No, wait, that doesn’t make any sense. How can I be in two different places that I’m not even sure I’m there? I’m not making sense, am I? Are you enojado that I am not making any sense? I am furioso at myself.

By the way, after taking a rest at this cafeteria we will be visiting museums and churches. Do you want a painting? I think I can ask one of the curators to allow me to take home one. And did you know that museums in Spain are called “museo”? I really hate saying that. It’s like you are saying something and stops half-way. No, not just half-way, like you are paella but instead is forced to say paell. Why can’t they stay miyu-si-yum, instead of mu-se-yo. It’s hard. Really hard.

Oh, and I used paella because we are eating paella at this moment. Or maybe not “at this moment” because you will be reading this at a later time. Maybe we will be eating something less Spain-y, or something more Spain-y. Wait, it’s that dilemma again. I’ll be stopping right now. Promise.

I wanted to write more, but my compañeros are already getting ready to see this bull-fighting thing. I don’t know, are men supposed to fight bulls? What if they got stuck on the bull’s horns? I don’t think it would look good, but many people here look like they are amused by it. Maybe they strongly believe the men will win. But I feel bad for the bull. Maybe I’ll go cheer for the bull later.

So anyway, this is all for now. I’ll see you… soon? No wait, I’ll see you in 8 days, 12 hours and 40 minutes. I already computed the hours part, so you don’t need to count. Wait, add the flight, and the travel time, and the… Argh! No, this isn’t working. My brain is nowhere near mathematically functioning.

I promise to bring you a book about bull-fighting.

Te quiero!

                                                                                Shienna”

I flipped through the pictures, and sure enough, there was a picture of her holding a “I ♥ BULLS” sign, though I don’t think she actually brought it with her because there was another picture in the arena, her hands in the air and looks like she’s shouting, maybe cheering for the bull just like she said. I placed down the pictures beside the frames in my night table, and began munching through my breakfast.

It’s not really that I don’t want to answer back, but since she’s not in the same place twice, we came to terms that it’s only her who should write to me. I folded the letter neatly and placed it in the envelope, and reached for a box underneath my bed.

There are only a few envelopes in the box, envelopes of letters she sent me while she was on her travels. Spain was actually the 3^rd destination she went to. The very first one was Hong Kong, together with her club in college. The second one was after she graduated, something like a graduation celebration for her club, in Italy.

And I kept talking about her club. She was in a Traveller’s Club when she was in college. During college all they can really travel to was local destinations, and they would make reviews and such of places they’ve been to. The only nonlocal destination they went to was Hong Kong, and it was for only a few days during the summer.

And right. Between us, she’s really the only one who finished college.

Because of my condition, school became completely impossible. I sometimes wonder myself where I would have been now if it wasn’t for this paralysation. Education gradually became less and less of a priority for me, until that time when I would only rely on books and magazines for knowledge that I need. And of course, Shienna makes sure to provide me with such things.

Knock knock.

Once again, my reminiscing is interrupted by a sudden knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Merlin, the doctor is here.”

I guess it’s that day of the month.

Our family doctor, Doctor Wendel Charmagne, always visits me during around the middle of the month to check up on my condition. Like I said earlier, the doctors was surprised to see that the condition didn’t crept towards the upper part of my body, but that doesn’t mean that it will be 100% that it won’t, so Doctor Charmagne visits me to check if there are any symptoms that it might happen.

“How are you feeling, Merlin?”

Doctor Charmagne’s weird accent in saying my name makes it sound like marlin instead of Merlin, which actually sounds funny.

“Nothing particularly weird these past few days. But—“

“Hmm?”

I realized he raised his eyebrows by the sudden inclusion of the word “but” in my sentence.

“—but my feet looks like they are sore. Or sort of sore. I don’t actually feel anything bad, but they just kinda look sore to me.”

“I see. Is it ok to take off the blanket and let me see your foot?”

I also realized that my blanket has been on me ever since I woke up.

Ms. Serene enters my room and fixes the plates from where my breakfast used to be. She also placed the box I pulled out earlier under my bed.

I tossed my blanket to the side and rolled my pajamas until the knees so my feet and shin are visible for Doctor Charmagne to see.

“Hmm. Nothing particularly different. But it really looked like someone puffed air into your foot. The right foot at least.”

“I’m wondering if it has anything to do with it?”

“No, I don’t think so. It may be a side-effect from the new medications I have been giving you. And speaking of medications, here.”

He handed me a couple of bottles.

“Take them twice a day.”

“These are different from the last time.”

“A fellow colleague suggested it. Since we still don’t know what the reason actually is, he suggested you take these instead of the one I have been giving you.”

Doctor Charmagne is really easy to talk to, and at the same time humble to say that something doesn’t originally came from him. I don’t think there are any other doctors like that.

“If the soreness doesn’t fade in a week’s time, give me a call.”

“Sure doc.”

With that, I am left alone again in my room.

I wonder how Shienna enjoys travelling so much.

I pick a book she brought me and started flipping through the front cover and decided to finish this today.