TEXTMATE

title: textmate


My cellphones beeping sound woke me up one
night. Used to receiving important messages
only, I grabbed my cell and sleepily pushed the keys
and read the message.

Hi there! Care 2 b my txtmate? Not knowing
who the sender was, I deleted
the message right away and placed the phone
on my bedside table, I tried to go back to sleep.
I had just closed my eyes when I heard the
message tone again.

Hi there, again! Care 2 b my txtmate? again,
the message said.

Who the hell could this be asking for a
txtmate at the wee hours of the
night? I asked myself. Again, without
bothering to reply I deleted
the message.

I was never a text maniac someone who enjoys
texting anyone and everyone
even at the wee hours of night, not to
mention during the day. My parents,
who were always out of the country forced me
to own a cellphone. They
told me that having one was more convenient
they could monitor me even
if they're miles away.

I wanted to turn the unit off, but since my
mother was fond of calling
me at night, just to check if I was safe at
home, I decided not to.

Just as I was to close my eyes and return to
my dreamless sleep, the
phone beeped again.
Same number. Such determination!

Ply reply 2 dis msg & b an angel & save me
from dis abyss of emptiness!!! I
never knew why, but the message struck me. I
got up and pushed the
keys I just realized I was replying to the message.

I'm not an angel, n f u want som1 2 save u, m
not superman Im just a simple
prson who u wake up at dis r of my nyt!!!
Nway, do I know u? I typed.

Seconds later came the reply.

Nope. U don't know dis lonely soul. Nor does
she know u. But I want 2 b your
frnd. I'm Mikaella Cervantes. U?

Just call me Julius. How'd u get my no.? I
sent back.

Hi Julius, nice 2 meet u. Just shuffled the
last two digits of mine, she replied.

That was the first and maybe the last time I
met someone over the
cellphone. We exchanged messages and learned
so much about each other that
night. We only said goodbye when my alarm
clock rang at 5:00 AM! I had to
prepare for school!

And that was also how it all started. A day
would not pass without it
loving and thoughtful messages from her. It
was only then I had learned to
appreciate text messages and become eager and
excited everytime my phone
beeped, hoping it would be her.

Mikaella brought out something about me that
I never knew I had; I realized
I could also be a romantic person even if its
just through text messaging.

Keep me as a frnd & I will keep u in my
heart. Lock it up & throw away d
key so dat no1 can evr tke u away from me One
day, she sent this message to me.

I replied: In life, we seldom find a true
prson & f u evr find 1, hold on &
nvr let go value dat prson coz its lyfs gift
worth keeping & holdin on

I never knew why, but her response sent
shivers to my spine, Value d pipol
hu hav touched ur life bcoz u will never know
just wen dey will walk out of
ur lyf & nvr come back again.

I couldnt understand what I felt that moment,
but one thing I was sure
though I could not go on a day without a
single word from her. Id become
used to having her, eventhough we had not met
personally. But truly, she
already occupied a space, a large one, in
fact in my life.

I texted her back. Dont come close f l8r ull
jst pass by; dont touch me if
l8r ull jst let me cry; dont luv me f l8r ull
jst leave me and wont stay

I didnt know why I sent her that message, but
somehow I felt, every word
came from my heart. In the short span of
time we were sending messages to
each other, I knew, I was starting to keep
her in my heart.

I called her once. The voice on the other end
was like an angels. Soft,
kind, full of love. Yet, there was something
in it I couldnt define. We
only talked for a few minutes. Before she
hung up, she told me not to call
again. According to her, it would be better
if we would just text each other.

But the voice kept ringing, not only in my
head, but in my heart, Id long
to hear it once more. I tried to call her
again, but she never answered the
phone. She just kept on sending messages and
quotations, which I copied in
a little notebook. Hopeless romantic? I didnt
know. All I could say was
that all the messages she sent me were
wonderful, they came from the
heart and cut through the heart.

Though we r miles apart, u r always n my
heart. I close my eyes & der u r.
Even f Ill see u never, Ill always b hir 2
care 4 u, far longer dan 4ever
One December night, she sent me this message.
By that time we had been
exchanging messages for more than a month.
God knew how happy I was. She
was right. Although we had not seen each
other, what we felt was
enough to make us both realize what was keeping us
together.

I sent her another message, Loving u secretly
is a hard thing 4 me 2 do,
hoping, wondring that u will feel d same way
2, but I cant read ur mind if u
luv me 2. But whatever it is, Ill still be loving u.

How I wish I cud really tell u how much u
mean 2 me, but m afraid 2 love,
scared 2 get hurt I hope dat u will wait 4 me
& pray dat u will not get
tired of loving me=) was her reply.

And then I replied again. The reason y I met
u is bcoz of destiny but if
destiny will suggest dat Ill live w/o u, den,
Ill lie not by destiny but of free will.

Whenever I asked her when we would meet
personally, she always answered,
Soon soon, love soon.

Not seeing each other did not lessen, even a
bit, what I felt for her rather,
it even grew deeper and stronger
each day. And I was sure, she
felt the same way, too. Love messages
continued to flow through our lines,
between our hearts, which made us go on each
day with the thought that
sooner, we would see each other, face to
face, heart to heart.

Just a few days before Christmas. She stopped
sending messages. At first I
just though she had ran out of prepaid. but
there was something that kept
bothering me I couldnt understand what was
it, but it made me fell nervous.

I tried to call her but she wouldnt answer.
Nevertheless, I continued sending messages.

Suddenly one night, just three days before
our Lords birthday. I heard my
phones message tone again at last! It was
from her!

Oftentyms we say gudbye 2 d 1 we luv w/o
wanting 2. Though dat doesnt mean
dat we stopped loving dem or we stopped 2
care. Sometyms, GOODBYE is a
painful way 2 say I LOVE YOU.

I was dumfounded. I didnt know what to think
of. What did she mean? I texted her back,
searching for answers, but found nothing. I called
her but she would not answer.

For the first time in my life, I felt so
miserable desperate empty. I didnt
know what to do. I didnt want to lose her. I
had learned to love her. And I
wanted to be with her forever.

The following days I felt nothing but
emptiness. It seemed that Mikaella
took the life out of me. I missed her so
much her messages. The tones that
would tell me shed sent another loving
message. Nothing around me could
feel the emptiness I felt.

Tuttuttuttuttutjust a day before Christmas,
my cell beeped again. It was her!
Meet me at d cafe, 10 AM 2day, I read aloud,
making sure the message was
true, then I jumped with joy upon hearing
from her again. Hurriedly, I got
myself ready and I went to the mall. I knew
it was still early, but I
wanted to be there before she arrived.

I arrived at the meeting place ten minutes
earlier. I was surprised to see
her already there, smiling at me. She was
very beautiful, Black, deep-set
eyes that spoke a thousand words; small,
kissable lips; a nose perfectly
chiseled and long black hair everything in
her was beautiful. And yes,
her eyes radiated kindness and love but there
was a flicker of something in them sadness?

Hi, Julius, said the angelic voice I had been
dreaming of each night.
The voice that I had waited to hear for so long.
Please sit down.

I am very pleased to meet you, Mikaella, I
said, as I took my seat and gave
the roses I brought for her.

Thanks, Julius, she smiled, obviously pleased
with the roses. I knew she loved pink roses.

You are always welcome, Love
Julius, I cant stay, she said, sadness in her
voice, or was it tears? I really must go.

But we just met, Mikaella. Cant we talk a
little longer? I asked, pleadingly.

"I cant really. I just came here to see you
and thank you for the time you
shared with me. Thank you for everything,
Julius. I will never forget you
you will always be here in my heart. She
was looking at me straight into
the eyes, and I could really feel the sadness
in her voice and I swear, there was something
in her voice and I swear,there was something in
those lovely yet lonely eyes She got up and
smiled at me, lovingly. Tomorrow morning, please come
and visit me, he said and gave me a piece of
white linen paper.

I read what was written and when I looked up,
she was gone.

The following day, Christmas, I woke up early
and excitedly readied myself,
thinking of her. I hurriedly went to a flower
shop and bought a dozen pink
roses for Mikaella.

They lived in an exclusive subdivision. Upon
reaching their house, I told
the guard who I was and that I was looking
for Mikaella.

The guard stared at me, sadness and amazement
in his eyes and told me to
wait as he called the owner of the house. As
I looked at him while he was
going inside the house, only then I noticed
that the house was brightly lit.

A woman went out and walked towards me,
smiling sadly.

Hi, Im Maria, Mikaellas mother. Please come
inside, Julius. While we were
walking towards the mansion, she explained to
me why she knew me very well

Mikaella had always been talking about her
friend, Julius. I hardly
understood what she was saying. I was busy
thinking why Mikaellas mother
was crying while talking to me. As we came
near the great hall of the
house, it dawned on me that there was a wake
inside, Maybe, a relative
passed away, I thought. But deep in my heart,
I was trembling and afraid.

As we entered the hall where so many people
were silently mourning while
others were praying, shaking, I asked her
mother. Where is Mikaella?

She held my hand and silently, led me to the
coffin which was surrounded by
flowers pink roses, nothing but pink roses.

No words could explain how I felt when I
gazed at the coffin and saw who
was lying there. The same beautiful girl I met

A man came beside me, I knew he was Mika's
father.

We are so glad you came, Julius. Mika talked
of you all the time. She even
asked that her phone be buried with her. She
said that in that way, you
could still send her messages and you would
always be with her.

I couldn't believe everything. My mind was in
limbo.

But how can this be? We just saw each other
yesterday.

That cant possibly be. She passed away three
days ago. She had been
suffering from a heart disease since she was
a child, said her father.
But I couldn't find the words to say.
She told us not to bother reaching you, her
mother said, still in tears,
she said you will come, and here you are.

Pain and bitterness overwhelmed me. I cried
silently beside her, staring at
her lovely face, memorizing every line of my
friends face, a face I knew I
would never forget while I was still alive.

After the internment that afternoon, I went
to the chapel she had told me
she went everyday.

Sitting there praying and crying to God, I
held my phone and typed:
U taught me how 2 care; u taught me how 2 b
kind; u shwd me how 2 lyk som; u
shwd me how 2 luv; but ders 1 thing u didnt
teach me & it hurts more u
didnt teach me how 2 let go. I LOVE YOU

I sent the message, and though I knew she
wouldn't be able to hold her cellphone
again, I knew in my heart she would get my
message. I never expected a
reply, yet as my phone beeped again, I felt a
shiver down my spine. The
senders number did not appear on the screen,
and tears rolled down my
cheeks as I read the message.

Let go of d hand of d prson u love, but dnt
let go of Gods hand. 4 if u
hold 2 his hand. He may b holding d prson u
love n d ader hand 2 let u hold
each other again.

I will never forget you, Mikaella and I will
never let go I vowed to her
and to myself as I left the church.