Tuesday, October 19, 2021

LITERARY: "Museum within" By: Isela Ingrid D. Pabunan

Someone who resembled you, nearly a reflection. Clone, double, doppelganger or a copycat maybe? None of the mentioned above. You saw it in front of the mirror but, is it really what it seemed to be? Questioned by an individual. It still remained a problem. I contemplated every time that I was not alone in deciding. Two-sided option to be exact. If the first of the two decisions were self-constructed, then where did the other one came from? Uncertainty or iffy, you might say. Then what would be the concrete cause? A wave of confusion struck me to fully awake. My head was spinning with things, still confused.

I yawned in pain, standing up, then started stretching my limbs. Snatching my phone from the side table, it was past three hours, the time I was supposed to continue my tasks. Great. I wasted my time dazing at the ceiling. There weren't incomplete works so I guess it was fine. Procrastinating was never in my to-do. I didn't bother doing them so I went back to rest, or so, sleep. Opening my comforter wide, I dunk myself in my cake like bed.

My body was at ease when my eyelids became heavy from gazing. How could someone dare to do nothing while having unfinished tasks? I was starting to question my consciousness whether I am awake, sleeping or imagining. Would there be an explanation to the enigmatic matter I had just now? I’d be glad if so.

“It's a wonderful world. I'm just walking on air. Talk of heaven on earth...”

The jazz music fits the environment of this place. Scanning the place, there were no people present other than me. Paths were split into two, but there were no definite borders. The opposite side can also be seen, therefore it was a draw. Looking around while walking slowly, this place looked elegant. The artworks looked great even against the beige walls and oak wooded floor. It was nearly realistic from the frame to the image. I put my hands behind my back and interlocked them then continued to walk. Above all the paintings I examined, this massive one drew my attention. Not only because of its scale, but also because of the written remark and the color of the foreground. I went to take a closer look because squinting my eyes didn't help.

It was a boy and a girl reaching out to each other with the intention of being together. I assumed the female was sweating at first, but she was probably crying. The boy resembled the lunar surface or gloom, while the female resembled the light or sunshine. Because their fingers didn't connect, there was an eclipse in the midst of the picture. Both planets completed to indicate the eclipse behind the two.

"Day and night,

Extending each other's arms as if there was hope, resulting in sadness and no way to cope.

Eclipse was the only wish, yet why is it so hard to give?

They were gorgeous together, but because they had a playful destiny, how can they be perfectly alright?"

I read the message out loud upon myself. A brown envelope was placed below the painting, which intrigued my curiosity. I sat down and extended my arms hoping to get it when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Excuse me, but who are you, miss and what are you reaching out to?"

As I turned around to look behind me, I staggered. She was the young lady depicted in the artwork...

"Uh... are you that person in the painting?"

Pointing out to the painting on my left, her eyes widened. She hastily grabbed my wrist and scurried to the right side of the obscure room. As she gestured, I stepped behind the portrait we were just in front of. I looked at the painting beside it and was taken aback. I was the girl in the piece. The next thing I felt was someone hugging me from behind.

"It's you..."

She cried. I hugged her back to reciprocate what she did. It would be unfair if I didn’t, right?

"How did you know about this place? How did you get here? Are you really..."

Okay, here's someone else to educate about calming down.

"Can you please refrain from asking a lot every second? My precious ears."

Acting upset seemed to work on her, I should do this more often in the future.

"Let's go to the nearby table and talk it all out, can we?"

I scanned the place and there was a small lounge area. I couldn't help but look around as I continued walking. We sat down comfortably, and she began asking me questions about why and how I came to get in here.

"I don't know, I was about to rest when I purposely got here."

She hummed in agreement. The distance between us suddenly got awkward. I looked at her, admiring her features. Her gleaming white complexion, light brown hair, and honey eyes gave her the appearance of a princess. While I'm here looking like, uh—

"I see you've been stressing yourself for a while, those people keep on bothering you, don't they? Especially that short haired girl."

How in the world does she know about those? My eyes widened with pure shock while she gave me an expected look. I was about to ask her how she knew about those when she suddenly spoke again.

"Dear, you've been looking at the paintings on the left side the whole time and you didn't even think of looking at the other side."

"What's with all those paintings anyways?"

It took her some time to answer. She appears to be gathering words to explain everything.

"All the contents of the paintings on the right side were a summary of how you feel. It was devastating to always admire a grayscale work every time I check."

I was left speechless. Everything became clear to me now. All the paintings on the left side were all about her while on the right were mine. So, you're telling me that I'm talking to my self-made character right now? I purposely made a character far from my traits to be my role model. There she was, worried about me. Maybe she hugged me because she felt all my sadness through the Illustrations.

"Oh no, It's time already. We haven't even talked for a great forty minutes."

I was still silent after what I heard. She spoke again.

"Hey, don't be in deep sorrow anymore, okay? I'll be looking after you through the paintings. I'm not sure if we can still meet each other but I know you made me a role model or motivation, so let’s always think about each other! I don't want to have to deal with gray illustrations again, so please appreciate everything around you in that way; your paintings will be just as enjoyable to look at as mine. If someone dislikes you, try not to dwell on the negative. Let's lead each other in the right direction, so be optimistic!"

She began to fade, as if she were a teleporting game character. I looked around; everything was dissolving around me. Rather than panicking, I awoke in a hospital room. A nurse came in and inquired about my health. She also informed me of how long I had been unconscious. My family had been waiting for me to wake up for several days, and when the nurse informed them that I had awakened, they cried. I didn’t inform them about what was in my mind for the past few days. I mean, how could I? We merely spoke for a few minutes, but it took several days? Ridiculous.

After our meeting a few days after I was discharged, I felt compelled to visit an art museum. It was totally refreshing as soon as I got there. I felt instant happiness looking at every canvas. It seemed like a busy day for the museum today. Lots of people gathered at a particular painting. I sneaked in the crowd to see what they were feral about. There I saw an image of two girls, one was sitting while the other was fading. My mouth agape with shock. It was the last moment of illustration of me and my imaginary role model.

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