"Auntie Tanya!" I yelled behind the door. My tears were flowing, my eyes turned red, and my heart beat wildly.
"Auntie–" The door revealed the face of my Aunt's wife.
"What?" Her strict, infuriating face is getting inside my nerves.
"Where is my money?" I asked in a calm voice, the opposite of what I am feeling right now.
"Why are you asking me about your money? I don't even know you have one!"
"Just tell me where you spend it and I will shut my mouth! Don't cover up your pitiful lies!"
I usually tell myself not to argue with these types of people. They are just a bunch of fools who don't have short term or long term goals. They are content as long as they can eat twice a day and don't even care if they are offending other people. All are fine for them as long as they are happy.
"I used it to pay for our electricity and water bills! Alright?!" she yelled.
But my mind won't accept any of it.
"You used it for your bills. Not ours. It is my money, then. I am expecting that my brother can now use water and electricity. I will collect the money if I find out that you aren't giving him the rights for what I paid for."
I pursed my lips, balled my fists, and shut the door close.
This is not the life that I signed for.

I glanced at the sky above me. The combination of white and blue clouds was now matched with yellow to red hues, the sun falling down the east where green, high mountains are peacefully resting. The incoherent wheezing of birds on the branches of the trees didn't make my ears hurt but rather hear a lullaby. Dried, fallen leaves from the trees sounded as it crashed against my shoes, making me dart my eyes at the road.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look at what I found!" A small, happy voice from a cute little boy not far from me is waving his hands. He was holding a watch, smiling from ear-to-ear, and running towards a chubby man with a round stomach.
I tilted my head.
"Mommy! Look how fast I can swing! Look! It feels like I can fly!" The harsh and continuous grating of a rusty hammock lies a laughing little girl. She has pink pigtails on her hair, the orange light from the falling sun hitting her porcelain skin, her eyes narrowing and head leaning back as her feet dance with the sway of the cradle.
Their mom and dad are sitting side-by-side on the bench, while I was standing between the gaps but a bit far, just enough to see their facial expressions.
But all of them seemed familiar, although their faces were blurry, this scene in front of me reminds me of something I saw somewhere but wasn't able to remember.
I smiled. The sun is about to set, but I am still here. They were now fixing the blanket that they used earlier, the mom of the two kids wiping their sweat away from their faces and then getting another towel to put behind their backs.
I admire how lovely they are. The man and the woman looked so in love with each other that it overflowed, making their love reflect towards their child.
They looked so happy, I said to myself. But my eyes widened when I saw a truck approaching the road they were crossing. I immediately ran towards them while shouting that they should stop and run backwards, but they seemed like they were deaf and then the next thing I knew, I was already screaming as I found the dead body of my parents lying on the ground.
"Miss!" A man's voice woke me up from my slumber. I opened my eyes as I gasped for air and tilted my head from side to side, roaming my eyes on the whole place as I searched for the dead bodies.
"Uh...Miss?" I shifted my gaze to the man at my side. His right arm was placed behind the seat in front of us. The look in his eyes told me that he was confused about my sudden demeanor.
He pointed at the seat beside me. And that was when I had been reminded that I am inside a bus.
"Can I sit here?" He asked as he glanced at the other occupied seats.
My eyes darted at him for a few seconds. The same man that I met last week is the one in front of me. Or am I wrong?
But those pairs of amethyst eyes are unique enough for his features to be etched on my mind.
I envy how it looked so calming, how it was far from the chaos hiding behind my orbs. I tilted my head to the side and glanced at the road.
Other than the small bumps and the sound of the aircon, the whole bus is silent. I closed my eyes as the lights behind the glass struck it.
I hugged myself and leaned the side of my forehead on the glass, thinking of things as to why those dreams are hunting me.
Was it because I didn't visit my parents' tomb for months? Maybe they thought I am already forgetting about them, or maybe because they are reminding me of my goals.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember the face of my brother, Terren. I don't want to forget how he looked when our parents were still alive.
And then I remembered how Terren changed.
The fifteen-year-old Terren Del Mariano is just someone serious and stoic. He used to tell me everything he wanted to say, but now, I just know that he has been miserable.
"Miss..." I heard the same deep voice booming next to my ear.
"Miss..." My eyes remained closed when I felt his hand shaking my shoulders.
I heard him sigh and stopped what he was doing, then some muffled voices.
I once again opened my eyes when I felt him get out of the seat and the next thing I knew, I was the only one left on this bus, with a piece of paper placed on top of my bag.
"What the hell?"
I opened the folded paper. It was actually a bus ticket, but there was something written on top saying, "At the back" so I flipped the paper and saw some letters and numbers scribbled on it.
"Miss, you got a loan from me. You pay me the next time I see you. Yes, you need to feel grateful."
"And you have a drop of saliva falling at the side of your lip, haha. >:D"
I crumpled the paper, wrinkling my nose as I checked if what he said was true, only to find out that it's not! And I am not a messy sleeper!
I gritted my teeth and stood up when the bus stopped. I would be scolded and would have a daily income decrease if I would be thirty minutes late!
And I even got a loan from someone I don't even know!