The Davao river is a long stretch of flowing water coming from the uplands to the sea.
"And you just learned something new today!"
- Sarcasm
Anyway, facts aside, the river is kind of a home to me. The place just gives me some sort of peace from whatever the hell that troubles me.
"Stop rapping nigga!"
In the past we used to walk around a lot in our neighborhood. But we've been doing that quite recently as well. Thank God it's summer!
In a post I wrote about 3 years ago I recalled being able to discover the river when I was a child. At a young age, surrounded by your friends, seeing a huge body of water (other than the sea) for the first time is a big deal. I even went into describing that childhood experience as 'magical'. And I thought hey I just have to share that kind of experience to my siblings and cousins as well.
But I had another reason to go for an afternoon walk. We have cuzzins who just recently moved into our neighborhood. What makes it exciting for me is that my cousins and I share interest in gramming and photography so a photowalk was inevitable.
The First River Photowalk
Before our planned tour I assembled a welcoming committee for our new neighbors. It was composed of mostly kids and the first walk was to check if we can still pass through the shortcuts we discovered from way back. And it was a nice walk actually.
We passed by some goats. Very harmless.
The girls asked me to take photos of them and I obliged. You know how girls can take up so much of your time right? And that's okay coz they're my sisters and I don't have a choice.
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| Left to Right: Quennie, Ping and Missy (cousin). |
It was fun!
We peeked through the mangroves (or is it?) as the river glistened.
Then we arrived on a cliff. And the girls were at it again!
Well I did too! Here. I mean why not?
And finally we made it to riverside! Hooray! We saw kids jump on the river for an afternoon swim. The view was magnificent and I guess it was all worth it.
Some of my grams of the river!
A photo posted by 真希 / Maki C. (@immarkable) on
Everything was going okay until on our way home we ran into some trouble. It was already getting dark and we realized it might take us longer if we trace our way back home. So we took a detour and got ourselves... lost! There were a few people passing by so we were still okay by then. A few turns and we saw a jeepney at the end of a street. We thought it was the highway so we continued with our steps.
A photo posted by 真希 / Maki C. (@immarkable) on
But suddenly a figure from a distance emerged which gradually made our paces slower until we stopped. I stood frozen in there trying to reason with the kids that it's not what it looks like. "Kuya, buang na?" (Older brother, is that a crazy person?). "I don't know", I said. "Just act normal. Like you didn't see it." But I guess it was already too late for that.
The stranger noticed us. You see, we wouldn't have stopped if the person looked normal at all.The stranger had a red complexion. I don't know if the person was a he or a she because I didn't bring my glasses. And it was hard to take a closer look when your heart starts beating fast and all you could ever think about are the kids. I mean they're my responsibility! If anything bad happens I don't know what I'm gonna do. I ought to protect them. Anyway, the stranger was wearing a red tattered shirt and he was carrying a sack ala Tom Sawyer. I thought he was just one of those hippies who collects garbage. But then he stood up revealing a bottle of beer on his right and then he screamed "Dili ko buaaaaaangggg!". (I'm not crazy!!!)
"Then my heart go shalalala!"
So we ran. The crazy person ran. While running I told my sister to take a look if it's still following us and it was! I was not prepared for this at all. It doesn't think. It doesn't feel. It doesn't give up. It follows!
I've never felt so bad in a longest time and that kind of bad is gonna haunt me on my sleep. I know I can handle myself and but what about the kids? We ended up back to the riverside but this time I think we've gone to the Muslim area and we had no choice but to ask someone for another way out. I was just glad that the people there are very friendly and they seem concerned about us. Unfortunately, there was no other way so we braved our way back to the street where the crazy person was and it was still there! Damn it. The stranger was just standing in the middle of the street looking at the sky.
Looking at the sky!
Who looks at the freakin sky?
Well, everyone does apparently.
We were on a junction. On the left is the street where the buang (crazy person) was. So with extreme caution we did a power walk turn to the right! Altogether! Without looking back. But of course, I just had to. I just had to take a peek. Why? I don't know. It doesn't make sense but I guess...Huhuhu. I just had to.
And then it noticed us.
Ohhmmaaaygahd...what...the..fuck!
He saw us! He saw us! Luckily a truck passed by which served as the distraction. We used that to our advantage so we ran as fast as we could, even faster than the last time and we lost him again. And the next thing we know we were at home saying we're never going back there ever again! Or so I thought!
To be continued . . .
