“I’ll give you my heart to keep or be killed”- HVK
When I was a little girl, I was fond of Disney’s Fairytales where princesses get to be swept away by their dashing Princes Charming. I, too, dreamt of having my own debonair knight in shining armor that would wake me up after falling into deep slumber for hundreds of years, of someone who would run after me when the clock strikes twelve and slip into my feet a pair of glass slippers, and of a hero who will come and rescue me from a soaring tower as I let down my golden hair.
Years passed by, I grew up into an incredibly hopeless romantic damsel with insatiable longing to love and be loved. I had my fair share of puppy and grown-up love stories but it was more of a Romeo and Juliet love affair that never had happy ending only that I didn’t die with a stab of a knife. I just died of emotional trauma. Nevertheless, I never got tired of waiting for my knight in shining armor who would quench my unappeasable thirst for love and romance. I know and I am sure in my heart that just as the sun would still rise on the east, I will find him.
During the last week of November 2006, our university sent us to the Philippine Association of Campus Student Advisers (PACSA) Convention in
The next day, we’re off to PMA and all of us from our university’s delegation came along. I guess we all just wanted to unwind from the mind-draining seminar that we had. We arrived there at
(Cdt. K didn’t really want to come along since he was feeling lethargic at that ungodly hour but he asked his underclass if there was a pretty girl in the group and if he has a chance finding his heart if he goes. He was answered back with a ‘yes sir’. In ten counts, he was already dressed up. That explains why he was with us.)
The first few minutes were just mere conversations about PMA and their lives as a cadet. They eagerly toured as around as they enthusiastically shared their precious moments in the academy. Hours elapsed; I got to spend more time with CDt. K as the two other cadets kept on amusing Momy yang, Che, Nat and Uz. On the other hand, Cdt. K bonded with me, Jomz and Chard. I didn’t know then that my all-pink outfit caught his eye. We had fascinating conversations on anything under the sun. He even joked around that I couldn’t enter the academy as a cadet since my height couldn’t make it to their cut-off (oh yes I am petite). He was sweet, always offering me a hand as we strolled around the portals of PMA.
Then it was time to go home. He asked for all of our cellphone numbers from my friend (but he was really only after my number, a confession he made months after we became a couple). That very night, I got a text message from him. I thanked him in return for touring us around while teasingly calling him Cdt. Potter (am a harry potter fanatic). Our conversations were no-nonsense. At the back of my mind, I thought he was smart. I am sooo into intellectual guys. We texted even past his TAPS until we both fell asleep. As the crack of dawn greets good morning so was his sweet morning greeting. For the whole duration of my stay in
On my last day in
It was a pleasant afternoon of sweet November that as the sweet breeze of air kissed my cheeks; my heart throbbed faster than normal. I didn’t know then that one of the greatest love stories in this cradle of humanity was bound to unfold. No, it was not just another faithless love story but a legend… our legend…
When he saw me approaching the parking lot, he thought that there was something in me, something different. But he kept it rather inside his mind. What he blurted out otherwise was that I looked like a pine tree since I’m wearing an all-green outfit, green bandanas, green top, green flip-flops etc.
He held my hand and led me to the legendary “ kissing rock”. My excitement slowly faded away as we got near it. Much to my dismay, it was only a bundle of rocks, nothing more, nothing less. I went alone to see it closely. He didn’t come with me since the legend says that if a cadet comes near the kissing rock and does not kiss the woman he’s with; he’ll be struck with a lightning. Does it make any sense? (hahaha). Even if I was a bit disappointed, we maximized our moment together, we talked about anything with or without gist, and we danced even when there was no music but the lub-dub coming from the four chambers of our hearts.
After some time, I dared him to go near the kissing rock with me because I wanted to prove the legend wrong, that he won’t be struck with lightning even if I don’t give him a kiss. He went with me but I guess my man in uniform was so scared of being hit by a thousand volts and be knocked dead.
He looked at me straight in the eye like a virus finding its way into every edge of my whole system. He held me close, gave me a tight embrace as if squeezing every inch of my cells, he slowly planted tiny kisses on my forehead, my nose… then he softly kissed my lips. It was a kiss that sent romantic shivers down my spine in its maximum magnitude. I felt the world stopped breathing as we too catch our breath yet still wanting more and more. That kiss begun to be cosmological as we both delicately and subtly savor its sweetness. Only then when we got a whiff of the fresh scent of pine we stopped and grasped that our kiss launched a thousand emotions.
The kiss we shared was sweet…passionate but very refined. It was full of mystery. A vagueness that only our hearts could define…
As we took our last step away from the kissing rock, I would love to pronounce to the whole world that I have found its Eight Wonder… THE KISSING ROCK. A celebrated legend was born out of a legend. It was where the legend of Lara and Harry begun to unveil.
I have finally seen my prince charming…my knight in shining armor…
Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, a month after the interstellar-breath-taking-making-us-tachycardic kiss we shared at the kissing rock, we exchanged our I-love-you’s with yet another mind-blowing-soul-shaking kiss. We became the passionate lovebirds, Marc Anthony and Cleopatra of our time. We are the sweetest pair on earth.
Things may have happened so fast. But we are happy. I never stopped thanking God for blessing me my Knight in Shining Armor. Cinderella’s Prince Charming is nothing compared to my Harry Vere.
Our love story…our legend has been tested through flames and hell. Aside from the distance and time that served as a barrier, we had the worst nightmare of our lives. Just like any love affair, there’s always the antagonist. I almost gave up. My heart was crushed into million pieces. I felt the world fell so hard on my head. But he gave me strength, he taught me the art of forgiveness. He is just after all a human being who unintentionally erred. Only that my love for him is so unconditional that I found in my heart a soft spot to forgive him. Many tried to break us apart just like the wicked stepmother of Cinderella turning her into a cinder girl, the dreadful Queen Stepmom of Snowhite who tried to poisoned her with a red apple and the like. The attempts were in its utmost strength but nothing was able to permeate the wall of trust, faith, loyalty and love that shielded us from all these things. He gave up everything for me, he gave me all the love that I need and so did I.
Despite all the hindrances and difficulties that we encountered, our love proved to be stronger and boundless than anything that this world has to offer. We surpassed the most colossal storms; we even danced gracefully under its rain.
And finally on the 14th of February, 2010, while facing the vastness of the sea, we tied the knot.
"Our love was like a wave’s unending journey towards the shore. At times, the breeze is fair and everything is calm; the breeze is strong and everything seemed rough. But amidst every raging storm, every gentle wind, a wave eternally finds its way to be embraced by the shore. Our love might have been rough and vague; supreme and calm yet at the end, with every sunset and with every sunrise, we still find each other ceaselessly. You, the shore; I, the wave. "
Our love story may not be fairytale… but yes, we are living happily ever after…
We are indestructible…invincible..
The legend of the kissing rock is timeless… our legend is everlasting…
