And there it was; below me was the image of the hospital. It was an old hospital; worn out and somehow dilapidated. The feeling was surreal. The first person that I encountered was the morgue attendant. He gave me quite a scare. His hands were bloody and the basin he was holding was dripping with the red liquid. I quickly floated away; my face a canvass of panic. I heard him laugh, so I looked back. He showed me the few pieces of fish he was cleaning. He was preparing lunch.

Once again, I float

I couldn’t exactly remember the order of the scenes. Is it the bed?…the lady about to give birth?…the oxygen tanks?..or the waste bins? The images came too fast. But when I came to the next room, what I heard or felt surprised me. There was a nurse, a lovely lady, about 22 or 23. She was grilling eggplants. She was alone and she couldn’t see me. Then I heard her say “Sandali na lang, patapusin nyo na ko.” At that instant, I was gripped by the strong feeling that she was talking to the wind. Apparently, she was selling the grilled eggplants to her colleagues and she was begging the wind not to put out the fire. And the wind was me.

There are some more images, mostly people coming and going, getting on with their businesses. Then I went out. I was walking this time. I came to a scene in Plaza Miranda. I was in a bazaar. I bought something, and I reckon it was bread. I was about to get my change from the sales lady when her husband came. Without warning, they fought. The lady was struggling to hand me over my change. I, on the other hand, was also exerting effort to get my change. I must’ve tried more than five times until I grabbed the paper bill. It was worth P50. The husband suddenly looked at me. He was mad. I felt malevolence in his stare. He slowly turned and approached me. I held my breath, then I felt light and finally, I was floating. I pushed myself until I reached the hospital. It felt safer there. A few more images rushed; mostly trivial and forgettable.

Then I was at the beach. At first, all I could see was the horizon. Just the vast expanse of the ocean. Not much water, it was mostly sand..gray sand. I was with somebody. She asked me to swim with her but she was walking very fast. Then she was suddenly below me swimming. She was naked; her body reminded me of that of Ms. Dahl’s. She suggested going to the other side, to where the ocean was endless. We climbed the high mound of coral reef. There were fossil shells all over and the rock was crystalline. The limestone was glistening. When we got to the other side, there was no picturesque beach. It was a murky lake; full of water hyacinth. We went back.

When we were at the beach, I could once again see the horizon. I can faintly see the fog. It felt like early morning.

Then there was darkness…then it was light. This time, the images were real.