Round One: Watched
Round Two: Watched 2
The alarm rang striking one o'clock in the early morning. She fell asleep on top of her books with a rosary in hand under the light of the lamp in her study table.
In her pyjamas, the eighteen year old girl strengthened her back against the chair's backrest. She realized she was still holding her rosary. She was praying.
"Oh Lord. I can't go on studying anymore. I guess I did enough for tomorrow's exam."
Then she put a check mark on her list to study, the last one with a time range of ten to eleven thirty in the evening.
She also put a check mark to the next in her list that says Pray Rosary at eleven thirty. She remembered herself finishing the rosary ten minutes before midnight.
Telling herself to give a ten minutes break before the next in her list which was General Review at twelve to one o'clock in the morning, but she wasn't able to wake up after ten minutes. Instead, she slept till one o'clock, the time she wanted to call her review done and time to bed. Her first class later that day shall be at eleven in the morning.
The writer stopped writing for a while. Looking at his pen, he gave it a questionable look. It was his curiosity as to who the girl he was writing about with his pen. But the pen continued writing.
At eighth, her alarm clock rang again. She opened her eyes and hesitantly got up from bed after five minutes.
Leaving her room after getting ready for school, she found her father having his coffee by the kitchen table.
"Good morning, Dad!"
Her father, reading the newspaper, lifted his eyes, looked at her through his eyeglasses to recognize the greeting. The breakfast was ready on the table as prepared by his father. Scrambled eggs, bread and coffee with milk plus a glass of orange juice were their early morning food.
She noticed happiness from her father's face. Not the usual worried eyebrows she had seen several days before. So she planted her curiosity question.
"Did I miss something?"
She asked, smiling at her father.
The grey haired old man just gave her a quick look without any surprise in his face. He smiled, showing his teeth alternately missing one after another. Then put down the newspaper on top of the empty space of the table.
"I have the money for your tuition fee for the rest of this year."
Her eyes became wide opened with amazement and her mouth half opened. Then gleefully she stood up to hug her father.
"Really?"
Her father and herself were the only family she has. As an only child, her father raised her up alone after her mother died giving birth to her. He dedicated his life to her. She had been proud, grateful and thankful for her father . He has been the reason and inspiration of all her efforts to study well, receive school honors and recognitions. Her father was just an ordinary taxi driver. But an incredible man!
"Sit down. Sit down."
She was hugging him, actually his back head with her arms encircled in his neck, as she hugged him from the back of his chair.
She sat down with big eyes ready to listen to his story again. How she loved to hear his stories after each night's work. Her father has been an ear to many passengers' life stories. Some were funny, others sad, and still others horrible, even scary. Those were the reasons she made it a habit to pray for her father's safety every night and day, whatever his given schedule to work would be. She never missed asking God to protect him. And God had never failed.
"I'll tell you what happened last night."
He told her about the robbery he suffered and the dollars he found on his taxi's car floor. He described the father and son that had stolen his earned money. How he felt sorry about the son. Most of all, how much money in dollars he found on the car's floor after they left because of a police car siren they heard.
Her face looked sad and worried at first, then relieved upon understanding the end of the story. She asked him a question.
"What time did it happen?"
Her father tried to remember.
"Around midnight."
The coincidence did not miss her calculations.
"I prayed for you before that!"
The old man was not surprised. She noticed it. It was him who made it a point for her daughter to learn and worship God.
"I know that you always pray. One more time it was heard."
After saying those words, her father touched her hand lovingly and showed her the watch she had given him as a gift.
"You saved it!"
Both of them laughed as they said those words at the same time.
The writer stopped writing for a while and smiled at his pen in his hand.
"Aren't they a good team?"
Instead of any possible answer he could think of from the pen, his hand went back writing.
After seeing the time from her father's watch, she stood up to go. Kissed him goodbye on his cheek. But remembered something from her cell phone. A picture she wanted to show to her father.
"Before I forget Dad, here is the photo of the guy I have mentioned days ago, who would like to come to visit me."
Her father put back his eyeglasses to look at the suitor of his daughter. He did it without any obvious interest at all. Just curiosity. But he seemed to have recognized the person in the photo that he asked her daughter to show it again to him.
"It was him!"
Her father shouted, unconsciously expressing loud his thoughts, but it was too late to retrieve.
"Who him?"
The daughter asked her father. Instead she received a question.
"Is he your boyfriend already?"
The question came like an accusation to her. She responded irritated.
"No!"
She confronted her father repeating her question.
"Who are you talking about? Is this guy your robber last night?"
The old man could not say anything. He felt himself tongue tied. His daughter was talking about this guy, a boy for him, a few days ago with excitement in her eyes. He remembered her commenting on the good manners, kindness and interest of her daughter with this boy on her cell phone. He would not like to disappoint her. What if he was just being paranoid? It was dark. He took a deep breath and responded to her daughter's question.
"No."
His daughter felt relief. Obviously.
"We talk later okay? I have an exam today. I got to go."
The old man realized he made the right decision to give benefit to his doubt. His daughter would have an exam and he would not want her to get worried.
"Go in peace, my dear baby."
Her daughter smiled at those loving words. She felt happy so she kissed her father's cheek again with a sounding kiss and a strong hug. Then left.
The grey haired man, the taxi driver himself, once again prayed to his heart's desire.
"Oh my Lord, may it not be that young boy. But Thy will be done and I know you will be there to sort this out for us."
Then he shrugged his shoulders and got himself back to reading his newspaper.
The writer too rested down his pen and in exchange, picked up his own newspaper as he finished the continued series of Watch.
(c) bbayonito20/bethbciar
