The writer finds himself on a highway. It is a wide empty one with no division line in its middle. Maybe it is a one way lane, so he thinks of it.
Alongside, there is nothing he can see. Suddenly, he sees someone dressed in casual clothes; top shirts, jeans and sporty shoes. He has long hair, but obviously a man according to his body structure.
He calls to him but receives no response . He tries to run to catch up with him, but he cannot. He is wondering why. Then he sees a pen in his hand.
"Oh!" he says.
"I must be dreaming or having a vision while writing again."
So he stops running and just puts his hands in his jeans pocket with his pen. He relaxes himself and just follows the man.
Not long after, there is another man walking beside him.
"Follow me. Come with me." the man says.
"Where?" the writer asks.
"I am to lead a ministry about my god."
"Who is your god?"
"It is not who, it is what."
The writer is puzzled with the answer. But he chooses not to argue. He looks straight ahead to lead the man's look.
"I am following him already. I am sorry."
He is using the man ahead as an excuse for a true reason. He has been following him without even knowing where it will end. Something in him makes him feel and believes he better be. He feels faith for that man.
The first traveller in his side, bows his head to him and bades goodbye. He walks with a faster speed to reach the man ahead. He is able to!
The writer is surprised in what he sees.
"How can he do that while I can't?"
The writer then realizes that the traveller is dressed in expensive clothing. A beautiful blue! A suit that proves he is obviously a rich man.
When the traveller reaches the side of the man, he starts to talk to him. The man keeps his look straight ahead of him. Then he stops and turns his head to the traveller. After that he points his look to a fallen dirty woman on his side of the road.
Though they both stop beside her, the writer cannot reach them. His eyes go big when he sees the woman. How can he miss that, being himself at the back of them about twenty five steps away, maybe that far.
The woman has a child in her arms about two years old. Both have dirty faces and clothes. They seem to have lost their consciousness, maybe due to hunger and heat.
He wants to help them too, but he cannot move. He sees the traveller's look with a dismay in his face at the woman and the boy, as he responds while making hand movements as if cleaning his clothes. Then with his head up high, he continues on his way.
The man whom he follows, takes a bottle of water and some bread from his bag, which the writer just realizes he fails to notice before.
The man sits the woman up after she recovers consciousness right after drinking the water. Then she manages to stand with the boy in her arms. She is wearing a long pink dress with a blue cape on top of it and her head is covered with white long veil.
Her son is wearing a long pink dress. Is he a boy? He is a boy with short hair, but wearing pink.
"I saw him before"
The writer is trying to remember where he has seen the boy before but fails.
The man ahead kisses the hand of the woman, then goes on walking. The woman and the boy stay where they are.
As the writer passes them, at the wink of his eyes, he sees them clean. They have clean faces, clean clothes and smile at him. He wants to stop walking, but his feet prohibit him to do so.
He looks at the hands of the woman expecting a bottle of water or food, but what he sees is a rosary!
His eyes go big. Mother Mary! He closes his eyes to look at them again to confirm what he is seeing. But they disappear as if gone with the wind!
He looks back to the highway and realizes the man is already distances away.
Then he hears voices of people singing songs of praises beside him. There is an old man of about fifty years old leading seven pairs of couples. Young couples whose ages may not be more than thirty.
Each couple walked one behind the other making seven pairs.
The old man who leads them, stops singing and the others too. He walks closer to the writer.
"Come and be one of us."
The writer gives him a questionable look.
"Why for?"
The leader answers.
"We aim to live life to the best we believe of it."
The writer still questions him.
"How is it?"
The old leader smiles.
"Just observe. See for yourself."
Then he leaves and continues what he has been doing before. He is back to the group leading them. So they walk past him and turn him into an observer from behind their group.
The writer observes that the old man is facing the group this time. With his hands clasped as if praying, he holds a book in his hand. All the seven pairs do the same.
There is peacefulness in the air. Anyone can feel it through the breezes in the air. All of them with eyes closed as all on their knees while praying.
Then they sing songs so sweet to the ears, they stand and raise their hands up to the sky.
Ahead, the man he has been following is already more distances away. But then, he comes back walking closer to them when they sing. There is an obvious happiness in his face. He is happy!
The writer stops walking. He likes to watch this one. It is like watching a movie to him.
The prayers and singing stop. The leader turns around to lead the group. He is reading out loud his book while walking.
As they pass the man ahead, no one notices him standing on the right side of the road. To them, he is invincible.
As soon as the leader turns his back to the pairs, everything changes.
The first two couples listen and follow the readings religiously. The third and fourth are doing the same, but with interference. The woman of the fourth pair has been continuously interrupted by the rest of the couples. What has been happening to her, calls the attention of the pair before her and her partner. They all make an effort to always get her attention back to the book they are reading.
The fifth, sixth and seventh couples are totally inattentive, not participating at all to the reading.
The last pair opens two bottles of liquor from their travelling bag hanging on their shoulders. They share it to the other two pairs ahead of them.
The man second to the last in line, lights some cigarettes. He shares them with the others and goes on high smokes.
The last three pairs are changing partners. There is lust in their eyes. Maybe due to substances they are taking.
The woman of the fifth pair keeps reading the book with the ears on what has been talked about by the rest of the last pair. She laughs at them but never participates. Once in a while, she murmurs to the ears of the woman before her and they both giggle. So this fifth woman has been interrupting the fourth woman in line while both have their eyes fixed on the book.
As the group passes the side of the man on the side of the road, his face is so, so sad and almost crying.
The writer's heart is touched by the sadness in his face, his tears fall.
Suddenly, the leader faces the group looking at the sky shouting.
"Praise the Lord!"
The pairs of couples are back to themselves and shouts the same. As the leader turns around and looks at them, he does not seem to notice anything in the couples.
The man, the writer follows and stands on the side of the road, stays still with his head down and face full of sadness.
Then loud shouts call everyone's attention to the writer's side of the wide road.
They all have reached a seaside. There are people shouting for help. They seem to be drowning. Yes, they are!
The writer counts them as they are all separated from each other. Ten people!
The woman of the fifth pair shouts and points her finger on them.
"They are drowning! People help them! For God's sake, help them!"
The first four pairs run straight to help. They can only save one each since the people on the water are separated and the water is rough.
The fifth woman goes hysterical and desperate in asking for help and pleads. She looks at the pairs behind her, they just look at the people with blank faces. They do not care saying, "That is what happens to people who do not know God."
The woman cannot believe her ears.
"What?"
She starts to cry more. She turns to her partner and pleads with him.
"Please help. I can't. I don't know how to swim. We will both get drowned if I jump there. You, you can swim."
The partner responds to her with mercy on his eyes, but refuses to move.
"If they know how to pray, they should pray for help."
With her partner's response, the woman cries more. She cannot believe what she just heard. Then she notices the leader just looking at the others on the water.
She kneels in front of him helplessly.
"Please do something! Help them! You can do too. You can swim. You are not that old to help!"
The leader picks her up.
"My child, let us leave it to God. If I die, no one will lead this group. You will all be lost."
The woman's eyes get wide with a shock.
"But you are the one who teaches us to sacrifice ourselves for others!"
The other is silent, without a word but looks at her with calmness.
The woman's legs weaken and fall to the ground, crying hard with desperation.
"Jesus help us!"
Her words shake the sad man on the road side. He looks at the woman crying and turns his look to the water. Without hesitation, he goes to the water and saves one more. The others have saved the eight people and back dead tired to the seashore side.
The writer wants to jump into the water too, but his feet cannot move. He is condemned just to be an observer to all that is happening.
The nine people are saved with their saviors all exhausted lying beside them. Only one, but only one who is the closest, is left behind on the water.
Everyone must have thought to better help the farthest one first due to the level of danger. Maybe hoping that the rest will do it for them. Unfortunately, it is not the case. So the current took the tenth person with its tide away.
The writer cries so hard as his knees weaken and lead him to kneel.
"If only. If only. Everyone could have been saved and not one left behind."
He has been crying there for hours, hands on his face.
When he raises, there is no one on the road. It is clear with people, except that man twenty five steps ahead of him. Due to tears on his eyes, his vision is blurred. He cleanses his eyes. The man is not there anymore, but a big cross!
"Jesus on the cross!"
Back from a dream because of different surroundings, the writer realizes that he is not walking. He is inside his car, hands crossed on the wheels. His car is parked facing the church.
He put his back against the seat with his head to rest on its headrest. He closes his eyes and questions himself.
"What has just happened?"
Then he turns his head on the seat beside him and sees his pen and papers. He picks up the papers and there is written another story.
"You have been writing."
That is what he reads as he sees his pen.
He shakes his head and smiles.
"You did it again Pen."
Then someone knocks on his car's glass window. A known friend of the church reminds him of the mass starting soon. So he keeps all papers and the pen away.
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