I heard my mom and dad argue whether to leave or not.
"I really don't understand why you wanted to stay in this god-forbidden land. There's always war. How can we even send our children to school if we keep on worrying whether it's gonna be safe outside?"
"War is over. It's not coming back. It's rumor and everything. Mindanao is safe now."
"It's all over. It is in the radio. The only reason why you wanted to be here is to be with your mistress!" My mom's face is going red with anger. Dad seems to be in control. Their argument went for hours and hours.
I can't imagine living in another place. I've been born in Pangawan all my life and my parents are thinking of moving to Panay. I don't even know what it's like. I love the heat here and the caves. I also love the field when corns are growing, the way they touch my legs when I walk. I can't imagine my life without harvest time. We usually pick corns. Me and my friends wouls usually go in a contest of getting most of the corns and sell them. Having new friends scares me a lot but I think my mom won the argument because we started packing and sell properties.
My mom also sold my goat as she said ships don't accept animals on board. I cied a lot as I love my goat-kambang.
My friends chased the jeepney as we left. They're crying and they ignore dusts that came from the jeep. I cried too but I'm too shy to show it to my parents so I just said, "It's really sunny in here. There's too much dust. It gets in my eyes."
We rode a small ship they call "lansa". It's the first time I traveled by sea so I'm really afraid of the water rising and falling. I guess it is not a ship since it's too small, 2 stories and about a size of a house. Maybe it's a boat or something but I really don't care. I tried to beat my fear and looked straight outside the window. Sure there's a fish which is jumping out of the water. No, it's not jumping. I think it's flying. I pointed at it and asked my mother about it. She said, "Don't point at it. Just look. It can be a bad luck. It's a flying fish."
At last we arrived at the port. Is this Panay? It's not really that far. We only travelled like two hours. But then we're climbing a big ship after we get off the lansa. Not just big. It's very, very big. It's seven stories and people on the other end look like the size of children. It's amazing how a ship this big doesn't sink. We stopped in the 6th floor. I really wish we can be on the 7th so that I can see everything but I guess I have to bear with it. I can play in the rooftop though. And, I thought it's hard to make friends. Not really. All you gotta do is play and they will play with you.
I feel so special riding in a big ship called princess of the ocean. Well, moving is not bad as it seems. I enjoyed the travel a lot. I can even call myself as Princess of the Ocean too! Well, I'm on the rooftop and I can see everything under me as if they're mine.
