If I were…

During the first part of the training today, we did a writing and speaking activity. In 15mins we had to complete sentences but putting in a word/phrase. Then for next 15mins, we’d pick 20 of these phrases/words and turn them into prose that would best describe us.

 

I found it dumb to just say something like "Hi, I’m Boom and I was born in the Philippines* at 12 midnight* under a mango tree*…" or something to that effect (which, apparently, most of the class did… whoops). I thought of spicing things up a bit ‘coz it’s a speaking excercise anyway! They won’t care about what you wrote as long as it’s grammatically correct and well-delivered.

 

So I thought, how about a 3rd person narrative about the death of an entity that spanned both time and space, both life and death? (Thank you for the spark of inspiration, Christopher Pike, author of one of my favorite teenhood novels, The Starlight Crystal.)

 

And thus, the activity commenced…

 

***

 

If I were a time of day, I would be Dusk

If I were a song, I would be The Last Night of the World

If I were a tree, I would be a Willow tree

If I were a piece of literature, I would be The Raven

If I were a body of water, I would be a stream

If I were a dance, I would be the Tarantula

If I were an instrument, I would be Apollo’s Lyre

 

If I were a period in time, I would be 7^th day of the Creation

If I were a country, I would be Siberia

If I were a piece of clothing, I would be a wet suit

If I were a component in a computer, I would be an EDO RAM

If I were a writing material, I would be Papyrus

If I were a value/virtue, I would be The lack of virtue

If I were an accessory, I would be Erap’s wristband

 

If I were a customer, I would be Encountering user-errors frequently

If I were a month, I would be the 13^th month of the year

If I were a invitation, I have the words “Celebrate my Eulogy!”

If I were an actor/actress, I would be famous

If I were a transportation vehicle, I would be a unicycle

If I were a word in the dictionary, I would be ‘A’

If I were a part of the computer, I would be the ISA slot

If I were a heavenly body, I would be a Black Hole

 

If I were a vacation spot, I would be the Bermuda Strait

If I were a sport, I would be Deep-Sea Diving

If I were a color, I would be the Absence of black

If I were a toy, I would be a Lego train

If I were a season, I would be Winter

If I were a fictional character, I would be BooM

  

***

 

She was the final dusk of the last night of the world where a single willow tree swayed and a raven crowed its last. She was the dying stream where the tarantula crept as it followed the faint sound of Apollo’s lyre.

 

Just like on the 7^th day of Creation, everything sleept in cold Siberia. A crisp, folded Papyrus documented her will as she faded away on the 13^th month of the year. All were welcome as the words read “Celebrate my Eulogy.” No one arrived. It was a black hole; a gapping void in space.

 

Lost mem’ries of deep-sea diving in Bermuda Strait where there was an absence of black in its clear blue waters. Untouched by winter, troubled by nothing, swam the late BooM.

 

***

 

After the delivery (shet, tagal ko na hindi nag-perform, na-excite ako), blood was still pumping in my ears. (I want more of thaaaaaaaat!)