Twelve Drummers Drumming

It was the 5th of January, still Christmas and the 12th day in particular. I woke up from my power nap and immediately went to the CR to fix my hair and prepare my clothes. The parish is calling us to perform in the plaza again as a band. Today is the last day and though I was not in the mood to be merry and festive for the last time, I still had to go or else my parents would scold me. They are active Church servers and they are encouraging everyone in the family to be participative because we are doing it for God’s greater glory.

The house seemed to be busy at that time doing their own thing so I just decided to leave without saying goodbye. I went to the garage, grabbed my drums, and I was on my way.

On the way to the plaza, I was busy staring at my phone. It has been 4 days since I turned it off to recover from my recent breakup with my girlfriend and I just decided to turn it on today. Luckily, my battery percentage is still 100% but I was observing my phone’s wallpaper. It was a picture of me and my ex in the amusement park. I shrugged the thought of all our memories going down the drain so easily and decided to change my wallpaper right away. While I was still using my phone, a text notification popped up. It was Lucas and he told me to hurry up so I won’t be late. I put my phone on sleep mode and ran to catch up.

It was time for us to start playing and we hurried to our positions. When the beat dropped, everyone followed along. Instantly, Lucas noticed that I was feeling down and prompted me to cheer up.

“Man, why the long face? It’s still Christmas! Keep the happy spirit so that our tunes

will be more lively.”

I just ignored him and continued playing the notes I have memorized like the palm of my hand. Then suddenly, other instruments started joining us like the trumpets, xylophones, flutes, and many more and the spirit of the festival was suddenly awakened. I looked at the clock tower and sure enough it was almost midnight. Then the dancers started joining in with their stunning outfits but one dancer caught my eye out of the rest of them. Slowly but surely my heart started skipping a beat. She turned to look at me, and it started racing like a horse!

Our eyes looked at each other and at the same time, the clock struck 12. I could hear the fireworks in the background and the noisy horns and party poppers but they all sounded blurry to me. The only thing in my mind at that moment was the girl’s presence.

She was absolutely beautiful dressed in white that the whole time I kept my eyes steady on her until finally the show was over.

It was now time for the feast. Since I’m a shy type, I didn’t want to join the table with the rest of the band and the dancing crew so I just got a plate, filled it with rice and lechon, then went to the sidewalk and sat there eating my meal. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the beautiful girl and she was coming towards me.

Does she even know me? I’ll have to wait and see.

She hands out an already lit candle to me. Confused, I looked at her and asked what it was for but she wouldn’t answer me. Without a moment to lose, she dashed towards the back of the parish. She left me hanging so I have to follow her! I am also worried if something will happen to her so I had no choice, even if I had to go through the village graveyard just to catch her.

I reached the cemetery in no time and I still saw her silhouette. I increased my speed so I could catch up to her. I could see her from a distance and she was standing in front of a gravestone. Eventually, I caught up to her and started asking her why she brought me here. I looked around and no one else was in the cemetery except the both of us. But then, when I looked back at where she was standing, she vanished!

Just then the air around me started feeling cold. A breeze blew but it didn’t turn off the candle. Instead, it carried with it a white carnation and landed on the gravestone in front of me. I focused on the name etched on the gravestone and was shocked. I stood still for a moment just observing it and still holding the well-lit candle in my right hand when a familiar voice that came from nowhere whispered to my ear.

“Please wish me a happy birthday, Noel. I’m sorry. I love you.”

Fast forward to the present, my heart still thumps wildly as I recall the past, the secret my ex didn’t tell me and the real reason for our breakup. Heart is gone and I just have to accept it and move on.