The Omen

"Happy birthday to you..."
We chorused as we greeted our blockmate. Today was his birthday (obviously).

It was fortunate of my cousin's wife to have given birth yesterday.
I wonder how many mothers gave birth today? Infants who were born on June 6, 2006...

Hmmm... quite similar to December 31, 1999, when the Y2K (Year 2000) bug was making people go crazy. And to think, governments and business spent more than 500 billion dollars just to make their computers Y2K compliant. Geez, how important are the files inside their computers anyway? Why didn't the computer engineers design the computers to be Y2K compliant in the first place?

Unfortunately, none of this could compare to the fear instilled in everyone's hearts today.

Let's start.

I stayed up late in the evening, frantically trying to do all my homework and fulfill all the requirements our professor posed for us S-15 students. By midnight, some people sent me messages which go like this: “o6. o6. o6 na!!”

The night before, I received this message: “May babala sa hinaharap: Sa June 6, 2006 magaganap ang isang nakakapangilabot na ritual dahil ang araw na ito ay minsan lang nagaganap sa madaming siglo. Ang petsang ito ay 06 / 06 / 06 nakumakatawan sa araw ng Diablo at mga kulto. Maraming bata, babae, at binata ay madudukot para ialay sa kadiliman. Nagsisimula na sila ngayon mandukot, kaya ang lahat ay mag-ingat.”

Somehow, I believed that message, for a few weeks ago, I personally saw a woman being murdered by another person (also a woman). The murderer used a knife to cut the throat of the victim, leaving the victim lying dead on a pool of blood. The victim’s partner, who was in a state of shock, cried out, “Killer! Killer!” (The killer looked as if she was possessed by the devil.) Eventually everyone in the vicinity was chasing the killer.

The crime scene happened around 6 PM in the 168 Shopping Mall area.

My mom heard someone say that a certain number of dead bodies would be laid out to be sacrificed to the devil on June 6 (for there were reports that many people were already murdered).

In time, news reporters broadcasted that the said “offering” and the “murder reports” are just made-up stories.

I, who have seen ‘it’ with my own eyes, would not believe the reports.

A week ago, when me and my parents slept late without air conditioning, (I really had a hard time sleeping. Now that he’s in the States for a few weeks, I always take the opportunity to turn on the air conditioner every time my mom and I go to bed. At last, a good night’s sleep.) I heard someone scream from outside our window. I figured out that the voice came from a nearby street. After a few seconds – gunshot! Screams turned to cries, then a rampage pushed through. “Sigh,” I thought to myself, “another murder; when will this ever end?”

The vicinity where I live is not very good. Camba, feared by many a people, is a hotbed of crime. After the incident took place, the more I wanted to move back to our old house in Elcano, which was two blocks away from our present home. I missed my friends, my neighbors, and the like...

Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye
And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told?
Let them ring out loud till they unfold

Back to my story; because of the humongous amounts of homework our professors have given us, I was forced to stay up until 3 AM, when I finally accomplished my goals. I went to brush my teeth. I thought I saw an apparition. “Nah,” I thought, “just my mind playing tricks.” Anyway, I was pretty sleepy by that time.

I woke up at eight. After eating breakfast and organizing my things, my mom insisted (or the other way around) to bring me to school because for precautionary measures. Before that though…

Misfortune # 1: I suddenly had pains in my stomach. I hope it would not distract me during class hours.

I arrived five minutes early for our INTRPRG class. I sat at the easternmost seat despite my blockmates’ invitations of me sitting beside them. Classes started. We discussed the answers to the problems that she gave us.

Misfortune # 2: Our professor said that negative values have no factorials. During our group discussion, I said otherwise, because my calculator allows negative factorials. Some of my classmates stared at me. I couldn’t help but apologize for insisting on a wrong answer.

When we were dismissed, my ‘circle of friends’ at La Salle invited me to join them once again to lunch. I went with them, as usual.

Misfortune # 3: We ate at Pizza Hut.
i) I didn’t bring much money with me today, so I couldn’t order my usual stuff.
ii) I ordered from Pizza Hut yesterday, and I had a pizza for breakfast today.

I ordered a (New Orleans) Chicken Wing platter and a cup of iced tea to boot. I also took my stomach medicine to help digest the food I ate.

After eating lunch, we went back to class.

On the way, Rominick called my attention. I was surprised to see him. “First time we met here.” I said. He smiled. We also met Allie on our way to Andrew Hall. I asked both of them, “Do your classrooms have air conditioning?” They both replied yes, but the centralized cooling system was not working efficiently. I was glad that ours did.

We soon parted ways since it was about time for class.

Misfortune # 4: There was an unusually long queue wanting to enter the building.

Soon enough, we arrived at our designated floor. *pant* We rushed to the drinking fountain and cooled ourselves off. We proceeded to our classroom hoping that the cold temperature of the room can wear our exhaustion.

Misfortune # 5: When we arrived at our classroom, the lights were shut and darkness filled the room. It was not long when I discovered that our air conditioning unit was also not working properly.

We had our (boring) ALGTRIG class after our teacher came in late. We then had our (fun and interesting) SCIENVB class where our professor taught us two things that ‘you won’t learn from any college or professor,’ namely, palmistry and graphology. The results were ‘shockingly accurate,’ as my seatmate had said. Our professor offered to give us our fortunes for free. Just imagine how many people had their palms interpreted.

My mom was waiting for me outside the De La Salle campus (for precautionary measures, as stated above). We went to GUM & MUG. I swapped my calculator / keyboard there to my Anti-RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) crystal keyboard at home. I tried to repair my former keyboard (crystal; that’s why I replaced my keyboard with a better one).

Misfortune # 6: I ‘dissected’ the two keyboards (calcu-keyboard and crystal). I hoped to find some individual ‘plugs’ (as I call it, ‘dissect’ your keyboard to know what I mean) inside my calcu-keyboard to insert to my crystal one. Sadly, My calcu-keyboard doesn’t have individual plugs; the plugs are merged together by a silicon sheet inside the keyboard (by now you should be confused, so I'll stop).

In spite of my misfortune, I was able to repair my keyboard with my excellent mechanical skills. *snicker* It looks like a brand new keyboard now.

My mom and I went to Smart Business Center and was able to retrieve my lost Smart sim card. My number is 0928-2122878. Take note that I won’t be using it that often. Contact me via Globe or Sun (former: 0906-4969276, latter: 0922-9759276).

The horrors haven’t ended yet. Who knows, maybe Nostradamus’ prediction of World War III happening this year will start later? Is this the end of the world? Time shall tell…