Chapter 6

/Sta. Mesa, Manila, 2019/

It’s not always so comfortable travelling the world through the years by oneself.

     Through the years, one is able to identify what they are able to live with or without – the small things, the joys that make life bearable. Not food, not a home, not the basic things that anyone needs, but something to keep your sanity. Something that brings you joy.

     Lucas always loved how his father weaves bags out of leaves, how is it possible to create different designs given that the colors of the leaves are unpredictable? How is he able to make the same pattern of Arabian Jasmine necklaces regardless of how open the flowers are? They always seem to look identical, yet he didn’t want to learn how his father does it – he didn’t want to learn the secrets of an artisan like him.

     However, Lucas has had more than 300 years to practice this craft. To learn to weave in hopes of being able to give someone something to remember by. Something he hopes to leave a mark on the world with, one thing that he simply cannot do.

     This has been the rock he has leaned upon these years – he can go days without eating, he is able to endure the cold regardless of the situation – he cannot go on a life without artistry, without creativity, wonder, and other beautiful things. These are the only things keeping him sane, just one small slip away from becoming mad.

     He ‘needs’ to be remembered.

     He needs to preserve who he is – a story – something that will always be remembered, something that someone rarely forgets.

     Next to the hotel where he spent the nights with Daniel multiple times is a mall. Inside it, of course, were bookstores. He goes inside and heads towards the nearest available ‘Booksale’ boutique and scans among the wide array of pre-loved books which are still good for any collection.

     He bumps into a girl holding an orange paperback novel seemingly invested in its plot, ‘The Darkest Minds’ the book cover reads.

     “Hey,” he tapped the girl’s shoulder.

     “Hmm?” the girl looks in his direction, she has a short hair, rounded face, and a cheeky smile.

     “I was wondering if you have seen other copies of that book? I’d like to read and purchase myself,” he responds.

     “Of course, there’s another one but it’s a hardbound book just behind you. Do you know about this series too?” the girl starts a conversation.

     “No, but I want to, thanks,” he turns around and there were four bundled hardbound books behind him, each representing a color: orange, blue, red, and yellow.

     The girl returns back to her book and continues reading. Lucas grabs the set and carries it nonchalantly as he walks toward the back part of the boutique. This was enough time for his curse to take effect and the girl forgets that they ever had a conversation.

     ‘How can anyone donate these books in such pristine condition?’ he thought.

     He looks around inside the boutique to see if anyone would catch him sneak them out. There are not-so-hidden cameras on the boutique’s entrance, but the recordings will automatically delete itself once he is gone.

     The set is pricey, but he knows he can get away with it regardless. He plans to make a run for the entrance – it’s a swift way to get away from someone’s line of sight, but it would be too conspicuous. Walking calmly would take too slow and he might get caught stealing, which is a momentary memory of embarrassment for him. He runs his fingers through the books spines as he tries to think of something inconspicuous to get out of there.

     Suddenly, a group of four people flock inside the boutique. They seem to be students: two tall guys wearing white shirt and pants, they were holding hands – they’re holding hands! Lucas was surprised to one of those in public. As lenient as society today was, in the eyes of these mortals it is still unacceptable especially those who cling desperately to their religious beliefs. The third one in the group was shorter, about five feet, ran towards one of the newly covered books and examined the plot written on its back cover.

     The fourth one was a girl; she was shorter than the third person but she was very beautiful. She was constantly talking to the two guys holding hands, one of which seemed disinterested about her and was scanning the inside contents of the boutique.

     ‘The three of the are blocking my way out,’ Lucas realized as he saw them standing in the way of the small door way.

      He slowly makes his way towards the door way to make his exit, once he’s there, he picks up his pace and immediately tries to get out of their sight. He brings the books int0 his front and hugs them – very happy with his little self-reward. He heads to the mall’s food court area to unpack the items and check out the plots as well.

     The series is a medley of genre set in a dystopic time. He is amazed at the condition of the books, they feel… brand new? He takes his time to admire and study their condition for almost a hundred times. As he grabs the orange books, he feels the hard cover and runs his hand on the embossed title – The Darkest Minds.

     He notices a weird symbol on its cover, it doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary. A book has got to have an interesting cover, hasn’t it? As he opens the cover to explore its pages, something falls out – it was a bookmark. He picks it up from the floor and he presses it at the very back of the book to lessen the chance of it falling again. He feels the pages and one can tell how expensive the printing must be on this book. It doesn’t feel like ordinary paper. It is definitely something a bookworm will appreciate for the rest of their life.

     It's to bad, he got his hands on the series first.