Maria Hunter found life pretty dull.
For example, living in the barren eastern middle-of-nowhere of Northern Ireland, with little to do and endless countryside stretching in every direction, Maria could think of very few things to lift her from the gloomy silence she retained whilst making her way tahanan from school each day. She wasn’t a difficult child, but she found life so ordinary. School was repetitive, and being one longing for more, Maria did not fit in well and had few friends. Her tahanan life was uninteresting, living in a bungalow with her elderly grandmother, after the unfortunate deaths of both her parents. You see, Maria Hunter was a dreamer, a young mind coming to the point of womanhood and she couldn’t help but cast her thoughts to exciting possibilities that enticed her to leave this humdrum way of life.
As Maria reached the first stile of many on her long route home, she felt the first cold patter of raindrops hit her face. She sighed and threw her schoolbag into the field, heaved herself over the stile after it and slammed it back on to her shoulders, ignoring the splatter of mud that came with it, her temper getting the better of her. The rain was really beginning to fall heavily now; the moisture seemed to be considering joining forces and becoming a real downpour, so Maria hunched her shoulders and pelted towards the other side of the field, hoping to reach the little cove of trees before that happened.
Luckily, with little else to do in this region, Maria had taken to exploring the countryside around her house and so she had built up her knowledge and physical strength through sheer experience. She was a quick learner and adapter, preferring to spend time analysing and gaining new information than with the few mga kaibigan she had. She was considered ‘weird’ sa pamamagitan ng many of the girls at school, but she cared very little. As for the boys, she was, for the most part, uninterested. Only one had ever caught her attention, someone she had glimpsed a few times between corridors and in the cafeteria. The most mysterious person she had ever seen. Tall and muscular, the plain school uniform seemed to do injustice to his true build, hiding his strong arms and chest. His skin was chalk-white, real alabaster, smooth, from what Maria could see and yet, seemed to be as tough and hard as rock. However, that had been nothing, really, compared to his face. It had been the most beautiful and angelic thing Maria had ever seen, with its strong jaw and high cheekbones. His whole face radiated calmness and his eyes- however hidden under casual locks of honey-coloured hair, were buttery hazel, brighter than any other colour she had ever seen.
This enigma of a human being had left almost as quickly as he’d come. A lot of the girls were blatantly disappointed that he’d vanished, but Maria had been madami curious. He had been almost fleeting, like a drifting snowflake that catches on one’s arm before melting away and leaving a confused array of feelings and walang sagot tanong behind.
The rain showed no signs of ever letting up and so Maria sighed and continued on her journey, Nawawala in reminiscence over puzzling memories.




The susunod installment awaits you...