“No Title Yet – Rough Draft”

"Thank you, madam." I continued walking while carrying the vegetables that I
purchased earlier. It's already summer so it's scorching hot outside, to the point where it is
very hard to breathe. Despite the heat, I still don't want to commute. Aside from that, the
market is just meters away from our home, so I don't see the need to ride a tricycle. While
walking, I saw that there was a group of people gathering. It doesn't come as a surprise to
me. This happens almost thrice a month in our community. If I am not mistaken, it looks
like there's a wedding that is occurring. I suddenly have the urge to peek. I see that they are
already exchanging vows with each other in front of witnesses. The bride and groom are
sitting on thrones and the bride is wearing a white dress. It is noticeable that the men and
women are separated from each other. I looked at the bride closely. I'm guessing she might
be 15 years old. This happens quite often. Young women, no, not women, young girls
marrying someone. She's crying, I am not sure if it's because of happiness or the other way
around. I can't read what she's thinking. I then looked into her eyes. Her image slowly
changes. Suddenly, I was looking at myself. I remember that I was once in her place too. I
was also 15 years old at that time. I also didn't know what to feel. Just like the girl that I
was looking at, although I was crying, my eyes were also empty. It was as if my eyes lost
their light. I immediately snap it out. I should accept my destiny. This is my life now. I
should stop wishing for freedom. This is freedom. Yes, this is freedom. This is what's meant
for me. This is what Allah destined me to fulfill. To be a wife. To be a mother. I continued
walking. The girl continued crying, the crowd not even knowing what she was crying
about.
I arrived at our house. Our house helper instantly approached me. I saw my
husband. He's busy calling someone. I think he's trying to find a job suitable for his age.
He's 17 years old, so I think it won't be hard for him to find a job. He's almost 18 years old.
Besides that, his family is also influential. Our families even urged him not to find a job
because they want us to prioritize having a baby first. Despite that, he still insisted. He
reasoned that the money that we are going to use for the baby should be from his own
sweat. He is a responsible man. I regretted what I was thinking earlier. That's right, this is
my life now, I should probably just accept it.
A few months have already passed. it's now ______. Nothing changed, I still see
myself as a housewife ever since I got locked up in this arranged marriage. Here I am in
the kitchen, cooking dinner while waiting for (husband's name). It must be tiring to look
for a job at a young age. Moments later, I heard the front door open, he was already home.
As I was done cooking, I saw him sitting at the dining table. I realized that his situation is
more complicated compared to what I am doing as someone who's only at home doing
household chores. I laid down the food and turned on the TV. News flashed on the screen,
oh it was about the election. The newscasters mentioned each candidate from the
presidential candidacy to the senator. Wait, what about him? Did I hear it right? (Name ng
candidate na tutulong) What will a sports player even do in the senate? I can already sense
people bashing him on social media. What's sad is I won't be able to vote because I'm not
yet at legal age.
After a few months of campaigning, today is now the election. I'm quite nervous
about the results. I hope that people will vote wisely because the next generation will be
affected and face the consequences of their choices. The election results were announced
later that evening. I can't believe my ears when I heard (name nung sports player) name
leading at top 1 for senatorial election. What? He's a sports player for Pete's sake. I checked
my phone and there, (name) he is now trending all over the internet and social media. Most
people are against him, I saw a comment that he will be the voice of Muslim people. I hope
so. I did some more research about him and found something interesting. In on of his fallies,
he stated that he will be visiting Muslim places or regions in the country and will observe
people's lives, if ever there's a problem within the community he'll try to take action and
solve it.
I scrolled down more and saw that our village is on the list of places that he'll be
going. It's quite fortunate I guess, but I also doubt if it's nice, to be honest, he doesn't have
that much political experience. People running for politics _____ (di ko maisip idadagdag,
basta sa una lang magaling like mangangako pero hindi tutuparin, they're just saying those
to lure and please people to vote for them). After days of tallying the votes for the election,
he is now declared one of the senate officials of the country. 3 weeks went by and I was
shocked when I heard that (name) is in our village. So, I see he kept his promise about the
visiting thing. During that night I sat by the window. I know that something's bothering
me. I just kept ignoring it since there's nothing much I can do about it. I closed my eyes
and let a tear fall. I hate being locked up in this marriage, this isn't what I wanted. I'm just
forced to do this for my family and it's part of our tradition. I didn't want to be a housewife
at this young age, I wanted to study and chase my dreams of becoming a doctor. But
because of this arranged marriage, everything changed. The next day we decided to look
for people that experience the same thing as us. Luckily, we gathered a lot of people and
we asked them to write what they want to say about child marriage (opinion, experience)
on a piece of paper along with their signature, and we'll hand them to (name senate) if we
get a chance. The next day we decided to go to the municipal hall and request a meeting
for (name senate). We waited hours for their response and luckily he is available the next
day, so we decided to book the meeting for tomorrow afternoon.
We're now at the meeting room discussing with senator ______. I can't take this
anymore. I don't want to be slave of this marriage, it's not my choice, it's against my will,
I'm just forced to do this. The discussion continued until 5 p.m. "I'll try my best to take
action regarding this problem alright? Thank you for being brave enough for telling this.
As a part of the Muslim community, it's hard to see minor going through this. Don't worry
I'll be your voice." Senator _____ (explain? promised? Ewan). I really hope that he'll keep
his words.
It took a year before the government chose to listen to our grievance. One time,
while listening to the radio, I discovered that our President signed a law that criminalizes
child marriage. Some did not approve of that law, but the decision is final. Child marriage
is illegal. What a journey. Senator _ kept his words. Will I finally get my freedom? Will I
finally be the one who will build my future? Only the future knows.

10 years later~

It took a year before the government chose to listen to our grievance. One time, while
listening to the radio, I discovered that our President signed a law that criminalizes child
marriage. Some did not approve of that law, but the decision is final. Child marriage is
illegal. Oh if you're wondering I'm already a a pediatrician. While Tamlin is now a
successful pilot and has his own family. After the law against child marriage had been
implemented in the country, we parted ways. We both decided to continue our studies and
live our life to the fullest, and since then we became close friends. About our parents? It's
alright for them, they realized that forcing us to marry at a young age wouldn't help and
benefit us in many ways.