Journey to Neverland

In a small city named Calbayog, the people are but tiny specks of dust
in this massive geological ellipsoid, unaware of the disastrous event that is
about to be brought forth in this world.

I remember it all too well. The memory is engraved in my mind like a

barnacle in an old ship. The school year has just ended and everyone was
talking about where they’re going for vacation.

“We’re going to Cebu to visit my grandfather.” one of my classmates

said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “We’re going to Boracay this
summer!” said my other classmate with utmost enthusiasm. The cacophony of
voices continuously resounded as I walk home.

As soon as I enter the comfort of my abode, I also started to formulate

a plan for summer vacation. But before I could come up with a concrete plan,
my phone rang. I picked it up, and the gut-churning words that my father
uttered has long been stamped on my mind since then. “Go to Pinabacdao as
soon as possible. It’s not safe in the city.”

The events that followed after has been a blurry cluster of chaos. The
next thing I knew, I was imprisoned in what seems to be a perpetual cycle of
monotony. Wake up, attend virtual classes, do homework, repeat. That has
been my daily routine ever since the pandemic started. The cycle became too
much that it started to feel like I was trapped in an abyssal chasm of agony.

It continued on like that for what feels like an eternity. Until one
stormy night, I started to notice and take interest in a shelf that has always
just blended in with the surroundings in my peripheral. My uncle’s bookshelf.

Out of boredom, I decided to pick up a random book, which turned out

to be Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. That book became my gateway to the
literary world. After Wuthering Heights, I explored the vast oceans with Moby
Dick, casted spells with Harry Potter, and fought off tyrannical gods with Percy
Jackson.

Books became my Neverland. A dimension where I could escape to

when the real world becomes too overbearing. It intertwined with my whole
being and became a part of my soul.