Red Orange Sunset
Photo by Neena Fuentes
“5:30 PM. It took this long, huh.” Sean took a deep sigh as he finished revising his thesis paper.
“I can’t believe I had to deal with you again,” he said to his research paper lying on the table.
The wretched paper had taken him 10 hours to revise, from the cluttered Theoretical Background up to the Recommendations containing concepts that barely were, just to discuss this in an upcoming presentation. Unfortunately, this would be an inter-school event and esteemed judges would be dissecting his paper in front of hundreds of people.
Today was the last day to completely revise his paper, and by God, it took him 3 whole weeks and 10 hours to revise the bastard. It was finally done. All that was left was to defend the whole thing. He heaved at the idea of it, dropped his pen on the table, and collapsed onto the sofa.
“Ugh…God, why have you forsaken me?” he murmured.
He knew he was worn out and tired as hell at the moment. Worse still, the presentation started at 7:30 in the morning and he was in the library lying half-dead on the sofa. He badly needed rest and sleep for tomorrow. He lifted his head and started packing.
As he zipped his bag, he took notice of the sunset from the third floor of the library. The rays of light flickered on the windowpane and filled the entire floor. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
“It’s been a while since you shined back at me. What’s up?” he smiled as he stared at the sunset.
As the red orange rays of the sunlight dashed across his face, he remembered the good old days when the world treated him kindly, back when the things he only knew were running around and playing outside.
He missed being a child, being naive when the world was filled with butterflies and rainbows. Everything was just perfect. The sunset shining upon the ground and the smell of grilled fish filled the air. This was a favourite bonding time together with his mom as they laughed and watched the sunset.
“Ma, why is the sunset colored like that?” he often asked his mother.
“Because it’s saying that Mr. Sun needs to rest,” his mother replied.
“You know Kuya, Mr. Sun also needs rest because he’s giving us light all day from early morning up to the late afternoon. Mr. Sun is bright when it’s morning until the afternoon, but it becomes tired and changes to red orange to tell people that he’s going to sleep. Just like Mr. Sun, you need to rest too in order for you to shine like he does,” his mother told him as she caressed his curly hair and pinched his chubby cheeks.
Those were the good old days. He knew a lot had changed since he was a little boy. He’d grown up, taken on bigger responsibilities, and continued to strive for his degree; yet these kinds of memories reminded Sean of his roots and made him look forward to tomorrow’s adventures. As he stared at the sunset, it reminded him that he, as well, needed a break once in a while.
“Mr. Sun is tired, and so am I. Isn’t that right, Ma?”
He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, revealing a picture of him and his mom enjoying grilled fish and staring towards the red orange sunset. A perfect picture captured at the right moment by his dad.
“Heh. I guess, I also need a break. Thanks for reminding me, Ma.” he choked back a sob. “I miss you.”
He flipped his wallet back unto his pocket, took one last look at the red orange sunset meeting the horizon, and carried himself home.
