Childhood crush
I had this childhood crush on a neighbor of ours. He lived at the house across our own. I remember he used to smile at me and I was so kinikilig that I couldn’t think of anything else but that smile.
We became friends, sort of. He would give me little things and I would not accept lest my parents get wind of what’s happening to my little thumping heart. If I am not mistaken, he was five years older than I.
Eventually, I outgrew my childhood crush. I still saw him from time to time. He was no longer living in the house across but his sister still lives there with her family. A few years ago, his sister told my dad that he died due to a riot in their province. He was not even a part of the riot but was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was just in his late 20′s and I couldn’t believe it when my dad told me. He was a big man with an obvious zest for life.
The last time I saw him alive, he smiled at me but I didn’t smile back. I wasn’t in the mood that time, stressed out from work. I should have smiled and said hi.
