José
Mi Último Adiós
The searing pain was the first thing José felt. The force tipped his body back, right into the pulling arms of gravity. The air smelled of metals and powder too, he noticed, distinct from the salty updraft that usually crept underneath his nose whenever he took short walks here. Now, the numbness had spread from the tips of his fingers onto the rest of his body. His eyelids were heavy, weighed down by a kind of weariness he couldn't describe. But as his body slowly fell onto the comforting grasp of this endless ocean, he saw the sky, untainted by drifting clouds, a setting sun or crying gulls. It sparkled in his eyes, like one of those precious gems he had seen in Europe, and if he watched closely, he could see the waves crashing against one another soundlessly. Was this the same sky he saw when he was a child? When he played underneath the sun, in the smoldering heat back in Calamba? Somehow, the flood of memories came rushing back, taking him by surprise and making his heart swell with a contentment he felt he didn't deserve.
Gently, airy lips pressed against his cheeks, bringing with it a familiarity he loved. As he floated aimlessly on this deep sea, his eyes gradually succumbing to the weight, he wondered: when had the heavens and the tides united with each other?
Gently, airy lips pressed against his cheeks, bringing with it a familiarity he loved. As he floated aimlessly on this deep sea, his eyes gradually succumbing to the weight, he wondered: when had the heavens and the tides united with each other?
♠ ♠ ♠
Calamba is where Dr. José Rizal lived in his younger years. When he was of age, he went to Spain and studied there, until he decided to travel as he wrote his novel, Noli Me Tángere. This piece is my interpretation of what was going in his mind as he was shot to death by a firing squad from the Spanish army. Note that, the use of Spanish in the summary was because Spanish was the national language during that era. The Philippines was under their rule for more than 300 years.