Game Boy

I was a mysterious guy in school and even in our family. I was never talkative. There were times when I would just stay in one corner, stare blankly at the air, or just lay on my own. I really liked laying with my game boy. I!d usually bring it everywhere I go.

"y arents worked really hard just to earn a living. They didn#t even know the difference between weekdays and weekends, but I was used to it. Its for our future, they#d say.

I had one older brother and $ younger brothers. %ust one more brother and we could form a basketball team& 'e weren#t blessed with a female sibling. (ot that I hate my brothers. But I always wondered how it feels to have a younger sister. )r much better, an older one*

I was the most silent kid in our family, I guess. But I did also find time to have fun, es ecially with my brothers. I had a yaya who was very close to me. +he was almost my mother and I loved her as much as I loved my real family. ,nd for almost all my life, she had been with us.

Fourteen years old. "y arents had to confiscate my game boy just because I failed in +cience. 'as it really the fault of my game boy* -mm. I don#t think so. I just didn#t really like +cience back then. .uring those years, I started to get attracted to girls. I had a lot of crushes but it never crossed my mind to have a girlfriend. 'hat#s im ortant to me was my level in my game boy.

Fifteen years old. "y yaya died of cancer. I should have cried but I didn#t. ,nd since then, I began to be inde endent. "y mother also got regnant and I was glad because we#re finally becoming a basketball team& /es, it#s a boy. In the middle of my junior year, I met a girl named Blanche. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew she#d be a big art of my life. 'e became friends and as time

went by, my feelings for her grew stronger. I confessed and good thing that she also felt the same way about me. +he#s my first girlfriend.

+ince our lace was near the school, I always invited her to come over and I would bring her back home. 'e couldn#t stand a day without seeing each other. "onths had assed and senior year came. It was the time that I had to sto game boy for a while and take my studies seriously. laying

Blanche had been very su ortive and she would always ut my game boy down whenever I had other im ortant things to do. It was also the time when I felt serious ain. (obody knew about it, even Blanche. 'henever I went home from school, I would jum onto my bed and rest. I was the only one who knew how hard it was to breathe. I tried to hide the ain from the eo le around me. I didn#t want to be a burden. But as time assed, I couldn#t take the ain anymore. I started to be very thin and ale. "y mother got curious about what#s ha ening to me, and brought me to a doctor.

In the car, I heard my mother crying. I tried to listen to my arent!s conversation. ,ll I could hear was my wee ing mother, and I didn#t know why back then. .ays had assed and it came to a oint that I couldn#t go to school anymore. It was hard for me to carry things and walk. I started to feel hel less. I noticed that my family became different. It!s as if I needed all the love in the world. Blanche also changed a lot towards me. +he became more thoughtful and I didn#t like the way eo le treated me. It#s as if I was going to die. I didn#t like the feeling. ,nd I wanted to know why I had to 0uit school in the middle of the year.

)ne time while I was walking downstairs, I fainted. I woke u reali1ing that I was already in a hos ital. ,fter that incident, I went to the hos ital almost every week. The only thing that killed my boredom was my very own game boy.

)ne night, when Blanche and I were talking on the hone, she cried.

2'hy did you have to kee it to yourself* 'hy didn#t you tell me that you haven#t been feeling well* I deserve to know it& .on!t you trust me* she asked with a

trembling voice. Then slowly, I told her, I was afraid that if I told you about it, you#d do something I wouldn!t want you to do3. ,nd I don#t want to be a burden.2 I didn#t know why she had to act like that. But I wasn#t that dumb not to know what#s going on.

In the hos ital, I heard my family talking about me. I was retending to be aslee . -e has to know the truth before it#s too late.

I knew it.

I was going to die. It was hard for me to acce t the fact that I#d be leaving sooner or later.

"y friends went to visit me in the hos ital everyday. They would always tell me that they#re going to graduate really soon. I didn#t feel bad for myself. I tried to acce t that this was my fate.

Blanche and I enjoyed every moment together. I felt her sincerity and love. +he didn#t want me to go just yet. 'e both tried to forget about my sickness. +he made me feel that each day was like our last day together.

It was in the year $445 when I really felt weak. I couldn#t even stand nor sit ro erly. I was a bit envious of my friends because they#re in college already. )ur family became closer and my arents would always find time to take care of me in their busy schedules.

(ew year. $446.'e celebrated ha ily at home. I almost forgot that I had cancer and I could just die anytime. I felt like I was just enjoying myself like any other eo le.

But as days assed, I grew weaker and weaker. I told Blanche that whatever ha ens, I would always be with her. +he cried a lot and I told her not to see me for three weeks because I didn#t want her to see me suffering. I just reminded her how much I love her.

2/ou are my first and last. ,lways remember that you are s ecial to me and wherever the 7ord may take me, don#t ever forget that my heart is yours. I said.

"arch $446. It was the time when I couldn#t even talk anymore. ,ll I could do was to look at my arents crying. I could hardly breathe. March 16 In the hos ital, my dad stayed beside me. -e gave me a en and a a er so I could write what I had to say.

I can#t take it anymore, I wrote.

"y mother was crying and she told me to rest. I looked at my father, cousins, and brothers. They were all around me. ,ll I could do was to watch them. +ome of them were trying to hold back their tears. I thought to myself that one layer would soon be gone in our family#s basketball team.

,fter a few minutes, I could finally see the light. I slowly closed my eyes and told myself,

the game is over.