His Cadet Girl (Send my Love to Heaven) [A short story]

“Permission to talk sir!”

“Why?”

“To join your platoon, sir!”

“Talk!”

“Cadet Private Nuevo, Rhian G. asking permission to join your platoon, Sir!”

“Join!”

She was the girl who caught his eyes - smart, jolly and quite active in class. She loved to write poems and short stories, to act, declaim and orate. She joined several competitions that made her more popular in school. She kept attending church services every Sunday and had always been a kind and loving daughter. But the way people saw Rhian Nuevo was so much different from the way Carlo Sebastian did.

They were both second-year high school when Carlo began to notice Rhian. The boy was not that active in class and preferred to sit at the back, where no one could notice him. He didn’t want to read notes, instead relied on his stocked knowledge. He had always wanted to wear his camouflage uniform like other cadet officers did. Unlike Rhian, he doesn’t go to church, instead loved to play basketball and hang out on gyms. He was not in the same section where that girl belonged, that’s why he remained contented on just looking at her - the way her hair dances while carrying her big red backpack and another big black handbag every 6 in the morning, even though her class would start at 7; the way she passed the corridor in front of his room, running dreamily; the way she giggled excitedly, showing her not-so-deep dimples when she would buy her favorite Cloud 9 at the school canteen with her foot socks on; her sweet smile that showed when she ran after her teacher who left a phone from the last class; the way she held a broom and played with it while acting like a majorette; even the way she sat all alone holding her pen and staring at her blank sheet of paper. She always looked amazing for Carlo.

As days passed by, Rhian’s childish acts up to the smallest things started registering in Carlo’s mind. He couldn’t help himself to silently admire that smart - weird girl. In fact, it had always been a relief seeing her alone, knowing that she was not with someone else. Months and years passed by and he never did a thing and became silent for what he really felt. Until their last yet memorable year in high school came.

He thought that it would be just an ordinary year for him though he was already a Senior CAT officer after a year of advanced training. But that girl that he used to keep his eyes on belonged to the class that he was assigned to officiate. How he wanted to shout that moment when he saw her with her classmates waiting for him. But of course, he forced himself to shut his mouth and kept that feeling again and again.

The first training day up to the last gave moments to cherish - as friends for the girl, but as a special someone for the boy. Her errors while on their march, her mistakes while holding her rifle, the moment he slapped Rhian’s hands when she was late (that made him blush the whole day), and that shocking second when he caught her looking back at him while he was teaching another cadet far from her platoon (that made him blush even more).

One night, the young officer checked his Facebook account. One new person added him as a friend and sent him a message which made him scream with no voice. It was Rhian! To his surprise, he accidentally pulled out the plug of his PC. It took him a minute to reboot the computer. He then immediately accepted Rhian’s request.

Before he even tried to pull up another window, a message flashed.

“Hi, Sir! :)” It was Rhian! The message causes him to almost fall off his seat.

“Why?” pretending that he was too busy to give time for her, but deep inside he was about to explode.

“Nothing Sir. I just wanna say good evening :).”

“Is that all?” he asked.

“Sir, wait! Why is your profile picture an anime character? Don’t you have any plans to show your face?” her bully question started to come up.

“I am not fond of taking pictures of myself,” he briefly replied.

From that night on, he always checked his account and kept on waiting for the girl’s message. Every duty time, the girl kept on smiling to him but he always prefers to give her a nod in return for the girl not to see his blushing face.

They had their last conversation a week before the graduation, which also became the last. The talk which was supposed to be the happiest moment, but became the saddest one for Carlo, for he was not able to say goodbye in person to the one he admired for years. On the same day, he found out through her friends that Rhian went out of town to study in college. Carlo still tried to contact her but got no reply. A month after graduation, he decided to accept his Uncle’s advice: to study at Dumaguete City. To get out of the melancholic feeling their place gave him, and to forget everything about the cadet girl.

After two years, Carlo went back to his hometown. He didn’t finish his course as a Seaman because he found it difficult to continue. So he transferred to another university, got himself a new course and new classmates.

Yes, it’s been two years and many things had changed his life. But one thing remained the same - his memory of this one girl he thought would eventually disappear as time passed by. But unfortunately, his memory of her remained unforgettable.

Carlo’s first day in his new school gave him no shock, the same as before. He’s now taking up Industrial Engineering. He just smiled to people but never talked to them. Again, silent as before.

While he was sitting outside the gymnasium waiting for his professor, Carlo saw a familiar face - a girl turned out into a lovely lady that she could never forget.

“Nuevo!” he shouted in excitement.

The girl looked back at the sound of her last name. That was when she saw Carlo.

“Sir!” she exclaimed and immediately ran to her officer.

That day became refreshment for both of them. From that moment, Carlo promised himself that he would never let go of Rhian anymore. They talked more than they used to. They exchanged cell phone numbers and started going to the university together. And since they lived on the same barangay, they went home together after classes.

Carlo learned what really happened to Rhian. She went to a theology school and was not allowed to go home until she finishes the course. She worked full time in the ministry and served the Lord with all her heart. But her body was not able to survive the work, so she was advised to go back home and take a rest. She was expected to be back that year but her parents decided not to let her due to her condition. Instead, they enrolled her at a secular school and took up Journalism.

Carlo told Rhian how long he waited for her to reply to his chats and text messages. He told her about his experiences for the past two years. But Rhian explained that she was not able to visit her account since the day she left their town. Her phone was also surrendered to the university office.

After that, they’ve started to go out together. Months later, Rhian intended to show and reveal her true feelings about Carlo - that she likes him ever since they were in high school - and that moment took silence to get over.

On the other day, after class, Carlo decided to unleash his unspoken words for Rhian that he kept for years. They both laughed at themselves for that moment. Now, they knew that they have the same feelings for each other, feelings that they’re going to cherish more.

The girl who always caught his eyes was finally a part of his life - they spent time together, get to know each other deeply, and knew both relatives and peers - they shared laughter and tears. A lot of challenges came but love bound them together that made their relationship stronger - more than they’ve expected.

They finished their degrees and got their jobs. They counted for years before they finally decided to get married. They had their angel named Magne and lived simple but full of love. They kept on serving God no matter what.

After 5 years, they lived a stable life. Carlo became the manager of the biggest factory in the Philippines while Rhian established a photography shop and covered events on her own. Their daughter Magne was now ready for school after summer.


OOO

It was a very good morning for Magne. She woke up early that day because they were going to the beach. She waited two months for this trip. She got out of her bed, gathered all her stuff and went to her parent’s room to wake them up. But it seemed that they were already downstairs so she went down to them.

Magne found no one in the house. When she was about to open the main door, her Lola opened it from the outside. She hugged her Lola and asked her where her parents were.

“Lola, they promised we’ll go to the beach, but where are they?” Then she started to cry out loud.

“Sweetie, your mom is sick and your dad brought her in the hospital,” the old woman replied.

Later that night, Carlo and Rhian came back home. Magne immediately hugged her mom and looked straight into her eyes.

“Mom, can we still go to the beach?” she asked.

Rhian just kissed her on her cheeks and Carlo answered for her, “Mom is already tired honey. We’ll go next time. Go to your bed and take a rest. We love you so much honey,” as he kissed her child’s forehead with tears.

The next day the little girl woke up. She went to the master’s bedroom and saw her dad lying beside her mom.

“Your mom still needs to take some rest, sweetie,” Carlo said to Magne and they both went out of the room.

The next day, Carlo came back with two big envelopes on his hands and tears fell on his face as he saw his wife came near him.

His daughter rushed to his daddy and asked, “Daddy, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Rhian also started to cry.

“Mom, Dad, what’s wrong?” Magne repeated.

“Nothing honey,” and they hugged their sweet angel with tears falling on their faces.

Magne didn’t actually understand any of those but what’s clear was that her mom and dad kept on going to the doctor - almost every day.

Few days later, Magne went to wake up her Mommy. She brought her drawing of their happy family she made. But her mom wasn’t in her bed. Her pillow was full of hair. Still she placed her drawing in her mom’s bed hoping that it would make her feel better. She scanned the room and saw hairs all over the floor. She saw her mom at the bathroom vomiting.
Everything in their house changed. Still, the little girl couldn’t understand the changes but she knew that there was something wrong. Every night, she kept on praying,

“God, please make things the same as before. Make them good again and I promise I won’t ask for the beach anymore.”

Days passed by, Rhian was still in the hospital almost every day. She kept on taking medicine. Every time she was in their house, she was always inside her room beside her loving child. Carlo also took a leave and turned over his businesses to his right hand. He spent all of his time beside his wife while playing with Magne. Carlo loved his wife so much that he stayed strong for her - for their child.

“God knows how long I’ve waited for you to be mine. That’s why I am afraid of losing you once more,” Carlo said with tears falling from his eyes while holding Rhian’s hands.

“Don’t be afraid, Carlo. You don’t have any reason to feel that way. This is not an accident, this is God’s plan”, Rhian comforted him. “He gave us Magne as a fruit of our love, our everlasting joy”.

Until one night, Magne woke up because of her Mom terribly screaming in torment. She saw her Dad crying while holding her Mom’s hands trying to relieve the pain. The innocent girl rushed to his Dad’s side and asked,

“Dad, what’s going on with Mom?”

Her Dad didn’t reply. Minutes later, Rhian finally recovered. She immediately looked to Magne and asked her to sit beside her.

“I am going to a far place my child”, she said to her daughter with tears in her eyes.

“But you’re coming back soon, right?”

“That’s my prayer - to be back and to be with you much longer, to take care of you and your Dad ‘til you get older”, then big tears rolled down her cheeks as she hugged her tight for a minute.

“Mom, stop crying. I don’t understand”, Magne said in confusion.

“Take care of yourself, my angel. You’re a big girl now. I am sorry if I won’t make it to your 7th birthday. But please, always be a marvelous and obedient daughter to Daddy. Keep your grades high in your first year of school. I am proud of you, sweetheart. I love you and your Dad. I will miss you”, she told Magne softly while gasping out of breath and trying to comfort her child.

Grandma took Magne and let her sleep. That midnight, Carlo woke up to see his wife. But before Carlo could say a word,

“What if I die today? Will you go with me?” Rhian asked his husband seriously.

It took Carlo a minute before he finally answered.

“If God permits Rhian, I will. I’ll be with you up to eternity.”

“Then I want to sleep now honey”, Rhian whispered to Carlo while catching her breath.

“Please don’t leave me. How can I live without you?” Carlo insisted.

“I love you so much. You can go with me,” Rhian’s last words.

The next day, Magne woke up and saw her Dad crying kneeled down on the floor. She looked at the bed of her mom but she found no one.

“Dad, where’s Mom?” she asked.

“Listen honey, Mom’s gone for a trip”, Carlo tried to speak while crying, gasping for breath.

“I know but when is she coming back? I already miss her,” Magne replied.

“This time, Mom’s trip is taking her a long time and she’s not coming back,” Carlo told his daughter and hugged her so tight.


OOO

After a year, it was summer again. Magne woke up and rushed to her Dad’s room. That was the day they were scheduled to go to the beach. When she entered the room, she saw her Dad staring at a picture frame while lying on his bed crying.

“Dad, let’s go. It’s time for the beach.”

“Daddy’s not feeling well, we can have it next week.”

“But you’ve promised,” she said. “Please, Dad I want to go, please!”

“I said no!” Carlo growled in irritation.

Magne was shocked as she first heard her Dad shouted at her.

“I hate you, Daddy! I hate you!” Magne screamed in anger. She ran downstairs and went out of the house.

Carlo tried to catch her and ran after her. But on the second street, a car came by to his direction and accidentally hit him hard, causing him to flip over the front windshield of the car. When Magne heard the car crashed, she looked back and saw his Dad’s body covered with blood. She couldn’t say a word and remained frozen until she totally blacked out.

OOO

In a glimpse of an eye, Carlo was finally with Rhian. It took many years for them to love their only child but took only seconds to say goodbye. Magne blamed herself for her father’s death and wished to pause the day and time or even to slow it down for her to hold her parent’s hands a little longer to tell them how much she loved them.

Magne still survived alone with the help of her relatives. She took over all of her parent’s businesses after she graduated in College which made her earn a lot. She learned to live by faith as her parents did and shared everything she has. She became an active sponsor of over 14 charities in the Philippines and didn’t have any plan of having her own family. She couldn’t blame her parents for wishing to be together again but deep inside she’s still broken because she finally understood that everything won’t be the same again.

One day she visited her parents and in front of their grave, she felt the pain of yesterday. She can hardly breathe. Magne brought with her a bottle full of papers with all her letters for her mom and dad written every special occasion of her life. She decided to leave that bottle at their grave as a symbol of accepting the reality that her parents will never come back. But before she left, she opened the bottle and wrote her last letter in a paper saying,

“LORD, SEND MY LOVE TO HEAVEN.”


OOO
“That’s the end of our story today young boys and girls. Thank you, Sisters, for inviting me here. I hope to see you on my next visit. Again, I am Ms. Magne N. Sebastian and you can call me, Magne.”

She stood up from her chair, gave her last smile before heading to the door.

As soon as she got passed the classroom, she then let a tear fall from her eyes. She let it fall once more, after years of holding it back.