My Home is My Bestfriend
Content
MY HOME IS MY BESTFRIEND There seems to be an infinite darkness in the cave. A rowboat painted in orange drifts along the tranquil river where its passengers are obscured from sight. Then a gush of wind comes from the north opening. The flame from the lamp halts the darkness. Dim it may be, the fisherman who have just entered the cave, wanders along on his boat. As he glances at the far end, his eyes bulged and mouth opened widely in great shock. He fainted suddenly and there comes another absence of light. *** The cackling sound of the chicken dreamily wakes Berto up. He stares at the window and hurriedly stands up to escape the house before daylight, before his mother wakes up. He is successful in opening the front door and runs away in such a great relief. There goes Berto again, Berto who dislikes reading, Berto who dislikes doing household chores, Berto who dislikes things which requires mental and physical strength and yet this same Berto only likes to play. And play is what he does all day. There is more to Berto than being playful, he is quite a naughty young boy. His neighbors take notice of his ruthless approach to nature. Aling Celsa sees him throwing trashes at the river most of the time. Mang Bartolome caught him once spitting at the riverside and Manang Rio overheard him influencing his playmates to throw their garbages everywhere. Until that one fateful day, “Berto, Berto, where are you? I can’t find you!” called Berto’s friend. A smirk emerges from Berto’s round and dirty face as he stucks himself in an open drum lying on its side at the river bank. “I’ll win,” whispers Berto with pride but as he looks up, Berto’s eyes fixed into something he had never seen before. There is immense curiosity in his eyes, as though what he had just discovered is a hidden treasure and a contrast in the surrounding he knew so well. The treasure comes in a bottle, which Berto interestingly peers at now that he is sitting relaxed at the filthy rooftop of their tiny house. The half-filled water in the bottle is crystal blue and reminds him so much of the color of the ocean in his textbooks. The water entices him in a magical way. All he sees is beauty and purity that unconsciously he opens it. Just when Berto is about to drink the water, there is a loud sound of waves and the magical world begins to unfold.
The ground moving under his feet is something Berto is certain of. He begins to float in a tornado of crystal blue water. Everything is in circles and Berto, himself is also rotating in a heart-dropping, mind-blowing speed. “Aahh!” Berto screams and screams fro it is the only thing he can do. A wrinkle is visible where Berto’s eyebrows meet. It’s as if confusing thoughts haunts him even at sleep. For a while, what we only see is a face of a young boy bald and dirty as ever. So it is an attraction to see a finger, so blue, touching the tip of Berto’s nose. At a glimpse, one can tell that the finger is different. It is like an ocean, so alive, so blue and so beautiful. Berto begins to move and respond to the cool touch and slowly, he opens his eyes. He scans the place and all the things he laid his eyes upon reverberates exquisite beauty. The river shines like diamond as the rays of the sun kisses the water. The flowers are multi-colored, scented and proud. The leaves of the trees, oh, how they love to dance together with the wind. And the mountains almost touching the heaven is like a jewel in pure gold. He almost misses it but when he stares beside him, what he encounters is a rarity. Berto almost stumbles but this creature steadies him. Indeed, he is like an ocean with green coloring on some parts and transformed into a human being. Berto notices his huge eyes to be expressive and the thin line of his mouth, a reflection of his feelings. At this point, it is in concave contour. “Who are you?” asks Berto, “And where am I?” “We are in the same planet. this might appear new to you but I tell you, this place is what it was from the very beginning and should have been at present and the future.” There’s a slight cringe on Berto’s forehead so he just asks again his name. “Oh, my name by the way is Noel and yours?” “Berto!” Noel offers his hand to Berto and Berto who at first clenches his fist, accepts it. They shake hands. “Can you be my friend?” Noel asks full of hope. There are a lot of things going on Berto’s head that he asks aloud, “Why are you so different?” “I am no different,” defends Noel, “You, the trees, the flowers, the butterflies, we’re all the same. Men always forget that we come from one creator.”
“But I don’t understand” “Of course, you don’t understand because you’re one of them. They never run out personal interest and to make it work, they choose to go on and on and on. they never mind if they step into God’s other creations. The trees are cut down, the plants and the habitat of animals are destroyed for industrialization. They are breathing Berto, they have life which sadly people take no notice of. Now tell me Berto, can you be my friend?” “I could but why is friendship significant to you?” asks Berto “There is something about true friendship that is important. Friends trust and respect each other. I can never hurt a friend and I know that it would also be the same for him. I will defend him at all cost but never tolerates his wrongdoings. We can have many friends but few true friends. I feel secure to have a companion, a true friend, could you be like that to me Berto? It is the first time that Berto feels special. The thought of having a friend makes him feel loved. And so with no words to say, Berto embraces Noel. They run and play the whole afternoon and stop as the sun sets from the sky. Noel bids goodbye to Berto and in just a snap, he travels into a whirlpool of water and back into his home. Aling Celsa is sitting by the window, viewing the events outside her house. From afar, he sees Berto throwing garbage in the river. “For a millionth time,” are the only words she utters. Berto often visits his friend Noel. They are at a tree house enjoying the sight of the meadow below. Berto’s attention focuses on Noel and he notices a big difference in him. “It seems like you’ve changed,” Berto opens up, “Your color is now tainted with black and you tire easily when we play unlike before when I first met you.” Noel keeps his silence for a long time. He is in deep thought. Finally, Noel asks, “Berto, as a friend, I trust you. I just want you to be honest with me. Do you care for our environment, perhaps, the trees, the rivers or the flowers?” Berto hesitantly answers his question, “I do” Noel nods his head and fixes his attention to Berto “Have you ever thrown your garbage at the river?” Berto cannot look straight to Noel but still he responded,
“No… Never” Noel nods again and says, “Then it is not your fault after all.” Sunrise, sunset, it comes and it goes. Berto continues to be the way he is. He throws and throws and throws at the river and he plays and plays and plays with a weaker and darker Noel. One cloudy afternoon, Berto decides to stay at the rooftop of their house. it was the first time he notices the water inside the bottle to be color black. Our Berto who only loves to play also for the first time becomes fully aware of what is happening around him. he opens the bottle with shaking hands and transported back to Noel’s world in a slow pace and whirlpool of black and polluted water. It is devastated. It is ugly. It is gloomy. Berto runs on every place where he and Noel would play. He can’t find him and tears begin to spring from his eyes. The place is no longer what it has been before. The flowers have died. The trees have been cut. Everywhere he looks, there’s no life. He reaches the river and suddenly, he backs away, as if he couldn’t believe what he just saw. The river, black and polluted as it is the same river he has back home. Everything seems to return to his memory. The times he throws his waste on the river and Noel getting weaker and darker each time he visits him. It all makes sense and he comes up with the realization that it was his fault after all. A blinding light emerges from the clouds and a woman begins to speak up calmly, “Little boy, what have you done to my son?” “You are his mother?” asks Berto respectfully “Yes I am and he is very ill because of you.” “I’m sorry, it is my entire fault. I hope you understand, I’m a son of poverty so I wrongly acted like one. I’m sorry.” “Your sorry is too late little boy. My son is still unconscious and he could have died. I’m afraid I should teach you a lesson.” There from the cave, a rowboat starts to emerge and sails across the sea. We see Berto sitting naked at the rowboat carrying a replica of the house he always escapes from to avoid helping his mother. Behind him is a garbage can filled with waste materials that emits an extremely disgusting odor. From above, Noel is little but little recovering from his illness. He is looking at his true friend who is travelling alone and in such a pathetic situation. He tries to hold
back the tears but his love for his friend is too much that the tears just fell all the way. Berto is now travelling at the Pacific Ocean. Memories of his friend keep coming back. He is tempted to touch the water to have a feel of Noel but he can never do it because he is too dirty that he is scared to hurt and pollute his friend again. So our little Berto closes his eyes to get rid of the temptation and he journeys silently having no knowledge of when it would end. Lying in bed of white roses, Noel talks with his mother and asks her to forgive his friend Berto. Mother Earth embraces his son, prepared to lift the punishment of his only son’s best friend. Bert opens his eye and feels that there is something wrong. He glances around and finds that he is at his home again. He walks at the kitchen ready to ask his mother but suddenly holds back. Instead, he smiles and embraces her. “I will change from now on. I will always be here to help you ‘nay,” promises Berto to his mother. That same morning, he runs at the river and sits on a rock at the riverside. He is trying to look for a bottle with half-filled crystal blue water but he cannot find it. So Berto looks up at the sky and see a ray of light from the sun. He then shivers at the memory of the Mother Earth’s voice, calm and forgiving. He may never see Noel again but he is confident that Noel is more than happy to be at his mother’s side. As for him, one thing is for sure, he will change and be a steward of God’s creation. He will never destroy the environment again. Berto is smiling for Noel and Mother Earth as he gazes upon the sky and he whispers to himself, “My friend is my place, my home, my Earth…” Berto is being watched from above and both are smiling back at him.
The ground moving under his feet is something Berto is certain of. He begins to float in a tornado of crystal blue water. Everything is in circles and Berto, himself is also rotating in a heart-dropping, mind-blowing speed. “Aahh!” Berto screams and screams fro it is the only thing he can do. A wrinkle is visible where Berto’s eyebrows meet. It’s as if confusing thoughts haunts him even at sleep. For a while, what we only see is a face of a young boy bald and dirty as ever. So it is an attraction to see a finger, so blue, touching the tip of Berto’s nose. At a glimpse, one can tell that the finger is different. It is like an ocean, so alive, so blue and so beautiful. Berto begins to move and respond to the cool touch and slowly, he opens his eyes. He scans the place and all the things he laid his eyes upon reverberates exquisite beauty. The river shines like diamond as the rays of the sun kisses the water. The flowers are multi-colored, scented and proud. The leaves of the trees, oh, how they love to dance together with the wind. And the mountains almost touching the heaven is like a jewel in pure gold. He almost misses it but when he stares beside him, what he encounters is a rarity. Berto almost stumbles but this creature steadies him. Indeed, he is like an ocean with green coloring on some parts and transformed into a human being. Berto notices his huge eyes to be expressive and the thin line of his mouth, a reflection of his feelings. At this point, it is in concave contour. “Who are you?” asks Berto, “And where am I?” “We are in the same planet. this might appear new to you but I tell you, this place is what it was from the very beginning and should have been at present and the future.” There’s a slight cringe on Berto’s forehead so he just asks again his name. “Oh, my name by the way is Noel and yours?” “Berto!” Noel offers his hand to Berto and Berto who at first clenches his fist, accepts it. They shake hands. “Can you be my friend?” Noel asks full of hope. There are a lot of things going on Berto’s head that he asks aloud, “Why are you so different?” “I am no different,” defends Noel, “You, the trees, the flowers, the butterflies, we’re all the same. Men always forget that we come from one creator.”
“But I don’t understand” “Of course, you don’t understand because you’re one of them. They never run out personal interest and to make it work, they choose to go on and on and on. they never mind if they step into God’s other creations. The trees are cut down, the plants and the habitat of animals are destroyed for industrialization. They are breathing Berto, they have life which sadly people take no notice of. Now tell me Berto, can you be my friend?” “I could but why is friendship significant to you?” asks Berto “There is something about true friendship that is important. Friends trust and respect each other. I can never hurt a friend and I know that it would also be the same for him. I will defend him at all cost but never tolerates his wrongdoings. We can have many friends but few true friends. I feel secure to have a companion, a true friend, could you be like that to me Berto? It is the first time that Berto feels special. The thought of having a friend makes him feel loved. And so with no words to say, Berto embraces Noel. They run and play the whole afternoon and stop as the sun sets from the sky. Noel bids goodbye to Berto and in just a snap, he travels into a whirlpool of water and back into his home. Aling Celsa is sitting by the window, viewing the events outside her house. From afar, he sees Berto throwing garbage in the river. “For a millionth time,” are the only words she utters. Berto often visits his friend Noel. They are at a tree house enjoying the sight of the meadow below. Berto’s attention focuses on Noel and he notices a big difference in him. “It seems like you’ve changed,” Berto opens up, “Your color is now tainted with black and you tire easily when we play unlike before when I first met you.” Noel keeps his silence for a long time. He is in deep thought. Finally, Noel asks, “Berto, as a friend, I trust you. I just want you to be honest with me. Do you care for our environment, perhaps, the trees, the rivers or the flowers?” Berto hesitantly answers his question, “I do” Noel nods his head and fixes his attention to Berto “Have you ever thrown your garbage at the river?” Berto cannot look straight to Noel but still he responded,
“No… Never” Noel nods again and says, “Then it is not your fault after all.” Sunrise, sunset, it comes and it goes. Berto continues to be the way he is. He throws and throws and throws at the river and he plays and plays and plays with a weaker and darker Noel. One cloudy afternoon, Berto decides to stay at the rooftop of their house. it was the first time he notices the water inside the bottle to be color black. Our Berto who only loves to play also for the first time becomes fully aware of what is happening around him. he opens the bottle with shaking hands and transported back to Noel’s world in a slow pace and whirlpool of black and polluted water. It is devastated. It is ugly. It is gloomy. Berto runs on every place where he and Noel would play. He can’t find him and tears begin to spring from his eyes. The place is no longer what it has been before. The flowers have died. The trees have been cut. Everywhere he looks, there’s no life. He reaches the river and suddenly, he backs away, as if he couldn’t believe what he just saw. The river, black and polluted as it is the same river he has back home. Everything seems to return to his memory. The times he throws his waste on the river and Noel getting weaker and darker each time he visits him. It all makes sense and he comes up with the realization that it was his fault after all. A blinding light emerges from the clouds and a woman begins to speak up calmly, “Little boy, what have you done to my son?” “You are his mother?” asks Berto respectfully “Yes I am and he is very ill because of you.” “I’m sorry, it is my entire fault. I hope you understand, I’m a son of poverty so I wrongly acted like one. I’m sorry.” “Your sorry is too late little boy. My son is still unconscious and he could have died. I’m afraid I should teach you a lesson.” There from the cave, a rowboat starts to emerge and sails across the sea. We see Berto sitting naked at the rowboat carrying a replica of the house he always escapes from to avoid helping his mother. Behind him is a garbage can filled with waste materials that emits an extremely disgusting odor. From above, Noel is little but little recovering from his illness. He is looking at his true friend who is travelling alone and in such a pathetic situation. He tries to hold
back the tears but his love for his friend is too much that the tears just fell all the way. Berto is now travelling at the Pacific Ocean. Memories of his friend keep coming back. He is tempted to touch the water to have a feel of Noel but he can never do it because he is too dirty that he is scared to hurt and pollute his friend again. So our little Berto closes his eyes to get rid of the temptation and he journeys silently having no knowledge of when it would end. Lying in bed of white roses, Noel talks with his mother and asks her to forgive his friend Berto. Mother Earth embraces his son, prepared to lift the punishment of his only son’s best friend. Bert opens his eye and feels that there is something wrong. He glances around and finds that he is at his home again. He walks at the kitchen ready to ask his mother but suddenly holds back. Instead, he smiles and embraces her. “I will change from now on. I will always be here to help you ‘nay,” promises Berto to his mother. That same morning, he runs at the river and sits on a rock at the riverside. He is trying to look for a bottle with half-filled crystal blue water but he cannot find it. So Berto looks up at the sky and see a ray of light from the sun. He then shivers at the memory of the Mother Earth’s voice, calm and forgiving. He may never see Noel again but he is confident that Noel is more than happy to be at his mother’s side. As for him, one thing is for sure, he will change and be a steward of God’s creation. He will never destroy the environment again. Berto is smiling for Noel and Mother Earth as he gazes upon the sky and he whispers to himself, “My friend is my place, my home, my Earth…” Berto is being watched from above and both are smiling back at him.
