Fac ut Vivas

… that many years ago i forgot the tagalog word for "stairs".

i was standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the school library. after two or three steps, i couldn’t take another because it struck me that i forgot the tagalog word for stairs. i wasn’t in a hurry so i racked my brains trying to recall a lot of things

i stared long and hard at the next step just ahead of me. whether a long time or short time passed — nobody knows — but by and by i heard a familiar voice "ey, Anong ginagawa mo dyan sa  baba ng hagdanan?" I glanced up and saw a friend who had just reminded me what it was  by asking about what i was doing at the foot of the stairs!

i don’t even remember ever saying thank you or explaining to her what i had really been doing… i suppose she would find it very hard to believe …