OPTICS / FLEDGLINGS
THE QUANTUM ACADEMY
Painting Wings
A Yolanda Special
by: Keziah Acharon
L
ike a paintbrush straying from a
hue of the darkest red to the palest
blue, from the color of the sunrise to
the color of the sunset - the atmospheric
mood in Leyte quickly danced adrift from
the happiest mood to utter destruction.
Homes knocked down, livelihoods
wrecked, and innocent lives taken.
How are we to take back the lives
captured? How are we to rebuild the
homes swept by the terrible typhoon? But
most importantly, how are we to rekindle
the once jubilant souls of the victims struck
by the typhoon?
We can’t take back the lives seized
by the wreckage. We can’t rebuild the
homes to how they used to be - but what
we can do is to smile for them even when
we’re not asked to, to impart a hug when
hope has seemed to walk out their doors,
and to assure them that everything’s going
to piece together someday.
We must come hand in hand to
pick up debris by debris, chunk by chunk,
and to lend a hand to the fallen. Let’s
come together as a nation and paint the
wings of our hopeless brothers and sisters.
Let’s encourage them in every way, direct
them in the right direction, and persuade
them to continue tracking the path to a
different day.
It does not end when the fire starts.
It does not end when all crumbles. It does
not end when our wings are scrapped off.
Life goes on, and so do we.
10
I OPTICS / FLEDGLINGS 2014
Against the Slap
by: Keziah Acharon
The despair and hopelessness I felt at that time is still
vividly haunting me up to this day. I had nowhere to run to,
nowhere to hide. Because how would I supposed to hide from
a monster that would not stop until it took someone’s life?
Floating on rapid-fire waves, I struggled to take control
of myself. The wind puffed, gusted, and blew even harder and
we strived to battle the rage - but it was no match. The strong
roar of the air was obviously too powerful to triumph over.
It wasn’t a game, not at all. But it seemed like one. It
was us against the slap and it was slap after the other - and it
was a game not meant for us to win. I felt that even if H