split second

deciding between driving to megamall and commuting was a no-brainer. considering a) my left thigh is already sore from the city's traffic condition (... mind you, i've only been driving for less than half the day), b) i'm almost about to go beyond my 10am-3pm window (Metro Manila's leeway for motorists travelling with their coded vehicles), and c) the amount i'd be spending on parking for a 6-hour stay, i opted to take the MRT instead.

since i've been commuting to work for almost a year and a half (until i joined the family business in the province last 2003), the entire act was routinary-- walk to East Ave, take the jeep, drop off at GMA, buy a ticket, stand on the 2nd ledge from the front, and wait for the train to arrive.

everything went as usual except when we reached Cubao station, the train was stopping at a very slow motion. upon reaching its standby position, the doors opened and the engine was turned off. we waited. a minute passed. two minutes. three. five minutes. and in a split second, i smelled a foul odor normally arising from a failed combustion or a faulty mechanism, heard the sound of something resembling a stampede getting louder, saw people in front of me scurrying to get out of the train, recalled in my mind images i saw on TV of the V-day bombing, and i, out of fear, somehow managed to get out as well. all of these occured in a twinkling of an eye. while everyone waited outside the train, i uttered a prayer asking God to grant each of us PEACE. i prayed that this PEACE would come upon each passenger and overcome all fear we felt inside.

everyone was clueless about what happened, and without any explanation, the train began to slowly move away empty. just as the pandemonium took place in a split second, everyone snapped back to normal just as quick. we scuttled back onto the next train as if nothing happened. the scene inside the moving train was as normal as any other trip without the people even knowing what just occured.. and i began to wonder, "What if it was a bomb? or a failed engine even? And something actually happened? How many lives would've been taken?"

Life passes us by quickly. and all the more i see that these material and worldly things we are after are but fleeting.