This story is not mine and I already ask permission to post this! Please see her website @ http://wattpad.com/HaveYouSeenThisGirL - written by HaveYouSeenThisGirL

Third Signature

"Time flies fast doesn't it?" Grandma exclaims as she arranges the bouquet of flowers we brought for grandpa's tomb.

I bend down to help her, "Yeah, I could still picture him sitting on the porch with a cigarette in his hand..."

"...then I'll see him and scold him to stop his vices." she adds smiling bitterly at the nostalgia. Next week's going to be my Grandfather's 5th death anniversary. He died from ulcer and Grandma misses him a lot. She visits his tomb almost everyday. Sometimes it crosses my mind a very troubling question, if I die will my boyfriend suffer like how my Grandma suffers for the lost of her dear husband. Not just with my boyfriend but also with my entire family, will Mom continue crying even after I die? Will dad still be sad when I'm gone? Will they be able to move on? Dying is not something that pains me, the thing that actually pains me is the thought of leaving those who are dear to me in anguish of my lost.

"I could still remember, grandma..." I mumble picturing flashbacks in my mind, "It was around 6 in the evening, summer of my 15th year... "

"Message sent." I mumbled after sending my message to Tabi, my boyfriend which by that time was just a simple friend to me and my feelings for him was still little and undiscovered. I waited for his response & the other's as well as I sat in my grandparent's bench on their porch. Our family decided to spend our summer vacation in our grandparent's house but for a teenager like me spending my summer in the oldies' house was very boring so I ended up wasting my summer with my beloved phone texting my friends from school. My grandparent's house was far from home, but not really far but yes, it is far --- from civilization. I mean it was in a small province where "fun place" for teens like me did not have a chance to exist.

"What is so fantastic with that piece of box?" I was kind of surprised when Grandpa talked, I didn’t realize that he was already sitting beside me. Who knows how long he was sitting there beside me, I was too busy texting.

I wore a sweet & slightly addled expression as I turned to him, "You said something, Gramps?"

He shook his head in disbelief, "Having that box in your hand always,"

"Cell phone," I corrected.

"Whatever that is," the oldies don't really remember technology terms at all, "Holding it always and having your head bowed down all the time. My dear grandchild, you're missing out one of the greatest view in the world."

"Huh? What's the supposed to mean?"

He pointed forward and I look to where he's pointing, "That's why I don't like how time changed our life, technologies appeared and we worshipped it too much that I came to the point of bowing our heads to it. Technologies made us less of an observer; we don't appreciate the marvelous things around us anymore because we bow down our heads to superficial things."

I felt a sudden goose bump as I watched the sun setting down to rise up on the other side of the world. I never had the chance to see a sunset ever in my life that was the first time. I thank gramps for it; if it wasn't for him I'll be forever ignorant of the beauty of the sun waving goodbye. It was breathtaking, the sun slowly going down as the red orange color of the sky confirmed us that the day was already over.

"True beauties are just in front you; it's just a matter of raising your head and paying attention. If you bow down your head to superficial things, you sure are missing out half of the world." Grandpa finished his sentence with a puff on his cigarette.

There was nothing special that day on the porch with gramps but I don't know why it never left my mind. It's a pigment of my memory with gramps. Since then, watching the sunset became a hobby to me.

We went back home in the afternoon. Home means Grandma's house. Yes, I went here on my own, I rode the train. I decided to pay her a visit and also to ask her for her signature. The third signature goes to her.

"So how's your mom?" she hands me my cup of tea as she sits beside me on that same porch I sat with gramps that summer. This old rustic oak bench is in dire need of replacing, the slabs creak a bit when rested upon. The thin boards have grown withered and splintered. It was white, now it's almost grey. Its color faded as grandpa did and soon, I'll fade too.

"Mom is fine, her tummy's growing big. Doesn't lack a lot," I meant her tummy, her tummy's ready for delivery. I forgot to mention that she's pregnant, for almost 8 months. Anytime, she might give birth. That's why sometimes it worries me that her depression about my illness may cause a problem with her pregnancy. I don't want something bad to happen to my mom neither to my baby sister, we're already sure that's it’s a baby girl and mom grant me the privilege to name her. I haven't told them yet what name I want for her but I already have something in mind.

"Oh, I see. I'm excited for it. And how about you?" she smiles bitterly to me. She knows about my deadline and she's also sad about it.

"I'm physically ill but I'm emotionally fine," I said honestly.

"So what brings you here? I know you Dara, you are not the type of person to visit a far and boring place for nothing."

I run my fingers to my hair and watch my feet sway back and forth, "I'll be asking for your signature, grandma."

"Signature?"

I explain to her my signature collecting to bargain with God. She actually find my idea amazing and creepy at the same time.

"Then tell me, why do you want to ask for my signature?"

"Because when I die and if I don't remember you and I happen to meet grandpa, how can I say "hi" to him for you?" grandma got surprised with what I said that she had to cover out of astonishment and her tears came down one by one, rapidly.

"It's really weird," she has a hard time speaking as her voice trembles from crying, "In life, you don't really know who's next in line. You absolutely can't judge the age; it's just... in an instance God will blow your candle and whisper to you 'it's time'. I never imagined that my granddaughter will go first, will leave before I do."

She pulls me, hugs me tightly and never stopped crying, "You are too young to die. You are too young..."

"I wonder why God is taking you away already... It should've been me, at least I'm already ready to die but why you? You're barely 20!"

I smile beneath her arms, "God has reasons, I don't know what reasons there are but I don't question it anymore. I trust Him and in the end, it's not how long you lived but it’s how short you regretted. D'you remembers what you told me, grandma? You said that we all are God's children. I've been thinking about it these past few weeks, we all are God's children and the World is just our playground where God left us all to play and have fun. We play with each other, have fun, get hurt, help one another, eat when we get exhausted and play again. The world is our playground, God left us here to enjoy and in the end of the day, He'll come back to tell us, 'it's time to go home' and we couldn’t argue because God is taking us away from the playground because He knows that we can't stay in the playground before it gets dark or else we'll get into trouble and God doesn't want it. He knows when the right time to pick us from this is playground and to take us back home."

"Since when did you start reading the bible?"

I giggle, "I haven't Grandma, I'm too lazy for that but I think I'm one of those types of people who gets to know God when on the verge of dying. I don't know why but I never felt His presence this close to my heart, maybe because I need Him?"

I remove myself from Grandma's hug to sip on my tea I placed on my side on the bench, "I'm not angry with God, I don't want to argue with Him, I don't want to ask Him why me of all people, why so sudden and such questions. Actually, He might seem to be cruel for taking me on such a young age but truth is, I think He's been nice to me. He gave me the time to live before dying unlike others who died without even a warning, those who died on a car crash, unexpected robbery and murder, falling from a high place, food poison, unpredictable natural disasters etc.  Those who died in that way did not have the chance to prepare themselves, to repent from their wrongdoings, to say sorry to those they have hurt, to tell the persons who are dear to them how much they love them, to do things they wanted badly... they did not have the chance but I have those chances, God is giving me the opportunity, He's giving me enough time that's why I can still call myself much more fortunate than the others. I have no reasons to argue with God, none at all. I actually owe Him for these chances."

I felt grandma patting my head like a kid; she just kept on patting me without saying anything. We remain in silence as the sun sets and the sky changes its color. The nostalgia with grandpa keeps on playing as I watch the sun goes down, how fast time flies... it's almost 5years grandpa since I last saw you and soon enough, we'll meet again. I take another sip on my already cold tea and place my head to Grandma's shoulder as she still continues to pat my head, sometimes brushing my hair that makes me feel so sleepy.

Then she whispers, "When you meet your grandpa, tell him that I miss him so much. It’s so lonely when there's no one you can scold for their vices."

I giggle, "Will do."

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Tabisan!

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