Chasing Gavin
Blue moon
October 31 1.28 am
Erin stared at the bright blue screen in front of him, with his forehead resting in one hand. He gazed upon the modest characters on the screen that reflected in the iris of his eyes. With his eyes closed, he brushed his hand through his messed up hair. "Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes." It was already one-thirty in the morning and Shane hasn't logged in yet. Erin has been fixing his eyes upon the computer for more than five hours now, uncomplainingly lingering for Shane to log on. "Fifteen more minutes, Shane; I'll be logging off soon. Fifteen minutes," he burbled softly to himself as he pondered through his messages. "What's taking you so long, Shane?"
He browsed through more pages... hen he came across an article that was dated November 1. Flabbergasted to see an article as such in his mail, he clicked on it and leafed through the pages. The typescripts on the article were too imprecise and slight to comprehend. Pulling him closer to the panel, Erin gaped upon the piece of writing and examined it unhurriedly.
As he leaned his head to check the date at the corner of the panel, he mulled over to himself, "November 1st... that's strange. It's only the 31st today. The article's been dated a day earlier..."
Friday, November 1, 2017
"`IT happened so hastily, I didn't even see it coming...' Those were her words after being hit by a red sports car, with a plate no. LE14017. Unknowingly, Ivanez has been hit accidentally while riding her scooter along Lanier St. The locals said that the girl was crossing the street while traversing on her scooter. The red sports car bumped her without thought, causing Ivanez's scooter to take wing towards the sidewalk. Ivanez, on the other hand, was nudged to the gutter, hitting her head upon the cement, which caused her to bleed profusely..."
"...According to the driver of the red sports car, Ivanez was riding her scooter right in the middle of the lane. `She wasn't paying attention...she gazed upon my speeding car with dazed eyes...it didn't seem so that she saw me coming towards her. I was running too fast that I hit the brakes too late.' Ivanez was brought to the nearest hospital ten minutes after the incident. She passed away as the ambulance made its way to the hospital..."
"`...Call Erin...tell him to wait for me...tell him I will log on soon.' Said Ivanez, as she took her last breath."
Erin was bowled over after seeing his name in the anomalous article. Promptly, he perused back to the first page to read the headline...
"Shane Ivanez, 14: Car Incident"
With his wavering fingers, Erin scrolled down and scanned the pictures. He couldn't believe the facts on the article about Shane being dead on October 31st. "Shane is alive...and I'm waiting for her to log on...She's alive. She is," cogitated Erin as he closed the article. He sauntered towards his bed and plunked himself over the piles of blankets and papers. Pushing his backpack overflowing with books to the edge of his bed, he rubbed his cheek on the sheets and felt the spilled pieces of gummy bears among the covers. "Log in, Shane. I'm waiting for you," whispered Erin as he chewed one gummy bear in his mouth. Standing up, he toddled back to his computer and plopped down the swivel chair. He ran his fingers through his brow and rubbed his eyes. "It's 1.43 already. The fifteen minutes is up already, Shane Ivanez...are you still alive?"
* * *
"Erin? Erin? Snap out of it, Erin..."
"Shane?"
The alarm clock roused Erin out of his sleep. He fell asleep in his swivel chair while waiting for Shane to connect. "For a second, I thought it was Shane calling me. I must've dreamt of her..." murmured Erin to himself. A new message has been left for him.
Friday, October 31, 2017 2.38 am
Sorry I'm late, Erin. See you later in school, ok?
Shane
Erin cracked his knuckles and drew out his arms to yawn. With his left hand, he reached for the clock to turn off its alarm.
"Three fifty-two am? I can't believe that it's been nearly eight hours since I've logged on to wait for Shane," he uttered, sounding worn out and drowsy. He ambled to his bed, curled up under the covers, and whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow, Shane." He hid his face under a pillow and mumbled, "You're still alive...I have to find a way to make you believe me, and what the article is about."
Erin stretched his arms and poked his fingers underneath the sheets. Picking up another gummy bear below his stuffed tiger and RC car, he popped it into his mouth and chewed the candy. He turned to one side of the mattress, pulled down his blanket, and took a glance under his bed. There were lots of junks to be found upon the carpet: little rubber wheels, batteries, model kits, CDs, cartridges and screwdrivers. Jumping down, Erin knelt beside his bed and popped his head under it. He shoved the newspapers aside as he reached for the black package at the corner. Feeling excited and anxious at the same time, Erin lifted the lid off and revealed the diskettes and gadgets inside it.
"There must be somebody who sent me that article. I'm finding it out tomorrow... when I see Shane Ivanez."
* * *
"What could be taking her so long this time?"
Erin was starting to feel impatient as he sat down at the steps by the locker room. He has been waiting for Shane to tell her about the jarring article about her car incident that happened on October 31st. With a pen in his hand, he dragged it back and forth across the metal rail of the stairs. "It's ten-thirty am already, Shane," he mused to himself. "In four hours, the incident will happen, just like what has been said in the article. It has been written a day after the incident, November 1st." He bowed down, shook his head, and chewed another gummy bear from his pocket. The world of nostalgia has come to take its domain in his head. The article rushed back to his memory, and the pictures in the article played back again. Erin rested his elbows in his knees, and covered his face in his hands, waiting for Shane to meet him.
"What's up, Erin?"
Seeing Shane walking along the corridor, Erin's face lit up.
"What are you sulking about?" asked Shane, leaning her head to one side to take a look at Erin. Perceiving the sad look on his face, Shane made an effort to lift Erin's spirits up.
"Talk about that biology class, eh? Guess what, I saw your name on the board a while ago. You passed the exam, Erin!" smirked Shane, laughing excitedly. "Now what did you call me here for? Sorry I was late last night. I had to send mail to the computer shop at Lanier St. You're coming with me to go there later, ne?"
Upon hearing Lanier St. from Shane, Erin quickly flung his backpack over his shoulder and opened the zipper. He brought out a zip diskette and showed it to Shane.
"This is the reason why I called you to meet me here," said Erin. He flipped it and popped it inside his laptop.
"A zip diskette? I find it rather difficult to believe that Erin Rengo is using an obsolete zip disk as such," smiled Shane. "What's in it?"
Erin was about to open the document when the bell rang.
"Rrrrrrrriiiinnnnnngggggggg!"
Picking up her shoulder bag, Shane stood up and ran her hand through Erin's hair. She bent forward to him and grinned, "Sorry, Erin. But have you forgotten that the games start at this hour? Tell me about it later when we chat, ne?" said Shane. "See you at the gym!" Shane ran towards the exit, leaving Erin behind in the locker room.
"Shane wouldn't know who sent me the article. The sender's name wasn't in the article," he said as he flung his backpack over his shoulder again. "Who could have sent me that?"
* * *
Shane glided her scooter along the walk, showing it off to Erin.
"Tell me, I was good, wasn't I?" she posed while they walked out of the campus. Erin just shrugged and smiled. It would only be ten minutes until the incident will happen. He can't help it looking at his watch every minute. Shane gaped at him and asked, "Why do you look at your watch as if your life depends on it?"
Erin turned to Shane and swallowed. "Come on tell her now, Erin!" he pondered to himself.
"Did you send me an article last night, Shane? The article is on the diskette I was about to show you a while ago," explicated Erin. "I find that article rather uncanny. It was dated November 1st, tomorrow."
Shane chortled, "Tomorrow? I haven't sent you anything, except for that short note at two forty am. Maybe it was a mistake...it could be tomorrow's story. That never happens, Erin. It couldn't be usual...unless it goes off just once in a blue moon!"
"But the article was about you, Shane. It was. Don't you believe me?"
"About me?" asked Shane. "That's odd," she said, turning left to cross the street. "It could be somebody else, Erin!"
Erin suddenly caught sight of the red sports car heading for Shane. Shane stood in the middle of the street, bewildered to see a car speeding towards her.
"Eeeeerrrrrccccchhhhhhh!"
The tires screeched all of a sudden, Erin jolted Shane out of the car's path, taking the hit to himself instead. The locals crowded around the crash, around Erin, who was bleeding profusely.
* * *
October 31 1.28 am
Shane stared at the bright blue screen in front of her, with her forehead resting in one hand. She gazed upon the modest characters on the screen that reflected in the iris of her eyes. With her eyes closed, she brushed her hand through her messed up hair. "Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes." It was already one-thirty in the morning and Erin hasn't logged in yet. Shane has been fixing her eyes upon the computer for more than five hours now, patiently lingering for Erin to log on. "Fifteen more minutes, Erin; I'll be logging off soon. Fifteen minutes," she burbled softly to herself as she pondered through her messages. "What's taking you so long, Erin?"
Shane leafed through her messages and came across an article dated November 1st. Flabbergasted to see an article as such in her mail, she opened it and scanned through the pages.
As she leaned her head to check the date at the corner of the panel, she mulled over to herself, "November 1st...that's strange. It's only the 31st today. The article's been dated a day earlier..."
-Owari-
