The little boy stared longingly at the girl in the playground. She wore her hair in pigtails with pink ribbons. As she ran and play, light seemed to follow her every movement. It was as if the world existed just for her.
The boy forgot to play. He forgot everything except the irregular beating of his heart and the heat slowly rising to his face. He couldn't understand why he felt this way.
He was so absorbed in looking at the girl that he failed to see the ball coming toward his direction. He was jolted by the sudden tackle of another boy. He was at least a good 3 inches shorter than him. The little boy's head hit his chin and he felt his loose tooth fly away.
He tasted blood and then, he blacked out.
***
The next day, the boy saw a moving van stop next door. He peeked at the window to observe the coming and going next door. He saw the familiar pigtails again and he felt his heart pounding. He felt that he ran miles and miles then suddenly stopped. He was out of breath.
Red was slowly creeping on his face as he was transfixed by the sight before him. Nothing existed. He saw everything play in slow motion. Every part of his being was focused on the girl in the pigtail.
His mouth was open. He followed the little girl's every movement with his head. His toys lay on the floor forgotten.
Unknown to the little boy, his parents watched him amused at his expression.
"He's just like you. Torpe(1)." said the boy's mother teasingly to his father.
His father just blushed and murmured, "A torpe who made you fall in love."
"I heard that. I was the one who made you fall in love. If I didn't chase you back then, we wouldn't be where we are today. You'll grow moss being a wallflower." replied his mother.
"I hope our son doesn't inherit your shyness." she added while turning towards the stairs.
The husband just lowered his head and thought "I hope so too."
"Where are you going?" He asked his wife.
"The show is not yet over. Our son is drooling."
"I am going to bake some cookies of course. We need to welcome our neighbors with a sweet treat." she said.
The father was torn between wanting to watch his son being an idiot over a girl or follow his wife in the kitchen to score some cookie dough.
He looked back and forth between his son and wife and decided cookie dough was more important. "There is going to be more instances where I can watch the good show anyway." he said in his mind.
He bounded down the stairs like a bloodhound for sugary treats and left his son immersed in la la land.
(Note1: Torpe means gun shy in tagalog.)