Aria

There is an old abandoned establishment resting near a pond at the heart of a peaceful city—it was renovated into a lively pub in the late 80s which instantly became a tourist spot visited by people from different parts of the country. In the pub’s earlier years, a majority of men of different ages come to drink rum, rye, or whiskey; any type of booze offered.

A few years later, even women started to frequent the said pub. It’s relatively small during nights as it is filled with people, singing, dancing, and drinking! The air held the variety of noises produced by celebrating souls… although it rests and turns into a wide silent space during daytime.

The pub held a small stage. A step higher than its initial grounds—a platform wide enough to hold a band of singers. Most of the people who sang on that stage were once dreamers of the television life, to perform not just for the people of a little town but for the world! Lilibet isn’t most of those performers. She liked the way the little town managed to build a world of their own—reveling in simplicity and nature. 

They didn’t have to compete for validation of the wider audience. Lilibet loved her band like no other. It was four boys and a princess. Connie, Jacinto, Caeg, Nimuel, and Lilibet—they had known each other ever since their childhood days. Connie loved the tambourine, he was the brightest whenever his hands held one.

Then it was Jacinto and his piano. Although he never had proper classes nor someone professional to teach him to tickle those ivories, the pub gleamed every time he faced the instrument. His gentle smile was a charm to the ladies, earning him the title of the town’s dream boy. No one tops Caeg’s hands when it comes to the guitar, whether it’s acoustic or electric. Another popular face amongst the women who frequented the pub. 

In contrast to Jacinto’s gentle aura, Caeg was the bad boy. He liked the party, the noise, the mess, even the screams. He lived for the chaos—the comfort it gives upon knowing that you don’t have to be perfect to be liked. A total charmer, who broke girls’ hearts left and right.

Last but not the least, Nimuel. Sweet, mysterious, yet temperamental Nimuel. The quietest and the leader of the band. A bass player who held the voice of an angel, next to Lilibet. Never the crowd’s favorite but the elderly and the adults adored his velvet of a voice, on par with Lilibet’s high notes. From 1987 to 1992, the band ceaselessly sang for the pub. On different occasions, and on different seasons. 

Then Lilibet, the youngest of the band, basically was the men’s princess. She was as fragile as a flower, as caring as a mother, as good as a friend, as crazy as a sister. She was the reason why the band managed to last for so long; for Connie, Jacinto, Caeg, and Nimuel, Lilibet was the most prominent figure of life they had ever known. The life of the party. Everything she touched knew the existence of joy, of love, and of purpose. Her hazel brown hair waved like ocean waters, her skin kissed by the sun, her eyes in shades of mint green—she was a beauty that defied the perceived standard of the world. A kind of beauty that one would think is gifted by a deity.

Lilibet owned a heart of gold, a fiery courage, and a life filled with dreams. She, alone, was the reason why Connie, Jacinto, Caeg, and Nimuel flourished in their musical passion. The four reveled in that fantasy-turned-real life scenario for years, offering their voices and talents to that little town in exchange of comfort and security. But then again, just like normal people or like anybody else, the five of them led different lives. In the spring of 1992, the pub’s favorite band sang to bid farewell. 

Connie was the first one to fall in love. He knew that from the moment he first saw Marisol, the girl with short black hair and deep brown eyes, dance to his music, she’s the girl he’d want to spend the rest of his life with. Even if she wasn’t the woman his parents had planned for him to marry. So, at the ripe age of 21, Connor Davieda was the first one to bid farewell. He eloped with Marisol and used all of his savings to travel abroad. 

It was the last time the five saw each other completely at the time of their youth. 

After the disbandment, Jacinto dedicated the remaining years of his life pursuing his love for music. He retired from playing the piano when Parkinson’s disease reprimanded him and his hands from gently playing the piano ever again. He only loved one woman—she who was already tied to another, a bit older, and the wisest in his eyes. Jacinto adored Grace’s wisdom, for it is ruled both by heart and mind. But most of all, Jacinto loved the woman because of her gracious and kind heart, and for making him feel loved when the whole world felt like it turned its back on him. 

Then the bad boy that once hooked the ladies in a single glance had his heart broken over the death of the woman he only truly loved—Emilia. Caeg was the third to leave the band. At age 24, he settled down with Emilia, got married, and had a daughter they named Mia. The sun in their life. The fire in their heart. And the darling girl Mia loved to watch her father play, later growing up to follow in his footsteps; becoming a guitarist in a band that peaked in the early years of the 21st century. Emilia died due to breast cancer years later; Caeg never remarried. When Mia was off to college, Caeg spent his time accompanying and taking care of Jacinto. 

Together, they sing songs of the old. Reminiscing each and every memory of their boyhood and the band. Jacinto and Caeg never left the little town, for the place held not only the life they had known but as well as the life they had planned out. 

Nimuel moved and settled in Manila; he later on became a doctor and a husband to a beautiful model named Margaret and had three sons who were into music, as well. He had left the band shortly after Connie did and prioritized his career in medicine and his role as a family man. He visited time after time, until the visits grew less into calls. And soon enough, those calls grew less frequent until Caeg and Jacinto could only wonder what happened.

Lilibet was the last person to leave. And when the time came that their band’s music was replaced by modern pop, that’s when she decided that their time was up. She was the last one to bid farewell to the boys holding promises of keeping contact, so the boys sent their letters and messages to their Missy. Their princess, their beloved sister. In those letters, they wrote about the life they have, their love for their wives and children, and their hopes and dreams. The reminiscing and the waiting. The loss and heartaches. 

But Lilibet never returned a letter or a call. 

And over time, the boys thought that the woman had forgotten them. So, in revenge, they stopped. No calls. No letters. 

Until a newspaper feature came swinging down their doors. And the young face of their beloved Missy flashed before their eyes. Suddenly, years of their youth dawned over the four men followed by tears springing into their eyes like an abundant well. 

Lilibet Manzano died at 22, she was a passenger to a travel ship named Estella in November 1992. 

After years and years of searching where it sank, the travelling ship Lilibet boarded has been found. She was recognized by a tourist that survived the sinking; naming her as one of the most charming faces he has ever seen up on stage, at the pub in that little town.

Her belongings became a prominent historical artifact that were retrieved from the depths of the ocean. It consisted of photographs of the band, the pub, and of her in her favorite places. And in a tiny box, letters were found addressed to the four boys she loved deeply—like family. 

Connor Daviedas, the brave sunshine. Jacinto Montez, the gentle soul. Caeg Gomez, the loyal friend, and Kuya Nimuel Alonzo, the devoted. 

The band would never have worked if it weren’t for you. 

In honor of the memories, the four men sang their hearts out at the pub. They came back quickly as they left, reminiscing the moments they lived with Lilibet, a woman of art. They sang the songs their Missy Lilibet wrote, in honor of the princess that now lies in eternal youth.

~~~

Thank you so much for reading! This drabble was written ages ago, I only had the nerve to share it now. I was listening to the song "American Pie" by Don McLean when this little concept formed. It's incredibly simple but I am happy with it, I like it very much because this concept was very much fun to write about.

I have been feeling a little unmotivated in terms of writing and so I created this little writing series to just keep going. In the hopes of maintaining productivity in terms of writing despite my course and my university draining the creativity out of me.

Sincerely,