Ella's New Diary

Dear Diary,

Mommy bought me a new shoes today. It was the nicest shoes I saw in the mall and she bought it for me. She said that it was my gift since I got good grades last year and for receiving a medal last graduation. I was in the top ten of my class but I don’t know if it matters anymore. Tomorrow, a new day and my first day in high school…

“Ella…Ella, dinner is ready,”. She was in her room filling the pages of her diary when her mommy Clarisse called her. She acted like she didn’t hear anything and continued to stare at the crisp pages of her new diary. She felt that the words in her first entry was not making any sense. She was trying to figure out the proper adjective to best describe what she felt, until her mother called her again.

“Alright mom!” She said and left her diary in the study table. Before going out of the room, she glanced at her new school uniform, new bag and new notebooks. She sighed.
Everything was new, even her school. She took one slow step after the other until she reached the kitchen where her mother was busy preparing for dinner.

“Mommy, what’s for dinner?” she asked eventhough from the smell of it, she knew that her mother cooked her favorite tinolang manok.

“What else?” said her motherand asked her if she was excited to go to her new school. Ella just frowned.

“O? Why do you look so sad?” asked her mother who was setting the table. Ella slumped in the chair next to her and sighed.

“What’s the matter? You can tell me,” said her mother. She just smiled but kept her silence until she finally gave in after her mother’s coaxing.

“Mom…I’m afraid,” she said softly and a tear trickled down her face. Aleng Clarisse gave Ella’s hand a reassuring squeeze but she cried even more.

“I know how you feel…If I were you, I will feel the same,” said her mother which surprised Ella. Was I supposed to hear words of encouragement? Was she supposed to tell me that everything’s going to be alright, that I would meet new friends?

“But mom…you have no idea,” she said in between sobs.

“You know the reason why we are here…we already talked about it, right?” said her mother. Ella looked at her. It’s unfair…we should have stayed at our old house, I should be in my my old school and be with my friends, she thought. But Ella knew she could not blame her parents. Her father worked hard to get that promotion and she knew that her father was doing it for her. How could she be so selfish…how could she be so ungrateful, she thought.

“Clarisse…Ella, where are you?” she heard her father calling and the rushed footsteps nearing the kitchen. After a few steps, Mang Anton’s frame emerged with a box of cake and a can of ice cream. He was all smiles and Ella could almost see the twinkle in his father’s eyes.

“Ah, my queen and my princess,” her father exclaimed. The excitement were all over his voice as he told Ella and her mother his new office and the surprise that the head office gave him. As a newly promoted manager in the provincial area, his father was given a new car and a big bonus.

“So, how is my princess?” her father playfully rumpled her hair eventhough knew how she hates it.

“I’m okay dad…I’m so happy for you,” she said. Her mother gave her a cake topped with ice cream, a combination she could not resist. She was happy eating her favorite dessert and more than happy to see her parents show their affection in front of her.

Dear Diary,

I missed my friends in our old neighborhood. I missed my old school. I missed our old house, the nearby church, nearby park and my favorite tree in our backyard. But I know that eventhough I will terribly miss a lot of things in our old hometown, I know that everything is going to be alright. I am with my loving mother and a great father. He had given me everything and this little sacrifice was nothing compared to the sacrifices he made.

Before turning the lights off in her bedside table, she looked at her new shoes, new bag, new notebooks and new uniforms one last time and she smiled.