Magnificent Sundown

by Elvira Zara

The day is finally wrapping up.

The cold air is starting to diffuse around. The darkness will soon swallow the sun's luminance and bring it to defying dusk of the night. The savory smells of street foods are blending with the cold breeze. The cathedral bells will be ringing soon.

"Why is the sun supposed to leave again this day? I wish it could stay longer so that I may have more hours to sell these sampaguita garlands", Harry murmured while looking at the fading blue sky.

He suddenly felt his trembling stomach and started to feel the pain from his head. He was sitting on his old wheel chair near the exit gate. His condition is getting worse. He knows that when the ringing of the bells end without any additional peso in his hand, he will endure the cold night hungry until the next day comes. It was a long day for everyone but it is more than a struggling day for Harry.

However, the sunset is one of the most special moments for Jack. He must take the best shots of it before it ends. He will take pictures of the typical people in the cathedral area during the symbolic moment, sunset. For him, taking pictures will bring him fame, wealth and happiness.

"Click! Click! Click!" Jack's camera continues to capture every person he sees within the cathedral's patio. Every angle must be in its finest. His pictures must seize the reality as the sun sets. Suddenly, he stopped and realized something. "I wish I could ask for more hours of sunset so I can capture as much as what I needed." Tom whispered while holding his camera. It was a short moment for Tom but not for his desire to be a well-known photographer.

The mass has ended. The cathedral bells are ringing. People start to come out from the main door of the church. Harry hardly pushes his wheeled-chair and started to offer the remaining sampaguita garlands. "Ma'am, Sir! sampaguita garlands! Sampaguita! Sampaguita!" Harry shouted beside the exit gate of the cathedral. He was determined to sell each garland in exchange for some peso. The sampaguita garlands were his only hope to taste dinner for tonight.

"How much is this?" an old woman approached him.

"Ten pesos each garland ma'am, but if you will buy five garlands it will cost forty pesos only. It is still fresh and its smell will delight your house." Harry replied.

"Oh, it seems magical. You convinced me to buy young man. Give me five garlands and i will bring it home." said the old woman smiling. Harry packed the garlands in a small plastic and handed it to the old woman.

Jack saw the huge crowd coming out of the church. He took shots of a family with the same color of shirts, a boy holding a Lightning McQueen balloon then, a couple of people that are well dressed. He also took some pictures of the food vendors near the exit gate and an old woman buying sampaguita garlands.

After some more shots, Jack thought that he had enough pictures so he decided to stop and look over his taken pictures. "I hope one of these can bring out my name in photography." he said smilingly. He sat on a bench near the entrance gate. He was thinking too much about which picture he should post online to gain compliments and reactions from his followers. In the last image, there was an old lady buying sampaguita garlands from a lad wearing a black shirt and gloomy brown shorts. The young boy is sitting on a wheel chair and his head was not the same size of the other children, it was bigger than normal. He thought that the photo can make him viral over the internet so he uploaded it separately. All of a sudden, comments and reactions filled his notifications. He started to read some comments.

"Bro, it’s a nice shot."

"Heart melting."

"The child must have hydrocephalus. That is a vulnerable case for children." "Does the child have any guardians? I think he must not work because of his condition."

Jack started to plan everything on his head. "This might be my break! I must find this child and dig everything about him. It will be a big bang for me." He wanders his eyes to find the boy from his picture.

"This twenty peso bill will be saved and I think these coins are enough for a cup of coffee and a small plastic of rice. It will satisfy the whole day hunger games of my stomach." Harry sighed while looking at the coins that he had on his lap.

"Hello."

An unfamiliar voice made Harry look up and see a man holding a camera. It was Jack.

"Sir I am sorry but I do not have any sampaguita garland to offer you. I already sold it out." said Harry in reply.

"No, no. It is not about the sampaguita garlands. Can I have a short minute with you? "

"Why sir? I did nothing wrong i just-"

"Don't be afraid. I took a picture of you a while ago and I noticed your condition." Jack said while staring at Harry's head.

"I am sorry sir but i cannot answer everything that you might be asking regarding my condition. What I know is that I am ill". Harry started to look away.

"Oh no, no it is not like that. By the way, I am Jack and you are?"

"Harry."

"Nice name. Well, you look alone. Where's your mom? Is she working here with you?" Jack said as he sits on a small round rock beside Harry.

"No. I am all alone. I do not have mom or dad or anyone. It was just me and my old rusty wheel chair". Harry said sarcastically.

"Oh, I see. Do you have any place to stay? Most children who sell sampaguita garlands sleep behind the stage, how about you?"

"I prefer to be alone behind the bushes." Harry pointed the bushes beside the big statue of Mother Mary.

"Why there? Is the DSWD of this place do not dare to get or help you? That place is a home for a child like you." Jack was curious. He wanted more about Harry's back stories for him to include on his photo caption.

"I was once caught, not by good hands but by iron fists." Harry was somewhat frightened.

"They told me that it is a home but it is a jail. They are using children, mostly with disability, to earn money because they know that children can catch people's sympathy. They will feed us only when we can give much money for them. The most savage of all is, if somebody got worst and not earning anymore, he will bury himself elsewhere digging his own grave. I witnessed a lot. I am only 7 and i do not want to see my grave beside the street. I know sooner or later I might die so I did everything to escape. I do not want to go back on that jail again." Harry looked at the coins in his lap.

Jack silently takes shots of Harry's face as he talks. He felt sorry for him. At a young age Harry already tasted the nutrition of bitterness. He also witnessed cruelty that ordinary photographer cannot capture easily.

"I am sorry to hear that. You have been through a lot and honestly, I felt bad." Jack said.

"No it is okay. You should be happy because I know you had good pictures of me in your camera. Will you take me a photo? I have seen a lot of tarpaulins during burial ceremonies and I think I should have one. But wait." Harry hurriedly gets the bills from his lap and started to put it on a small empty bottle of water wrapped with old newspapers. "Look, this is my burial savings and now, some of these will be for my tarpaulin as well." he showed the small bottle with so much pride.

Jack was surprised about what he heard. He did not react for a second but Harry is posing for the camera wearing his unforgettable smile. Jack started to do what he loves, to take finest photos during the magnificent sundown.

Their smiles end the sunset. The cathedral place was perfectly wrapped by the gloomy cold breeze without the smell of the street foods. The bells will not ring tonight but their hearts are longing for the next dawn.

Jack posted more photos of them over the social media but not for fame nor for money. Those are for awareness, care and hope. He realized that the sun needs to set not because it does not like the place; it is because it needs to light others place.