Image source: Pinterest https://ph.pinterest.com/pin/410672059792317534/
Hello, everyone. I'm Rizza. I'm just starting my career here in Hive, and this is my first time contributing a passage here in this amazing community. I'm not a creative narrator and still on the level of learning, but I'm trying as best as I can to improve my writing skills and hopefully will progress in this platform. I apologize for my first entry here; it will discuss something painful and heartbreaking.
I didn't actually witness it when it took place. I only saw it on the news. A CCTV footage only highlighted what happened, but never showed the frightened faces of the people involved, the pain that caused them, or even the hopes and dreams that were lost on that terrible day.
Yesterday morning, at the entrance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, nothing appeared out of the usual. Travelers were queuing, cars were dropping people off, and families were saying their goodbyes---until a black SUV all of a sudden moved, not heading for the exit yet directly to the crowd of busy people awaiting outside the terminal. In a split second, a man and a four-year-old girl were gone in an instant.
This incident transpired following a passenger bus that crashed into two SUVs lining up at the SCTEX toll booth in Tarlac ( a few miles away from NAIA Airport), which took ten lives away in no time---six of them were children who were going excitedly on their way to a church camp. A young couple died as well, leaving behind their two-year-old son. And a mother and daughter, too. I just can't imagine the throbbing feeling of those families that were left behind by the victims.
Several unpleasant news items were popping up on my timeline this week, which made me uncomfortable. If only I could demand that platform to show positive updates in my timeline. I would choose to do so. Days before this incident, somewhere in Vancouver, Canada, a black SUV intentionally ran into a group of Filipinos happily celebrating together of a certain feast that likewise caused their lives to perish forever. Many of these people are looking forward to joyful memories, yet so unexpectedly, everything was taken away in too short a time.
I have consistently believed that purchasing a motor vehicle is similar to buying a gun. Because a car, when driven by an individual
who is drained, tired, unskilled, distracted, angry, etc, can be tempting fate and unmidful of the consequences it might create. But we are not thinking about that too much. We drive and we rush and that's it. Never realizing how fragile life is, that if gone, it will never come back.
There is a need for us to focus most of the time and lessen our speed, especially when we are driving. To think a million times to slow down, to be mindful, and keep always in mind that behind every car window is a family that has a story, that has a life. If we just take note and remember this, then we can all return home unharmed.
I sympathize with the family---wishing them strength, and courage to face each day. To the victims, may they rest easy and may their memory be a blessing.
