[ requiem to a dream: a short story ]

The Dragon Slayer


A kingdom was having troubles in dealing with a dragon for so many years. Attacking at the time least expected and burning everything on its path, the beast is simply unstoppable in destroying the whole kingdom. The only way to kill the dragon, as sages found out from the ancient scrolls, is to hunt the beast on its lair while it sleeps. And the best time to do it is while it hibernates during the long period of the winter season.

Immediately before the winter started, the King gathered his best knights, soldiers, and mercenaries and commanded them to fulfill the most valiant quest. He also declared that the one who kills the dragon would be granted to win the heart of his one and only daughter.

Soon, everyone prepared for the great hunt. While some opted to stay to safeguard the kingdom, most of the young men joined the quest. Each of them brought their own deadliest weapons, strongest horses, toughest armors, best strategies, accurate maps to locate the dragon’s lair and above all, the best hope to win the beautiful Princess.

From the first full moon of the winter, they began to leave the kingdom. The days of the hunt turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The people prayed and hoped for the mission’s success even if early signs of failure were observed. Some of the men died on their way to the dragon’s lair, while others lost their way and returned empty-handed. But on the fourth month and three days of the Quest, a letter came from a knight informing the rest of the people that the most-dreaded beast was found and killed. The kingdom is finally saved.

All were very happy and enthusiastic for the return of their hero. The King called for a gathering and they prepared the most lavish feast on the day of his return, and also to finally declare the end of the Dragon’s Scouring and the start of the New Age. Most eager of them to see the knight is no other than the Princess.

Then a bird came, carrying a letter from the knight. He wrote that he desires to see his people again and above all, the Princess. He will be sending a messenger to give the King the proof of his victory--- a pair of the dragon’s fangs.

Soon enough, the messenger came with the bag containing the proof of his master’s conquest of the dragon. The messenger who had a very ugly and disfigured face always looked in the Princess’ direction, awed as if seeing a rare and precious gem for the first time. The beautiful Princess noticed him and said; “Please, stop doing that. Tell your master that I cannot wait any longer to see him. I am not that familiar with him, but I will be happy to know him well upon his return. He is the one that should be seeing me right now and not his poor, ugly servant.”

The messenger politely bowed his head, turned to the King, and offered him the pair of the dragon’s fangs before bidding farewell.

The sunset painted a mournful sky in the western horizons, but no sign of the heroic knight came. The moon and the Big Dipper passed the Northern night skies, but the whole kingdom just waited in vain. When the sun returned in the morning, the dragon’s fangs were still clutched by the King’s hands, while the beautiful Princess locked herself inside her room. The atmosphere of the kingdom is comparable to that of a home who lost a son.

The people prayed for his return and for the Princess’ happiness. The King ordered his servants to look for him but they all failed. Several months passed, and finally the familiar bird came with a letter from the knight. At the moment the King seized the letter, he wasted no further time to read it...

Good day to you, my King. I am living right now in a distant land, and I want to seek forgiveness from all of you because I lied. That ugly servant, the messenger that I sent, it was me. You might be wondering but it’s true.

You see, after slaying the dragon by the end of the first month of the Quest, I was badly wounded, and I allowed myself to heal before returning to our beloved kingdom. It took me three months, and I guess I was very lucky to survive the dragon even if its fiery breath totally destroyed my face.

I still thank God because he spared my right eye, and I was able to see the Princess for the last time. Your daughter is the most beautiful and precious thing I ever saw in my life, and it was her memory that I always cherish that saved me from the dragon. I hope all the best for her, and you don’t need to worry about her in treating me like that. The fault is mine. But serving you, her, and the rest of the kingdom has been an honor to me. I just want the Princess to be happy, happy with the man worthy of her beauty, worthy of her love. An ugly man like me does not belong to her future because I know that I can never make her smile.

It is my final wish that you allow me to settle in this new land I found. I will accept it as a reward from you. It is the Lord's plan for me to find this thriving land and I guess this will be the best place for me to heal my pains.

Thank you, and more power to the Throne.

Sir Nudarion

Beautiful Sad Songs

While I was spending a quality time inside our college’s library with the newspaper last September, I stumbled upon this piece of nice article about a teenager’s collection of sad songs. It was well written, and I could see the writer’s sincerity on her pain, angst, and views situated within this current youth generation. If I try to compare her generation to my own, there’s no difference at all, since I’m still part of that very familiar generation--- the Generation Lost. This thought prompted me to send her a feedback, accompanied by a short list of my own sad songs.

I can feel her in saying that those songs defined much of her life, for sad songs (and music in general) also defined mine the past ten or more years. Though I don’t want to create some melodramatic bullshits in this Season of Joy, I am sure that there will be sad people this Xmas who will be missing somebody, and I’m writing this for them. Not excluding the fact that the rest of the country is grieving from the tragic loss of lives and dreams brought by a series of unforgiving typhoons, I also write this for them. For us, to be exact.

My original list numbers up to 23 and counting, but I don’t want to make a long post here to strain your eyes (and maybe damage your brain further) so I cut them to a list of 11, along with my insights and selected cuts from their original lyrics…

· Last Kiss – Pearl Jam ·
Hand’s down to Eddie Vedder’s songwriting, this piece haunts most with his wailing, Lycan-like signature voice. It tells about that realization of the true value of things when they are no longer ours. Losing someone you love is most painful when you just realize her true importance at the time of her departure--- hurts even more when you know that she’s permanently gone in this mortal world…

I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I had missed
Well now she’s gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night

Oh where, oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She’s gone to heaven so I’ve got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

· The Scientist – Coldplay ·
You can turn back time. You can make everything right. You can never leave her alone.
You can hold her hands again.
You wish.

· Everybody Hurts – R.E.M. ·
You’ve had enough of this world’s madness, but they just keep on coming. It’s you against the world, & world against you. The title of the song says it all.


· Brick – Ben Folds Five ·
The first 6 lines of this song recreate that atmosphere of apathy and tiredness, typical to some people during that day after Christmas…

6 a.m. day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in the dark
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping
I am numb

Ben Fold’s melodic keyboarding is at its best here, pushing you to the moment you hear the chorus line about that familiar person you know…

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
off the coast and I'm headed nowhere
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

· When I’m Thinking About You – The Sundays ·
I always hear this song over NU107 during my dormitory days in college and I miss it a lot. Listening to Harriet Wheeler’s ethereal and child-like voice in pain pierces a wound to your heart. Someone’s out there, crying in emptiness, lonely, and asking why does somebody ever needs to run away?
Damn. When you begin to really miss someone, it’s always too late.

· The Freshmen – The Verve Pipe ·
This is about that classic axiom; “Two wrongs do not make one right.” Being human, we make mistakes. And when you’re just a noob in this world of Vanity and Greed, you tend to commit those lousy mistakes and you find it hard to blame anything or anyone but the circumstance…

I can’t be held responsible
Cause she was touching her face
I won’t be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We’d never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We’d ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

· Push – Matchbox 20 ·
Some people can really break your heart in cold-blood. The anthem for the cheated, betrayed, and wronged, this song is more of an angry song than a sad one.

· Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead ·
I wish I were a plastic robot. Here is the great Rubberman, bending, stretching, and ever changing so that I can be the one she always wanted…

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time...

· Superman – Five for Fighting ·
The last line made this song not just catchy, but a classic one…

It's not easy to be... me.

· Half-Life – Duncan Sheik ·
Somebody's gone, but inside your head, she's always there.
These lines are brilliant...

I don't mind a few mysteries
They can stay that way it's fine by me
And you are another mystery I am missing

And the chorus lines will tell that this is indeed, the song of the Desperate Boys Club...

Lately, something here don't feel right
This is just a half-life
Is there really no escape?
No escape from time
of any kind

C’mon let’s fall in love
Again

· Huling Hiling – Pan ·
Cool sad song written by Pan’s front man Dong Abay (formerly of Yano). Depicting that final moment of our lives when what really matters most to be there for us are not our material possessions nor victories, but the ones who really loved us, and whom we love…

Ito ang aking huling hiling
Huling araw ko sa mundo, ikaw ang kapiling
Ikaw ang aking huling hiling
Dala ang ‘yong alaala sa aking paghimbing

Understanding sadness might be as essential as knowing what is happiness. It may sound semantic, but I want to leave it just like that. We all want to be happy and it’s better being happy than sorry, but knowing that someone is also sad and alone might cut our pains in half.

I wrote her; “Sad people are not alone in this world” as a postscript to my message.

She replied and agreed.




Send us your list of sad songs (but don't forget to smile this Xmas!!!): frostfire43@yahoo.com or bewaretheashtraygirl@yahoo.com