Innocent minds

AS I walk along the streets every day, there is no day where I don't see them roaming around the town. They usually talk to themselves, laughing to themselves and sometimes just looking far away as if they are thinking too deeply and don't want anybody to interrupted by anybody.

Rugged, dirty, smells fishy and sometimes aggressive as people describe them usually. They don't' care about the people around them because they have their own world. Maybe, a world of imagination and fantasies, or maybe, a mind without anything at all, just empty or should I say an innocent mind.

"Loka-loka," "may kililing," and "baliw" ay ang turing sa kanila na ninakawan ng matinong pag-iisip. Can we blame them? Definitely not. It's not their fault why they became insane. They do not know what they are doing. As I am observing them, I can see it in their eyes that they need love and care. Love that will last forever and care that will hug them warmly in times of solitary.

But even if they are crazy, they taught me a very nice value, which touched my sleeping heart the most.

One day as I was walking along the streets going home, I saw these two crazy men sitting outside Maharlika building together. One is an old man and the other is at the age of 35-40, I think. They were talking about something that is funny I guess because they were very happy.

As I watched them, I also managed to smile. A little while, the younger man grabbed the hand of the older man and said, "Halika, pasyal tayo." The older man gladly stood up from where he was seated. They did not let go of their hands as they held together happily. I stopped for a while and watched them walked away until I can't see them anymore.

They taught me how to value family and people around me. I appreciated them that despite their situation, they still manage to build love. Their minds were the only ones destroyed but not their hearts. Their innocent minds inspired me a lot.

Jacquilou Tiangao