December 30, 2010, the balikbayan box from my aunt that my entire family waited for finally did lying on the surface of our ground inside our house. It was so big, hinting us about the things inside it. Firstly, I thought about canned goods. Secondly, I thought about the shoes that I was a hundred percent certain about. Thirdly, I thought of new clothes since my aunt usually sends us via balikbayan boxes. It had been too long a time since I awaited the said box's arrival, and seeing it before me as I inscribed my signature on the consignee's paper definitely provoked the excitement that I have felt ever since I heard of my aunt's plan of sending us that. Since my parents weren't home and I am just left with doubting of opening it alone, I decided to reserve my excitement and busied myself. Thus, I temporarily forgot "the thing". I turned to busying myself in washing the dishes.
Entering our home, from our backyard, I gazed at the box again, and like a gift-hungry child, couldn't control myself from taking with me the kitchen knife to cut the box's tape. Yes, I opened it but did not unpack it. (I actually unpacked half the load of the box and put it back in order to avoid my parents' maddened look due to my impatience.) After the thought, I for the second time let a business devour my time. I watched television.
Ten feet away from me, the box for the third time caught my attention and enticingly beckoned me. I opened it again and got an almond snack. Beside the box, I tore the plastic of the snack and bit some tender almonds. Yummy! I bit another and—No, someone was entering the house. I hid what I was eating and knew it was one of my two kuyas. Surprised by a cube-shaped thing beside me, my kuya had a clue until he completely had the knowledge what it is. I was startled that he was as exciting as I was! Without asking me, he opened and ransacked the box to search for a pair of shoes that my aunt promised to give him. He found what he looked for and hid them immediately behind the kitchen door.
After few moments, a cousin of mine entered our house. She found me busy cherishing the presence of something and approached me. She nonchalantly questioned me about that "something," and knew that it was the balikbayan box. She suddenly expressed her own excitement and tried to open the box, but I warned not to continue doing it.
It came to my mind that I really had to wait for my Papa from travel and my Mama from our church.
Time eventually taught me about patience. What else could I do aside from wait? Nothing suited it.
After two hours of controlling my excitement, my Papa broke in. I didn't hear the sound of his jeep! He rushed toward the box, making me think that he wanted to check what is inside it. I thought he would be angry after knowing that the box was already opened, but I was wrong. He just asked me if was the one who cut the tape that lids it, and told me not to hasten opening it and wait for my Mama to arrive.
So it was a moment of waiting once more! There was nothing new but to wait and wait until my annoyance was incited in the process.
Thirty minutes later, I was to so great an extent exhilarated when I saw my Mama make her way through the door. Without delay and further ado I told her that the box had recently come. She was so elated, though not as elated as I was. I told her also that she was the last person to be waited for. Knowing that she had arrived, almost all members of my family astonishingly got inside to walk toward the "thing". We began opening the half-shut box and searched for things that belonged to each of us.
There were long-sleeved clothes and denim pants. There were canned goods, which I truly believed to be there. There was a horror DVD, entitled "Sleepwalkers," based on Stephen King's original screenplay.
Subsequent to half-emptying the box, remembering that I neglected to ask books from my aunt made my amusement diminish. It was so forgetful of me. I bombarded myself with reiterated questions: "Why didn't you ask for books? Those are what you want. aren't they?" I dragged a nearby chair and resumed my emptying the box. As I searched the box for something that would console me, I was shocked and filled with awe when I saw something unique. It was not a polo. It was not a DVD. It was not pants. It was not something resembling any ordinary thing. It was an rectangular object with red color and big letters. It was no other but a book! It was a novel with the title "The Husband" by Dean Koontz. Enthusiastically I scanned the pages and laid it on a small table. Before I reached the box again, my cousin called me and showed me three more books. They are enough to render me speechless. My happiness was unspeakable. My hands involuntarily seized them, and I scrutinized them soon. "The Shack" by William P. Young. "Cross Country" by James Patterson.
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