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My cellphone's beeping sound woke me up one night. Used to receiving important messages only, I grabbed my cell and sleepily pushed the keys and read the message. "Hi there! Care 2 b my txtmate?" Not knowing who the sender was, I deleted the message right away and placed the phone on my bedside table, I tried to go back to sleep. I had just closed my eyes when I heard the message tone again. "Hi there, again! Care 2 b my txtmate?" again, the message said. "Who the hell could this be asking for txtmate at the wee hours of the night?" I asked myself. Again, without bothering to reply I deleted the message. I was never a 'textmaniac' - someone who enjoys texting anyone and everyone even at the wee hours of night, not to mention during the day. My parents, who were always out of the country forced me to own a cellphone. They told me that having one was more convenient - they could monitor me even if they're miles away. I wanted to turn the unit off, but since my mother was fond of calling me at night, just to check if I was safe at home, I decided not to. Just as I was to close my eyes and return to my dreamless sleep, the phone beeped again. Same number...Such determination! "Ply reply 2 dis msg & b an angel & save me frm dis abyss of emptiness!!!" I never knew why, but the message struck me. I got up and pushed the keys... I just realized I was replying to the message. "Im not an angel, n f u want som1 2 save u, m not superman... I'm just a simple prson who u wake up at dis r of my nyt!!! Nway, do I know u?" I typed. Seconds later came the reply. "Nope. U don't know dis lonely soul. Nor does she know u. But I want 2 b ur frnd. I'm Mikaella Cervantes. U?" "Just call me Julius. How'd u get my no.?" I sent back. "Hi Julius, nice 2 meet u. Just shuffled the last two digits of mine," she replied. That was the first and maybe the last time I met someone over the cellphone. We exchanged messages and learned so much about each other that night. We only said goodbye when my alarm clock rang at 5:00 AM! I had to prepare for school! And that was also how it all started. A day would not pass without it loving and thoughtful messages from her. It was only then I had learned to appreciate text messages and become eager and excited everytime my phone beeped, hoping it would be her. Mikaella brought out something about me that I never knew I had; I realized I could also be a romantic person... even if it's just through text messaging. "Keep me as a frnd & I will keep u in my heart.
Lock it up & throw away d key so dat no1 can evr tke
u away from me..." I replied: 'In life, we seldom find a true prson & f u evr find 1, hold on & nvr let go... value dat prson coz it's lyf's gift worth keeping & holdin on..." I never knew why, but her response sent shivers to my spine, " Value d people hu hav touched ur life bcoz u will never know just wen dey will walk out of ur lyf & nvr come back again." I couldn't understand what I felt that moment, but one thing I was sure though... I could not go on a day without a single word from her. I'd become used to having her, eventhough we had not met personally. But truly, she already occupied a space, a large one, in fact in my life. I texted her back. "Dont come close f l8r ull jst pass by; don't touch me f l8r ull jst let me cry; dont luv me f l8r ull jst leave me and won't stay..." I didn't know why I sent her that message, but somehow I felt, every word came from my heart. In the short span of time we were sending messages to each other, I knew, I was starting to keep her in my heart.
I called her once. The voice on the other end was like an angel's. Soft, kind, full of love. Yet, there was something in it I couldn't define. We only talked for a few minutes. Before she hung up, she told me not to call again. According to her, it would be better if we would just text each other. But the voice kept ringing, not only in my head, but in my heart, I'd long to hear it once more. I tried to call her again, but she never answered the phone. She just kept on sending messages and quotations, which I copied in a little notebook. Hopeless romantic? I didn't know. All I could say was that all the messages she sent me were wonderful, they came from the heart and cut through the heart.
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