"KURSUNADA"

KURSUNADA is a condition of intense liking for an object or for a member of the opposite sex. Sometimes this value connotes a sadistic and lusty fancy when it refers to a condition of dislike. Another use of the term is one Filipino resents the glance of another and strikes out in anger.


My old friend Alvin had just moves to a new place (in Laguna) and at his first day. Financial constraints forced his parents to send him also to the public school at the new place where they lived. Not knowing what awaited him in this new environment, he left early. He was charmed by the view surrounding him. His sight was not particularly fixed but rather bounded from here to there. Consequently, he was unaware that he had bumped into a girl rushing past him from the corner of the library.

Words froze in his throat. The girl has already finished her lecture and had gone before his apology came out of his mouth. He was struck by her beauty, not to mention the fragrance that exuded from her long ebony hair.
Nights and nights thereafter, Alvin dreamed of this girl. He later learned that her name is Shantalie. How could he forget her rose-pink cheeks as he fumed in girlish defiance over his recklessness? How could he lay in bed without recalling thelovely face and the beautiful brown eyes that sparkled in her gaze? If only he had met her in a more pleasant situation. But Alvin determined to know Shantalie at all cost. Such was the only way sleep would return to him.

A boquet of Holland roses in hand, he traced the path he first took hoping it would lead to another bump with the girlof his dreams. Girls in school uniforms stared at him with sundry expressions, but there was no Shantalie.

Reaching the library, he had no choice but to seek solace in its silent hall, where boys and girls and teachers cast probing satred at his boquet. They seemed unable to guess where and to whom those long stemmed roses were heading.

Then something caught his eyes. From the dge of the adjacent shelf, he saw black flowing hair glistening in the flourescent light. A surge of blood rushed his body. Suddenly he felt weak. His kness seemed to have lossened and he felt as thoough someone bolted his voice box out of his throat. It took him a lot of conditioning before he ultimately moved his feet to deliver his package.

For you. He was not even sure if he had really uttered those words or if it was only his mind speaking. He did not even have time to hear what Shantalie had to say. OR time to ask who was the brawny professor sitting beside Shantalie, looking daggers at him.