i

Ed et o r ’ s
Not Two years flew fast, like how meteors fall
from the universe to earth. For the first time,
I wished everything was always the beginning.

I
personally do not like endings because endings always show the effects you did in the past.
Endings are sad, too sad for me, making me think of having a time machine. But then again,
time is inevitable.
Time is also immemorial. Our seconds become minute. Minutes grow into hours. And
then we will come realize that years are not enough---years we spend learning, the hours we spend
talking nonsense, minutes we spend writing accounting principles, and the seconds we spend
wishing it go faster for the class to end. At the end, after we think time is enough, there comes bliss.
Wonderland. Paradise. Or in other words, alapaap.
I listened to Eraserheads lately and when I heard this one song, it definitely defined what I
am currently and wanting to feel. Alapaap is the best word to describe this work. Of course, one can
never know what true happiness feels like. I have never into heaven (hopefully not yet). I always see
posts and tweets talking about being lonely. I think nowadays, people are too lonely but not lonely
enough to think through themselves. We can be unhappy but happy with other people (according to
my favorite rapper). However, I wish people do not only focus to loneliness. The time we spent being
lonely is the time wasted we should search for happiness instead. In the midst of searching happiness,
at this point we will realize, happiness should not be searching for. Happiness is not something you
have to achieve. You can become happy in the middle of achieving your dream.
For a long time, failing grades can’t make me unhappy. Performance tasks can’t make me
sad. Deadlines can’t make me depressed. I can still remember how I cried when I did not made it to
the deadline. I can still remember how nervous I am during recitations. I can still remember how blue
I was when I did not make it to scholarship. But then again, sadness is a short-term. One should not
dwell on it. I realize how much time I became lonely. I missed the time I should be doing something
else. Time is running and not waiting for me, all I did was to waste it. There I understood, happiness
is just right there. And during the process of making this magazine, I learned happiness is me think-
ing about endings with beautiful scenes. Here, I think I like endings now. Imagine seeing the people
you know saying “thank goodness, it’s all done!” Happiness is seeing how relieved people are.
By the time you read this, it means success. Wow, finally, our magazine is now published! To
think all through it, to think all the hardworks paid, a magazine is not enough. For others, common-
ly, magazines are just a piece of glossy paper with fancy colors, a bunch of articles written by people
you do not know. However, for me, this is a memory. This contains words you never heard from the
people you never knew (yet). 21st Literature from Philippines and the World is the subject we lay
upon this magazine, hence literature is the theme. All hardworks and labors will come finally to an
end. It will become a part of literature. Our happiness will become a part of literature. I am proud we
have a tiny fraction of it (at least). From day 1 to day end, the words on our minds are now printed on
this magazine.
To Miss Domino, to my members, to you---here’s our Alapaap.

Anne Nicole Evite

Editor-in-Chief