Mister Green

"What's your favorite color, Mugs?"

"Blue." I would answer quickly. "Preferably, Cerulean or Azure, if I may add."

"Are you sure it's your favorite color?"

"Yes..."

"I've heard that you were once fond of green."

Not so long ago, I did. 

I was drawn to the darker shade of green for reasons I no longer remember. It must have been the shade's calming effect. Or maybe, it nods to the old days when I used to turn our ancestral home into a literal urban jungle. 

Whatever the reasons, I found it super cool to walk around the campus with my green file case. Inside, there's a green notebook, a green pen with a green ink, and sometimes a pack of Marlboro Menthol whose cigarettes I shove between my lips. 

Not so many people noticed my monochrome taste as almost everyone in college had their idiosyncrasies. Not even the infamous Nokia 3310, with its army-green casing registered in people's memory. One time, I pulled it out of my pocket as I felt it vibrate, when it slipped from my hand and flew under the merciless wheels of a passing Honda Civic.

One phone call to my dad (to make sumbong, what else?) and its LCD was quickly replaced that same afternoon.

My penchant for everything green lasted for a couple of years. I noticed that it gradually waned when I ceased using my file case in favor of a back pack. At a hindsight, the switch to blue also happened during a personal upheaval. The day I started exploring what lies beyond the conventional sexuality, I also began putting some distance between me and the straight world I left behind.

And like most snippets of growing up, I would have forgotten that I once loved the color if not for the file case that sums all my affection for the shade. Coated in dust under my bed, I took it out, wiped it clean and opened it to let its stickers - its remnants tell their stories.

"So you were leaning towards Akbayan Partylist pala ha!?"

"Probably because of Edsa Dos and the first impeachment trial."

"And why do you have a Sogo sticker?"

"Made fun of it. Who would have thought I'd see the place a few years after I put it on."

"And what's this gig in Rockwell?"

"I don't know, maybe an invitation. I used to be a poseur before I discovered Malate."

"Have you switched to Addict Mobile ever?"

"I can't remember. I'm a Globe boy ever since."

The reminiscing didn't take long as I still have to clean the rest of my room. In putting back the file case's contents - mementos that I chose to keep, despite their apparent insignificance - I returned the treasure trove back under the bed, promising myself to keep it well hidden. For it might have well seen, some of the best days of my life.