Our Friend Noton

My bestfriend Aris and I share a common friend...an imaginary friend.

His name is Noton, he was named after a decaying poster in one of the Tambayan near the UP Main Library. He was the closest thing to insanity.

It started when Aris and I agreed not to sleep over a weekday. We happen to be staying at separate dorms, and my dorm was strict on curfew matters. Equipped with a pack of Winston Lights and a lighter, we journeyed late at night at the Beta Way. The place was known for being a holdapers' area. But we dressed up like bums so we walked anyway; we care less of ourselves that time.

We talked about life, the philosophy of being "Prideless", our songs, our plan to ride a bus letting fate decide on our destination, mysticism, Sherlock Holmes & even the mosquitoes breeding and biting us as we tambay on one of the cemented tables there.

Feeling the presence of sleep, we agreed that one of us can lie down on the table to doze off, while the other would watch over; then we could switch places after 10 mins. At start, it seemed to work but the mosquitoes were merciless even to sleeping bums.

Again we walked and talked and puffed a cigarette or two. We stopped at the main library to drink some coffee. Cigarettes and coffee are the perfect match for insomnia back then. By that time, we've ignored the calling of sleep. We were laughing at simple matters. We laughed so hard, that I remembered crying over an erap joke. That's when Noton came in.

I'm not sure if it was Aris or I who pointed at the poster on one of the walls. The poster was badly made that the words "not on" became "noton". We laughed at it for a minute until Aris said "Sabi sayo tatawa tayo eh". We both imagined that a certain character named Noton said it.

Noton, as I imagined him, behaves like one of those side kicks in Filipino movies. He says the useless phrase "Sabi sayo eh", which we found idiotic since what's done is done; and saying "sabi sayo eh" is like pretending knowing everything AFTER an event.

Noton's life span was short. As the sun goes up, I remembered that we've agreed to bury Noton in our minds with a shoverl and soil. The last thing he muttered was "Sabi sa inyo lilibing niyo ako eh". At the end, he still won the annoyance. We laughed at this idea as we got up to have another round on the Acad Oval.

Noton, buried, was replaced by "WALANG TULUGAN" by Kuya Germs. I can't remember much what happened next except for the part wherein I had to attend the day's class with a very big eye bug.

Until now I still imagine Noton from time to time, just like now saying "Sabi sayo lalagay mo ako sa blog eh".