Exorcism Of A Stick

Artie slumped on the driver’s seat. Penny just broke up with him.

Damn!

He cursed while the rain poured heavily outside his Subaru.

Three months ago, Penny found out and told him that she doesn't want what he is doing and if he won’t stop it, she’ll split their relationship. He remembered that he hugged Penny very tight that night, begging her not to and that he’ll stop it.

Penny loves him, Artie knew. That same night, Penny made him promise that he won’t do it again ever. He swore. And he did actually thought of keeping that. But the demon is strong…

Strong indeed…

Artie turned left. He wasn't aware that he is driving already.

The demon…

Penny broke up with him!

He can’t believe it!

He started gritting his teeth. He remembered that he kept on doing it ever since he met the demon.

His eyes became wild as he turned right at the next road.

Where Penny’s house is.

He started thinking wildly.

Could it be that Penny quitted because she wants another guy? He remembered George.  He knew that he has his eyes on her. Could it be that tonight, Penny is with him? Oh! He can’t imagine it! Penny is his! Only his!

Suddenly, an image formed in thick rain.

Penny?

Artie slowed down. He felt so cold suddenly.

He grabbed a demon from his bag that he always kept in his car.

A bag of demons.

It will help him feel warm.

He focused his attention on Penny.

She’s soaking in the rain.

Her image was stamped on his mind – wet, shivering… and crying. Her knee-length dress strapping her young body.

How old are they? Nineteen? Twenty? It doesn't matter. He loves Penny. Yes, he does.

The demon entered his body deeply. He felt warm. Really warm. And the image of Penny is on his mind.

Penny, oh Penny.

She has always been so pure. That’s why he likes her.

Every time he deepens his kiss, Penny would always stir.

Oh, the look in her eyes! So pure, Penny, pure Penny.

He dropped the demon on the window and opened the door. He walked under the rain and straight to Penny.

She was so surprised to see him that her eyes literally widened.

Artie hugged her tight. He kissed her on the mouth but Penny resisted. She knew he had the demon. That damned demon! Why did he even try it? Penny and him were so fine until it came. Penny is now pushing him away. But why? Penny loves him! He thought of George? Why is Penny here, on the outside at this very hour? Artie knew it is already two o'clock in the morning. Was Penny out with George? He became angry. Penny is telling him to stop. But he didn't  He deepened his kiss more. He kissed her on the neck, on her shoulder blades. Penny hits him on his back. He tightened his grasp on Penny’s hair. Penny cried. Artie heaved her thin body to the car and covered her mouth. He kissed her more.

No more of your ‘purity’games, Penny!

With muffled sobs, Penny accepted what is happening to her. No more good Artie. The demon drove him mad.

Penny closed her eyes hard.

I hate you, Arthur…

But before closing her eyes, Penny had a glimpse on a bag filled with demons silently smirking at her.

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Outside the car, a lone, suspicious stick of a cigar swims on a pool of rainwater. It was now sagged and grumpy, but it made something that even the hard rain can’t wash away…

The Philippine Dark Web -- Mythical Creatures

The girl looked around her. It is already dark. She walked faster. The darkness is creeping on her skin. It took her just seconds to realize that she lost her way. In a distance, she heard a loud “Wak! Wak!”. The girl almost cried while she looked for shelter. Again, a weaker “Wak! Wak!” filled the silence. The girl felt more desperate. She wished that those sounds will come louder. She didn’t wish it to be gone. But the moment came. There was no whacking sound anymore. The girl burst into a cry. She expected an image. And that image appeared in no less than a second. The Wakwak that terrorizes their baryo is now in front of her, preparing to devour her young, fresh flesh…

Freaky, isn’t it? Well, what you just read is a typical scenario in a Filipino storytelling time. If in Western countries the themes are more about fairy godmothers or princesses or castles, here in the Philippines, we are more “exotic”.

We talk of witches, elves, dwarfs, sirens, ghouls, viscera-suckers, vampires,  and demons. Actually, the creature on the above situation is a Wakwak, a viscera sucker, whose sounds will tell how far she is from you -- loud "waks" tell she's far away, but small "waks" tell you she's at your side. But it doesn’t mean that those are always the talk of us. We also tell stories about lazy boys, beautiful enchantresses and other folk stories that teach us moral lessons.

But now, let me first just introduce you to the Filipinos Creatures of the Dark web.

The Filipinos believe in all forms of life. Way back on our forefathers time, they believe that nature is a form of life – they believe that spirits dwell in trees, mountains, rivers, oceans and other pictures of nature. And if we have light force, it is implied that we have the dark force.

Filipinos believe in witches. They are extremely revengeful. Witches can harm anybody. Filipinos are afraid of them because witches are believed to hurt or even kill anyone with their incantations and orations. The Visayan witch called mambabarang or barangan can fill a persons’ stomach with worms, bugs and other insects to his death. It is also said that a person who survived a mambabarang’s attack becomes a mambabarang too. The manggagamod is the witch that Filipinos believed to be using dolls in order to hurt her enemies. The manggagaway is also a witch but is thought to have healing instead of hurting powers. Similarly, the alburaryo is someone believed that can counter-attack the powers of a witch.

The dwarfs of the Filipino folklore are similar to the dwarfs of Europe. They are small old men who offer gold and gifts to those who please them. These dwarfs have their kingdoms under the earth and are full of jewels and other treasures. Some stories tell that beautiful maidens are taken by dwarfs into these kingdoms and lure them to stay there forever. It is even believed that a day in a dwarf house is actually three days in earthly time. Mounds on earth are told as the dwarfs’ home. If you spitted on this mounds, it is said that the dwarf in that mound will make your tongue swell or if you stepped on their home, they will make your feet swell. It is a custom on a Philippine barrio to say “Tabi-tabi po…” each time you will pass on a wooded place. It means “Excuse me…” and it is your way of respecting the unseen dwarf. The aran is even believed to have feet that point backward. Dwarfs are called by many names – ansisit, aran, duwende, kalanget, lampong, and tianak. A tianak is a dwarf who pretends himself as a baby. One of his legs is believed to be shorter than the other. Once you picked him, he will transform himself to an old man with sharp teeth and he will bite you.

The elves of the Filipino folklore are beautiful lads and maidens with long hair and fair skin. Elves are called in many names in different regions in the Philippines. They are called aghoy, dalakitnon, dayamdam, enkanto/ada, kiba-an, kamanan-daplak, lewenri, palasekan, ragit ragit, tamawo, tirtiris, and ugaw. Some elves are good but some do some mischieves. They live in big trees and the most common tree for them is the balete. People think that those trees are mansions but the elves enchanted them. Elves try to lure young people into marrying them and after they do, they become ugly. It is also believed that elves own the trees and we should first ask permission to them before cutting trees or else, they will get angry and may cause us harm. Another common conception about them is the belief that they steal rice from your bin and has got feet that lead to opposite ways so that no one can track their footprints.

The Philippine sirens are different from the sirens that Odysseus encountered. The Philippine merfolks  are half human above the waist but are half-fish below. The most common perception about mermen is that they lure people to go near the water with their sweet singing voices then drown them. Other stories also tell that merfolks get people to marry them. It is also believed that they can easily drown people who disobey them or go against their will.

Ghouls are creatures who live on corpses. They live like common people at day but change at night. They are believe to hear sounds of them miles away and can hasten the death of a sick person. Ghouls have different names but they have the same characteristics. They have eyes that can’t look straight at yours, teeth that grow at night and strong smell. they are believed to live near at cemeteries so that they can see if there is someone newly buried. They have foul odors. The ghoul balbal can replace a corpse with a banana trunk and no one will ever recognize that the corpse is stolen unless someone looked at his hands and sees that his fingers have no finger prints. Other ghouls are called busaw, kagkag, paraduno, segben and ungo.

Viscera suckers are creatures that suck your insides with their long tongue. The most salient characteristics of them is that they are very beautiful women by day but turn to ugly monsters at night. Viscera suckers are believed to be afraid of salt, pepper, onion and garlic and other spicy foods. At night, when the crows are noisy, people think that there’s a viscera sucker roaming around looking for a victim. They throw salt and garlic outside the window and they trust that these creatures will go away. They always watch their roofs because viscera suckers attack through those by suspending their long tongue that looks like a red thread. Pregnant women are afraid of them because their favorite food are unborn babies. Folks believe that viscera suckers can separate their upper bodies (waist up to their heads)  and turn their arms into wings when they roam at night. It is also believed that you can kill an aswang by putting salt, pepper, onion and garlic on her lower body part that she leaves on a dark place when she goes away to hunt. With this, she can never return to her lower body until sunrise. Sunrise can burn an aswang that wasn’t able to join her body. The different names for aswang are abat, boroka, manananggal and mangalok.

The Philippines has also vampires. Philippine vampires aren’t the same with Dracula. Some vampires are beautiful by day but become ugly by night. They choose strong men for them to marry. Legends are told about how vampires become vampires. The Isnegs believe that the danags are gods. They help people in their lands. They make their lands fertile. One day, when a man was wounded, he asked a danag for help in removing the bamboo sliver in his finger. The danag sucked his finger so as to help him but by doing that, she learned that human blood was sweet. From then on, the danags stopped their duties on fields but instead lived as vampires. Another story also tells us the story of the amalanhig. An amalanhig is a dead woman who comes back from the grave. According to legends, an amalanhig cannot die unless she has passed the mutya to one of her relatives. The relatives often refuse to accept the mutya because they will inherit the vampire trait from the amalanhig. If still, all of her relatives refuses to take the mutya, the amalanhig wont rest and will keep from raising in the grave and will still be a vampire.

Lastly, the Filipinos also believe in demons. These demons take devilish forms and always causes fear to folks. We have the allawig or the ball of fire. It is also called sansilimo or santelmo. It is said that an allawig will mislead a traveler caught at night. The allawig will lure the traveler away from the right path and will lead him to a deep hole that will lead him to his death. In order to remove the enchantments from an allawig, one must inverse the way his clothes are worn. This way, it is believed that you will finally find the right way. A kapre is a half human and half horse creature. You might think of a centaur but a kapre is its counterpart -- its upper part is a horse and the lower, human. It is said that if you can mount the kapre and pull out its three golden hairs, you may have him as aservant on your fields. Another is the ani-ani or kapre. They are big creatures that loves cigars. They stay at old trees and fear travelers. The bangungot is said to cause nightmares. A big man, bangungot, will sit on your chest at night and will let you have bad dreams that may cause your death. The bantay is an old man who takes care of a very old tree. When you go near a tree, you may see a white cloud that surrounds it that will later may change to a big white rooster. The baras is fond of beautiful women. He often steals sleeping girls and takes them to his lair. When the girl he wakes up in the lair, the girl is believed to grow insane. The lagtaw has a bad reputation of scaring children so as the kapre. The mutya is a bead from banana blossoms that is believed to give you enormous strength. All you have to do is wait for it on a full moon night. But, there is a twist. When the mutya comes out, a big, strong man will try to strangle you. Beat him and you will have the mutya. A pugot is a headless man with fire coming out from its neck. Ironically, the pugot is afraid of fire.

The creatures above doesn’t imply that Philippines is a dark country. In fact, for me, it adds to the spices of our Filipino lives. Personally, I haven’t had an experience with the above creatures. But their presence on folk stories makes me proud that I came from an oriental country with a very colorful history.

CHOICE > FATE

One of the “classic” questions that has always haunted mankind is the question, “What is responsible for what happens into our lives – is it CHOICE, or DESTINY.  How about you?

As for me, I have always believed that it is our CHOICE that determines our FATE.

I would be very glad to share with you my insights about this topic!

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If we are to have an examination, what are we more likely to do?

A. CHOOSE to review while there is still time; or

B. Let FATE work. After all, we are not sure if we will pass. If we are destined to fail, let it be.

Probably, you are going to encircle letter A. If you are, you are with me!

As time taught us, life is a big test. And just the same way we prepare for an exam – we will choose the better and if possible, the best.

But on the other side, there is destiny. Destiny is the thing that others keep on relying at. Others say that DESTINY is responsible for all the things that happen to us, whether we like it or not.

But do we know our destiny? Do you know where we will go after death? Do we know our fate?

No is obviously the answer for all those questions. For we have nothing but paths to chose – where to take; where to go, and; how to keep track.

From the very start, God has given us FREE WILL. He lets us go wherever we want to and He bestowed upon us the decision, however, with His guidance.

Every day we choose; whether to review for an examination or not. We choose whether to steal or not. We choose whether to cheat or not and we choose whether to live or surrender and relinquish hope. What we call God’s plan is His plan after our choice. That is, according to an adage, OUR CHOICE DETERMINES OUR DESTINY. If we choose not to review for a subject, then it is more likely our destiny to fail. If we choose to steal, it would probably be our destiny to be jailed. If we choose to cheat, then we have chosen the destiny of feeling guilt. If we have chosen to relinquish hope, we are more likely to face the destiny to miss the goodness of living. We people have summed up all our shortcomings and created a monster called DESTINY. It is on us to choose which paths to abide.

God is just. He knows what to give us after our choice. He is the ULTIMATE SCALE Who weighs us. It is of our own effort to do our best while we are under His grace.

All of us may choose the best paths for our living. Stephen King once said, “If God gave you something that you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?

Before we blame all things on destiny, let us try to ponder that we are the captains of our own ships. It is our CHOICE to navigate it to its DESTINY. There may be some things that we cannot change, but is doesn’t mean that we are just going to let ourselves be blown by the wind we call DESTINY. At the end of the day, our life is still our choice.

It is worthy to give a space on this paper for a crab in one of my favorite Filipino tales saying,

“MAS MABUTING MABIGO SA PAGGAWA NG ISANG BAGAY KAYSA MAGTAGUMPAY SA PAGGAWA NG WALA.” – Tong Talangka

**It is better to fail in doing something than to succeed in doing nothing.

The Adornments and Intricacies of Life

Which of the following is your opinion?

A. Life has adornments to console its intricacies or;

B. Life has intricacies to balance its adornments?

Well, whatever your answer is, one thing is for sure – Life is God’s best gift to us.

This write up has a poem inside of it and some quotations are borrowed from my thoughtful boyfriend.

Hope you’ll be inspired!

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On the beginning, there was nothing and the Creator decided to create the heavens, the waters, the earth, winged creatures, animals that walk, animals that creep and swim and all sorts of life.

But He felt sad and thought that there must be something missing. Finally, He created someone from His form, molded it and breathed Life in it. He called His creation MAN and after days, drawn from this man a female counterpart and called her WOMAN. On six days, God created the Universe and all in it – including the energy that flows in it – LIFE.

Life is a goal. Reach it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a dream. Realize it. Life is a game. Play it. Life is an opportunity. Grab it.

On a dark cavern, a FEMALE is waiting for her MALE – who among these millions will be with me? Suddenly, one of them met HER; now they are UNITED. They’d go through several processes. They’ll cling to a wall. They will wait. They will grow. Together they will be – another LIFE.

This is a biological metaphor on how life begins. If we’ll take a look, it makes life exceptional. It is amazing to know that from two strange cells sprouted a new life.

After two-hundred and seventy days, the sight of a laboring mother with her husband can be seen. It is one of the best pictures of life – to see a couple sharing the joy of having the fruit of their love. Having another of the greatest gift in the world – a child. By and by, these parents will face the challenge of molding another good person for the world.

“…success and miscarriage are empty sounds.” – Samuel Johnson

However, pregnancy is not a sure thing. A coin has always two sides. As much as it can bring happiness to the couple is the fear of losing the child.

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Life is a mystery. Unfold it. Life is a puzzle. Unfold it. Life is a puzzle. Solve it. Life is a song. Sing it. Life is a struggle. Accept it. Life is a sacrifice. Offer it.

Man is overpowered by his want to discover; unfortunately, he has neglected the real essence of life. God has put him into a pedestal where he can live but he chose to INVENT his own goals. Man wanted to discover more; to uncover the mysteries behind the stars; to know what Earth is made of and to see what is beyond Life. But by doing these, some of them they turned away from God instead of praising Him for the majesty of His creations. Truly, man has made himself wiser but it can never be denied that man has ignored more beautiful things that his Creator made for him.

Man has chosen complicated explanations rather than to believe in miracles.

“Superiority is a defect. Once you have experienced sitting on a high pedestal, you will find it hard to look down.”

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In life, many storms take place, but still, the Sun always comes out. Sometimes we always get lost but we are always found. We break and then we are fixed. We fail but strive to succeed. We fall and we are saved. It is because…

Life is a sorrow. Overcome it. Life is a joy. Spread it. Life is a romance. Enjoy it. Life is a gamble.  Take it. Life is a tragedy. Face it.

We face deaths of beloved ones, but we smile at the birth of young ones. We cry by sadness but laugh by a friend’s joke. Sometimes our ships sink, but lifeboats wait. One time you will get pinched by enemies but later tickled by your family. We will experience cloudy skies but by next we will have starry skies.

“What is gain without pain? What is sunshine with no rain? What’s a moon without a sun?”

Life is a combination of negativities and positivities. Sometimes we are drowned, but always saved. Life is a wheel. We will go down and then we will go up. We take bitter vitamins in order to become well again.

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Life is bliss. Embrace it. Life is a promise. Fulfill it. Life is a battle. Fight it. Life is a journey. Complete it.

We have privileges down here but every privilege is acquainted with a responsibility – a responsibility not to overlook the beautitudes in life. Of course, there will be bad days but remember that bad days are needed to appreciate good days. An enemy stands in front of you but a friend is always at your back.

“You can never overcome a person whose army is his family and friends…”

There might be storms, but do not forget that the sun doesn’t go away from its place in heavens. If comes the time that we can no more see the paths that we tread, remember that the sky is always ready to be looked upon. Walls may be built around us, but try to look up and you will see…

Life is God’s gift.

Cherish it.

Of The Country's People ++

This selection tackles the common types of Government. Opinions and addendum are very much welcome.

According to Justice William O. Douglas of the United States Supreme Court, the Government is the most advanced of human relations. It dispenses the various services that the complexities of civilization require or make desirable. It is designed to keep in balance the various competing forces present in any society to satisfy the dominant contemporary demand made upon it. As a result, it serves a high purpose; it is the cohesive quality in civilization.

A country can stand on its own but, its rules and harmony needs to be maintained and regulated. With these, the presence of what we call GOVERNMENT is needed.

But, it is not enough to know that there exists a government. It is also a-must know what type of government we are under. Generally, we have governments by one person, by the few, by the many and institutional types of government.

A monarchy is a form of government where the ruler is a monarch who comes from a royal family. A monarch exercises absolute power. He wields executive, legislative and judicial powers. The monarchy can also be limited. In the limited type of monarchy, the monarch is willing to part some of his powers and to delegate them with some government agencies. Limited monarchy is rated the best form of government. It worked most effectively because the monarch, under constitutional rule, guaranteed that policies needed to maximize political, social and economic stability were implemented.

Dictatorship is a form of government ruled by a person who comes from military or civilian class. During period of stress, the people would vest the responsibility to a military commander but an ambitious dictator could insist that the emergency still exists. Totalitarianism, a type of dictatorship is extreme type.

Aristocracy implies that the aristocrats—or its rulers—are presumably men of the highest intelligence and integrity. Plato, in his Republic viewed the ideal state as governed by wise and devoted rulers.

Oligarchy is also a government by the wealthy few but they do not come from nobility like the aristocrats. They believe that the most important requisites to the claim of power are wealth, good social position and wealth.

The word ‘Democracy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘demos’ which means ‘people’ and ‘kratia’ or ‘kratos’ to rule. In other words, democracy means that the people will rule or on the words of the great American president, “a government by the people, of the people and for the people.” This is an ideal democracy which people everywhere are striving to attain.

A Unitary Government—a type of institutional government – concentrates its governmental powers in one organ, the central of national government to which the constituents or the local government units owe their existence which they derive their powers and functions.

A federal government is one in which government powers are distributed from the central government down to its local government units as specified by the constitution of the state.

Meanwhile, the Presidential system is a system where the executive power is exercised by a single president elected by popular vote. He holds office for a specific period of time as fixed by the constitution of the state.

The Parliamentary System is a form of government where the executive power belongs to the Prime Minister and his cabinet. They are the leaders of the majority party in the parliament and they remain in office as long as they enjoy the trust, support and confidence of the majority.

It is evident that we can rely our trust in any of these types of government in accordance to what our country needs but the government is not the heart f any country but the center of it is its people.

Remember: “When confidence of the people is lost, the government is also lost.” – Confucius

The ME tree.

Our professor last year assigned us to make our own write-ups about different themes. A year later, I happened to stumble on my old compilation of those write-ups. I decided to post this one here. Though this one is not highly academic, I hope readers will still find it inspiring.

 I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree..

It is one of the loveliest lines that could be heard on the forest of life, but we too must not miss to see that our very own self is a tree in its real nature.

I too, am a tree in that forest of life. There are many storms that may haul a tree, yet we admire it for standing throughout the disaster. It may lose some of its branches and its fruits may fall on the ground but its roots will remain anchored on the ground. I too, as a person may experience many typhoons that will shake me but I will put my anchorage on my roots—my spirit.

A tree can grow on a good soil, on sandy ones or salty land but it’s amazing to see trees in an inappropriate soil—showing signs that they wanted to emerge, to develop and bear fruits. We too, as humans may sometimes dwell on wrong places, but we can’t set aside the urge to grow, to learn and to be productive. It is in human nature to exist and strive for acknowledgement, so as the tree shown in the spreading of its leaves and expanding of its branches.

Another is that a tree can give anything in it. It may give its branches for firewood, its trunk for pillars and its fruit for food. I to, as a human being may give everything to anyone. My eyes for sympathy, ears for listening, mouth for words, hands for a tap and arms for a hug.

Similarly, who could forget the story of a tree that gave everything to a boy and was forgotten? Apparently, the trees story is a metaphor by some of us people who was forgotten after what  they have done to others.

A tree gives comfort, so do, we, people. Sometimes, I find myself comforting others—absorbing the heat of their worries so as a tree shading a person from the heat of the scorching sun.

A tree is nourished by its caretakers. I too, have God to look after me. Trees are scarred by some, I too is. But scars are marks we should be proud of, for after the wounds comes a person who is stronger and learned by his experiences.

A tree could reach high. It can kiss the clouds and may be adored by many. Some would look at it high and some will worship it. But in the end of the day, it will find itself stretching its arms at the skies, giving thanks to the One in Heaven. So as I. I may reach the highest peak of success but I’ll always end up giving it all back to God for trees and I are planted on the ground and we should keep our feet on it.

Finally, every tree has is eternal mission of bearing fruits—fruits that will bear seeds by which new trees will grow, thus creating more trees. I too as a human being have the in-borne mission of doing good to others—others whom I wish to do good in others also so that the holy mission of creating love will never die. ++

ANG PAG-AASAWA'Y PARANG KANIN ++

Kinabig niyang pakanan ang manibela ng kotse papasok sa bungad ng kalye na kinaroroonan ng kanilang bungalow. Sumaludo pa sa kanya ang ilang kalalakihang naglalakad. Mag-aalas onse na ng gabi at nasa kalye pa ang mga ito. Sa mga mukha ay nababakas n'yang ama na ang ilan sa mga iyon at ang iba'y maaring may asawa naman. Sa oras na ito ang matatawag na "uwian" ng mga kalalakihang nagha-"happy-happy". At siya, isang arketipo ng isang "lalaki" ay hindi pinalagpas ang pinakaaktibong bahagi ng kanyang buhay. Kasaysayan ng maituturing ang mga lalaking nagha-"happy-happy" sa mga bar at kandungan ng makukulay na mga babae. At hindi siya papayag na mapag-iwanan ng kasaysayan.

Iginarahe niya ang kotse. May malaking pagtatakang binistahan niya ng tingin ang kabahayan. Madilim. Walang bakas na may natitira pang gising. Mangyari ay nakasanayan na niyang lagi siyang hinihintay ng kaniyang asawa. Tuwi-tuwina'y mananatili itong gising, hihintayin ang kanyang pagdating at bibigyan siya ng halik sa pisngi. Nananatili itong gising dahil ayon na rin dito'y nais niyang mainit ang pagkaing ihahain sa asawang pagod na dumarating. Gayunpaman, hindi ito nagtatanong kung saan siya galing. Tahimik lamang nitong ihahain ang kaniyang pagkain sa mesa at hihintayin siyang matapos. Ngunit sa likod ng utak ng lalaki ay ang pagtatanong kung alam na ng asawa ang kanyang ginagawang "happy-happy" at ang pagtataka na kung sakali mang alam na nito, bakit hindi siya kinukumpronta?

Ipinihit niya ang pintuan at sumunod ang pag-ingit nito. Kinapa niya ang switch ng ilaw at napilas ang karimlam sa sambahayan. Tumuloy siya sa komedor at nabungaran niya ang pagkaing may takip sa mesa. Kumunot na ang kanyang noo. Nasaan na ang asawa niyang dati-rati'y hinihintay siya at nag-iinit ng kaniyang hapunan?

Tinungo niya ang kanilang kwarto. Bukas ang pintuan nito. Lumapit siya sa kama at hinawakan ang asawang tulog na. Marahil ay hindi siya nahintay. Naisip niya ang babae kanina sa klab. Malayong malayo iyon sa kanyang asawa. Ang kanyang kabiyak ay mabuti. Ngunit ang mga babaeng kanyang nakikilala ay maganda lamang sa mata, ngunit hindi niya gugustuhin ang babaeng ganoon sa kanyang mga bisig.

Napaisip siya. Heto ang babaeng nakasama na niya ng maraming tao. Heto ang babaeng kanya ng nasasaktan. Heto ang babaeng pinangakuan niya ng kaligayahan. Ano ang nagawa niya?

Maingat siyang tumayo upang hindi magising ang asawa. Mabilis siyang lumabas ng kwarto at pumasok sa komedor. Hinainan niya ang sarili ng malamig nang pagkain at saka nagsimula ng sumubo. Bago sa kanyang panlasa ang malamig na kanin at nakakaisang kutsara pa lamang siya'y niligpit na niya ito. Maraming bagay sa kanyang isip. Naisip niya, ayaw na niya ng malamig na kanin. Mula ngayo'y nagluluto pa lamang ang kanyang asawa'y uuwi na siya. At hindi na niya hahayaang hintayin siya nito sa magdamag.

A TALE OF A TAIL

I call this an "accidental poem" and this is for our dog, Ressureccion. One afternoon I found her lying under a tree and it made me think of what she feels. I thought that maybe it is  because she misses her puppies who were given away to my friends in another city. I saw her and I felt the necessity to write down what I think her emotions are.

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A TALE OF A TAIL

She watched as the visitor came

And greeted everyone with “Good day!”

Glanced at her and said she looks gay

But deep inside she’s in despair

 

A silent, warm tug on her side

Came from her love that calmly lies

They sniffed her smell and faintly cried

As they’re taken away from her life

 

She had rose while they walk away

Out of the yard and shut the day

With sights of them that heed the way

Miles from her—oh! How alone and pained

 

Now no more pups to make her gay

No more little paws to make her play

Gloomy sometimes, a dog’s life may

Alone with a chain, still she lays…

The Night I Slept With Death

I was listening to my heartbeat one night when I noticed that it was so fast. I realized that every beat of it is very important. I feared that one day it will stop. I feared death to come and I feared the day that I have to leave my beloved. I fear the day that I will never feel anything, like fear, again.

Fear strikes anyone and the fear of death is crippling. As Dan Brown has said, fear cripples faster than any implement of war.

Fear has inspired me to write this poem. I don't want any spoiler so I won't describe. Enjoy!

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THE NIGHT I SLEPT WITH DEATH

I couldn’t pretend that all is right

When I know that I’m burning inside

I opened her door and stayed by her side

And wrapped myself in her cozy sight

But still suffocating, the cold fire is eating my heart

Wondering, I touched her warm body and fed my love

And set aside the unknown worry that gnaws at the dark

And held back the tears pushed by something very hard

If I die tonight, I thought with fear

Shall she be able to bear the tears

That in her soft, weak heart, soon will well

And in this bright past, will she still dwell?

So I kissed her eyes and slumbered the night

And thought of the next day that will be bright

And listened on my heart that drums with a thud

But was shocked as the thud became a deathly march

So my heart had stopped beating, alone now she will be

No more arms to embrace her, no more mouth she will feed

With tender butterfly kisses and hugs full of peace

Alone in the house, my lovely little wife she will be

And the morning has come, and so I shall go

Alone without a heart, to wonder I’ll go

But to my fearful surprise, tears began to flow

For I slept in her bosom—alone now she will go…

BLOOD HUNT

Night, once again, has fallen over the town of Corpus Christi: the town whose trees never sleep at night and whose people watched the silence of the night.

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They are all here – she, Tess, Susan, Bobby, Michael and Peter – all six of them. Here at the woods of Corpus Christi. In the middle of the night. She doesn't want to be here but Bobby pleaded. He said they just want to see if these trees really move, if they really have red eyes like a lighted cigar, and if they really ate those missing persons that walk in hours like this. Like them.

Something crawled in her nape and she adjusted the blue scarf that covered her neck. The thought of enchanted trees made her shiver. But it made her curious. That same curiosity made her discovery about an old story told all over the town. Last month, her eight year old brother lost his dodge ball while playing in the lawn.

The ball bounced to the open attic window. He lolled his head and cried when she refuse to get it back. Their parents are out and so as their older brother. Her brother cried for almost an hour and she was convince that if she won't get the damned ball (that hit her many times already), his brother's eye might melt because of excessive tears.

She headed for the stairs to the attic. When she was a child, his grandfather always forbade her to go there. He said vampires swarm in the attic. Then she wondered, if vampires are really up there, they must have come out already. They must be strong. She read Dracula and she thought then that Dracula must be the scariest monster in the world. Even the thought of being bitten in the neck made her melt like ice cream.

But that was THEN. When she was just a little girl whom you can make believe that Thumbelinas really exist in flowers and that fortune cookies really tell your future. Now she knows that Thumbelina isn't real and fortune cookies are not to be believed, but to be eaten. And her grandfather is long dead. So no one would forbid her.

The attic is dark. And its smell reminded her of a part in the library with shelves of old books. Are there lots of old books in the attic?

She backed. The darkness in here isn't good and suddenly she became afraid that vampires are really here. But as she back, her hands felt something on the wall. She realized it's the light switch.

Good.

She thought and flicked it.

Warm yellow light bathed the attic. Her eyes searched for the dodge-ball. She went near the slightly opened window where the ball entered. She found it right there on the floor. She picked it up but something caught her eyes. As if it is telling her to stay.

A wooden box.

No. It's more like a…

Coffin.

She touched its sides.

Dusty.

She felt the lid and slowly heaved the heavy top. What's inside surprised her.

And soon will surprise the whole town.

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"Liz?"

She was surprised. Bobby is holding her shoulders and has a look in his eyes that asks, "what happened?"

She looked around her and realized that they're out of the woods.

"Where're the others?"

Bobby stared at her."They went home. Is there something wrong? You were quiet back there."

"Nothing," she answered.

He held her hands and pressed it. He looked her in the eyes and his eyes said, "I'm here." That's what she like about Bobby. His eyes speak.

She smiled and said goodnight.

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She was surprised. Inside the big box is a man that reminded her of a novel she read. It's skin is pale, so pale that it looked like the specimens bathing in formaldehyde in the Biology class. The smell is very bad. It's like opening a fridge that's not opened for many months.

She stared at the man, which in fact she thought as a corpse until it opened its eyes.

Dead, pale eyes.

It stared at her.

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Liz was screaming in her mind.

It's just a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare.

She feels very strange. Something inside her wants to be freed. She thought it could be the clothes. Yes, she haven't changed her clothes. Suddenly she wants to be with Bobby. She knows he'll help her. He'll make her feel safe. But something isn't right. It felt so warm. No, she feels like she's burning.

She took off her clothes. It's really a weird night. She remembered her scarf. No, no. She can't remove it. Everyone will see that thing. That two little incisions. No, no, no, no.

In a swift of time, Liz was on the woods. She stared at the trees. It's surprising that they're staring at her too. With eyes of red. She bit her lower lip hard. But something stung her. 

Blood flowed from her lips, to her chin, down to her neck then it swerved to the part where the man in the coffin has bitten her.

All of a sudden, Liz Wright growled like a hungry animal in the woods. And the people of Corpus Christi shut their lights and let the haunting darkness prowl.