“Lola Unang”

Morning is breaking.

Light is starting to appear after the darkness of the night.

The sun is beginning to appear.

With a smile, she was gone.

She was an icon in our place.

A “hilot” and a “kumadrona”, she extends help to everybody without prejudice.

She was the symbol of women empowerment at her time. Not a midwife in profession but she helped a lot of pregnant mothers. She made child birthing easy and bearable.

With her gentle hands and her soft whisper, illnesses and diseases are gone.

I was treated by her because of my asthma when I was young. She endorses herbal medicine as a treatment.

Call it too traditional and old fashioned, but I brought my children, QB and Zach to her for her “tawas” and “sigin”.

From generation to generation, she was present in the families of Carrascal who believes in her capability to heal.

But now, it’s time for her to find peace.

In the hands of the Almighty Father she rested.

In her demise, who will be the next Lola Unang?

We will miss you…

“Edi Blu”

The sun is at its peak, heat is everywhere.

Everyone wishes to be inside an air conditioned room. No one wishes to be outside, exposed to the sun and suffer heat stroke.

But he was the exception. He doesn’t mind the heat.

He was in blue shirt as always with his khaki shorts. He walks under the heat with no protection, not even a hat or sunscreen lotion to protect him from the sun.

He doesn’t mind at all.

All he could think of is that it’s time to collect his daily dues of P1.oo from his clients, the employees of the local government.

He was excited for the P5o.oo that he could collect; he could use that amount to buy two pieces of hot cake for his afternoon snack while the rest will be spent for his trip to the moon.

It was his long time dream.

To acquire a boat and fly him to the moon in the next full moon.

He even invited some of us to accompany him to his travel. He knows it could be fun.

He is Edi Blu.

No one knows how old is he, probably in his 7o’s and never believes in love and weddings.

All I can remember is that he’s already old when I was seven years old and he lives with our neighbor.

Edi Blu lives in his own world. In it, he has no worries and no responsibilities. But he’s obsessed on going to the moon.

Secretly, maybe, he could find solace in the moon and think.

I want to befriend Edi Blu.

I am interested in how he thinks and if he is aware that there is true love and marriage.

If he’s been with a relationship and what he did in his childhood.

I want to explore his secrets and know the content of his brain.

Edi Blu ultimately defines a happy go-lucky guy.

I don’t know if anybody wants to be Edi Blu.

But I do wish he could acquire a boat to fly him to the moon.

“Bayle”

He awakens in Brgy. Gamuton, 3 kilometers away from the infirmary where he was admitted, confused and alone in the dark wondering why and how he got there. But even more afraid of the dream that he was having.. afraid of being taken away from his wife, his family and be whisked to the enchanted kingdom of the unknown…

It all started with an acquaintance, a girl, whose beauty is simple but stood out in the crowd of baylerinas waiting patiently for a guy to ask them for a dance. It was May 21 and he attended the bayle (dance party) in Brgy. Gamuton in celebration of its annual fiesta.

He immediately asked the girl for a dance and grabbed her to the dance floor when the first chords of the sweet music echoes around the barangay hall.

And so they dance, their hips both swaying to the music.

That’s all that he could remember about that night.

Then the dreams came.

And then the fever and muscle pain too. He felt weak.

The worst dream came; he is late in his wedding, dashing towards the church, seeing unfamiliar faces, arriving in the altar to his unknown bride and discovering that she is headless.

He went to Mana Unang, a local hilot and healer, afterwards, seeking advice for his dreams and for his illness.

Marriage and a big wedding, he was advised, is the only solution to the alchemy that he is having or else he would definitely be whisked away to their place, up in the big acacia tree with paypay leaves.

Fortunately for him, he had a girlfriend he loves and he was ready for the responsibility thus the big wedding.

It was okay for a while. Blissful life after the marriage.

And then he found himself in Brgy. Gamuton, three kilometers away from where he is, at 1o in the evening without knowing why and how he got there.

How could one explain this phenomenon?

A friend of mine told me this while we are in a meeting.

He is not feeling well that day, he has fever and muscle pain.

He felt weak.

And it was May 21, Brgy. Gamuton’s annual fiesta.

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