Looking from the big, dilapidated window of their family’s rented room, Isang saw her neighbor’s daughter munch the apple. This is a sign for her that Christmas is here. If only she could also have an apple to munch. His father’s earnings are not enough to include the apple for the noche buena.

Sadly, Isang moved from the window and looked at the dining table which was sustained by two pieces of 2″ x 2″ inch wood. This table is all purpose, that is, it also serves as table when they have visitors, as table when she does her assignments, or as table when she plays with her sister.

In the middle of the dining table she saw something that roused her interest - three pieces of red tomatoes. “This could do,” she said to herself. Then she went back to the window, met the annoying gaze of her kid neighbor, and munch the tomato which is red as an apple. “Hmmmm…” she said it with gusto and loud enough so that her neighbor will hear it. “Hey, this apple taste good!” Her neigbor challenged her look, and said, “My apple taste better than yours!” “Oh, no, it’s not,” Isang smiled watching her kid neighbor’s beaten facade.

Posted by narissa | No Comments »

Tatay was a war veteran soldier. In one of those unforgettable fights with the Japanese soldiers they had gone into, he cannot forget a friend who had managed to live after that night. He was with this friend and was busy firing his arms when he saw him holding his own intestines that had burst out of his stomach when he got hit.

Tatay’s friend managed to live years more than what was expected by holding on to his dear life and by holding his insides.

Posted by narissa | 7 Comments »

The little girl watches the woman in a black blouse as she shoots pictures of her brothers. The brothers do not want to cooperate at first but when they saw the pictures in the digital camera, they finally obliged.

“She is a talent coordinator, I tell you,” the little girl’s aunt teased. It was then that the woman noticed the little girl. “You want me to shoot your pictures?” she asked. The little girl shakes her head cautiously.

“Why are you silent now? She will send your pictures to the television channel. Let her take your pic. You can be like your favorite Raiza Cenon.” This with a wink from the little girl’s aunt. Finally the little girl beamed and nodded her yes. Her shining eyes speak, “I am an actress now,” while the woman in black takes the shot.

Posted by narissa | 2 Comments »

After that phone call, she felt exhausted. No, not really. She felt void of the actual feelings. Why does she have to talk to a stranger on the phone? Why does she feels excitement though she knows it is not proper to feel that way? Why flirt with another man?

It’s been a few months. She bumped into this stranger in one of those chat rooms. It was an exhilirating feeling to ‘type with’ a human being for the first time. The interaction was amazing. And then one night, she found herself chatting with the stranger again. Chatting and indulging.

Thanks for the inner sense we call conscience. She literally began to weigh things as she becomes indulged with the stranger. It’s conscience that impelled her to feel ‘weighty’ and start feeling empty.

Posted by narissa | 2 Comments »

As the maid’s everyday routine, she dusted in Ali’s room and wiped clean the furnitures which had barely caught dirt (it seemed to her). No matter, she continued the work, wiping the tables, the chairs, the pc, the pieces of angular and funky-looking furnitures. She arranged the comics, the magazines and other reading materials on top of the table.

Then she stopped. Again, she saw that cabinet, standing against the wall but in front of Ali’s bed. It was begging her to look at it, desire it to be opened. The feeling was like when that boy next door seemed to want her to unbutton his tops. She had been here for sometime now, always looking at this peculiar cabinet but never attempting to open it, or at least try to open it. She felt she would betray Ali’s trust even in his absence.

But with unexplainable force of nature, she rushed and yanked open the two doors of the cabinet. (Never mind Ali.) Out spilled the contents of the cabinet - panties in different colors, lithe, skimpy, lace and all.

Posted by narissa | 7 Comments »