She was with her mother when she visited her ninang’s house. Her ninang was very happy to see her. It was six years already. Her ninang told her that she had already grown big. She did not mind at all.

What took her interest were the cobwebs in the kitchen. She spotted two of them probably playing or busy spinning webs. All of a sudden she took off her shoes and her socks. To her amazement, her mother asked her what she’s doing and tried to stop her. But she continued and after removing everything from her feet walked barefooted to a corner in the kitchen where the cobwebs are.

Horrified, her mother almost yelled and called her name. She just answered that there are spiders and she had got to catch them. Her ninang pacified her mother and told her it’s okay. She went to the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and took out a bottle.

“Here, you can put them here, “ her ninang smiled while handing her the bottle.

She gladly reached for it and put the two spiders lovingly inside the bottle. Then she roamed again to the corners of the house.

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She was invited by her cousins to join them in a gig where bands will be playing. Her cousins are boys and the only female in the group include her and her cousins’ mother.

They all enjoyed the program and the bands rendering their pieces. There were booze all around, too. And there was this popular singer who is the son of a famous newscaster. He was a snob, she thought. Or maybe he was just shy, she thought.

Her uncle had a few glasses of beer after an hour. He was giddy and rowdy at the same time. He was insisting that she take a sip. She told him that she does not drink. But he kept on insisting pushing the glass on her. It spilled.

Good thing her aunt, his wife, and her cousins were there. (She wouldn’t be there, anyway, without them.) Her uncle was pacified for a while. An incident flashed back afterwards.

Her uncle was drunk one time and went to their house talking and bragging and pestering everybody. He approached her and hold her by the side of her body near her bosom. She was stunned by the daring act, she flinched and she went away from him.

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They went to Divisoria to buy fruits in the hope that they would find cheaper ones than those sold in the supermarket and even in the local markets. As they walk in the midst of clusters of people also looking for fruits for the new year, they chanced upon the fresh cherries in one of the stalls.

How much is a kilo?” they asked.

“P1,200 pesos, ma’am,” came the reply.

They hastily left the stall and saw a stall with those beautiful and big Fuji apples.

“How much is a piece?”they asked.

“P350 pesos, ma’am!” came the reply.

“Let’s go,” said one of them. “New Year will pass without those fruits!”

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He was so drunk that he slept sitting on that corner. But he sat straight, with head resting by the chin, arms folded, and legs in position. He was the only one who can sit that perfect when drunk. He was silent and did not snore.

Midnight came and he was still in that corner. His wife did not bother looking for him. She must have known that he will be sleeping sound wherever he is. It was not sure if she knows that he can sleep while sitting.

During that time, too, a thief who frequents the place was on his way, looking for anything that would be useful to him. But as he approaches the corner, he saw the drunken man. He got alarmed, and had second thoughts of continuing. He continued anyway.

As he got near, the drunken man grunted as his legs shifts position. The thief ran away. The drunken man continued the drunken reverie.

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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.

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