Patient Diego (First Part)

A slight, barely noticeable fever lasted for days. My sister began to worry. Her son is barely a year old. But her hesitation forced my mother to intervene. On a cloudy Sunday a week ago, the couple had to bring baby Diego to a medical clinic. My mother's instruction.Within the day, the blood test results came in. Doctors ordered immediate confinement. The baby's blood platelet count dropped

Home Improvement

V.All the maid has to do is tell me that our dust pan is broken. "Nasira? Paano?" Heaps of trash covered the floor. I decided to move the spilling garbage from the bins to the trash bags.  The maid showed me the poor thing to prove her point. It's edges were torn. It's scooping capacity, reduced. The state of the dust pan didn't surprise me at all. I have seen it around the house for a decade and

Parting Gift

She wakes up in the morning when everyone upstairs is still asleep. As the guardian of the little one, she gets out of the sofa, washes her face, and takes the baby from the sleeping parents. The little tyke closes his eyes before everyone does at night. But his sound slumber doesn't mean the end of her work. Sometimes she stays up until midnight to pacify the tantrums of the older one. Some late

Traffic Jam Moment

I was doing some gift wrapping in the living room this morning when my nephew appeared in front of me. In his hands were toy vehicles he took out from the toy box. My nephew carefully arranged the toys on the coffee table to simulate a rush hour traffic. A truck and a bus, longer than his arm lead the queue while plastic cars smaller than his fist line behind. The other half of the table is

Utol

Someday, Baby Lenin will look back and say."Yaaaaaak, I kissed you on the cheek!?!"Your uncle told you so.So that when you both get into trouble, and we're no longer there to fight your battles, you'll know you have no one else to lean to but your brother.

Sentry Post

My sister and her family, including my two young nephews spent the long weekend with the in-laws. If not for the maid, the lesbian driver and her trusted assistant, the occupants of the house would just be me and my mother.Many things could happen when there are few people at home. I can sneak out at the middle of the night - like I used to - and find myself in some other's bed, or at the heart

For The Future

Previously on SouljackerThe trend is to lay claim to the overhead cabinets, before they too fall victim to the hoarders looking for space to dump their keepsakes. These wooden storage boxes, while already being used as repository of useless things, don't make the most of the available space. Given proper attention, the old stuff they hold can be thrown away, allowing the essentials littering the

Doomsday Prepper | Act 1

It took just a single temblor to awaken the instinct: self-preservation in a catastrophic event befalling a city caught flat-footed. The seismic head bang slammed the hips of the archipelago. It did little damage. Taking with it a careless soul and dozens of flimsy houses in its ripples' deadly wake. The metropolis up north escaped unscathed. It's towering homes and offices didn't sway, its

Literary Bedrock

Just before bedtime, I would ask my mom to read me a book. The story and the characters play no importance. As long as the narrative can take me to another realm and another time, any children's literature would do.With my head resting on her thin legs, and with my droopy eyes half-closed, mom would summon fairies and dwarves, and even mystical herons to send me off to dreamland. She would begin

Radio Blackout

In the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety four, we rendered the night to sleep and the day to work. We knew nothing of after-midnight, for our eyes were shut and our minds swept off to another realm. We found joys in what the terrestrial television had to share. There was X-Men in Channel 2 and Simpsons in Channel 9 on Fridays. Sunday nights are reserved for the Million-Dollar Movies on

Passing On The Torch

He arrived at past midnight with a box of goodies.For the past several months, I would ask him for that one thing I need for my academics - a desktop computer. He would just brush it off, uncertain of how to respond to my pleas. On my part, the academic excuse was just a ruse. I've been spending a fortune renting computers near the campus to indulge in my favorite pastime: playing strategy games.

The Kasambahays

And still, after all this time, the sun has never told the earth"You owe me."It's time the planet happily gives back.We have always seen our helpers as part of the family. We share our food, we hold small feasts to celebrate their birthdays, they get the stuff we no longer need, we seldom raise our voice when they make lapses. As with other helpers, they clean the house still, and cook our meals,

Little Stories From The Jungle Gym

Salcedo Park PlaygroundIA kid from the Middle East, about the same age as the 18-month old boy I babysit, pedaled his baby blue bike away, bawling, after Baby Lenin pointed at his toy ball at the back of his bike. My nephew merely said the word "ball," but apparently the other kid already got tired of our insolence. Earlier, Baby Lenin wobbled towards the bike after seeing a toy truck on its

Utang

"Anak pautang na lang ulit ng 1K. May 500 pa ako. Withdraw na lang ulit ako bukas."Walang matinong anak - sa kaso ko - na panganay ang magsasabi lang ng "ok" kapag nanghiram ng salapi ang magulang. Sa edad na 30, dapat ay kalahati ng mga gastusin sa bahay ay sinasalo ko na. Ngunit sa liit ng aking take-home pay, tanging ang cable TV at broadband Internet lang ang binabayaran ko. Kasama na dun ang

Show Me Love

Minsan, ang pagmamahal sa isang taoay hindi natutumbasan ng pera o kaya ng salita.Ang oras na binibigay mo sa kanyaay sapat na upang iparamdamkung gaano mo siya kamahal.Ermats, (paraphrased)Quezon Memorial Circle, May 10, 2012

Diego

He was an accident, like his older brother. Unplanned. Maybe his parents had a fight and to make up for the hurtful words; hurled to each other like crumbling bricks picked on the floor, they resealed the bond with an intimate kiss; an earthly copulation that lead to his creation. He was already a peacemaker long before he was attached to the womb, and for that, he is already accomplished. Signs

Bonding (Last Part)

"Let's attend the mass ha?" "Gusto ko kasing mag-communion eh..." She added.I didn't pay attention to her request. Instead, my thoughts were filled with images of the church in Ateneo. And how I would love to show her around as daybreak blankets the sky."Huy, nakikinig ka ba?""Opo mama." I answered just before the FX stops in front of the church near Araneta Avenue. But since we started our

Bonding (First Part)

"Anak, may lakad tayo sa Thursday ha?" "Yes ma..."She would tell me this over and over since Palm Sunday. It was about her plan to go Visita Iglesia to make up for the one she missed last year. Being the more spiritually connected, she had set her mind to go on a pilgrimage. To fulfill her journey, she would need me around.Searching for a companion, a street navigator, and for someone to push her

Drive

A cousin walks on stage to receive a gold medal. He is in elementary, and the school recognizes, not only his talent but also his hard work. It's no mean feat to keep your grades above ninety. While spending your free time honing other skills with extra-curricular activities. He must have been driven. His parent must have promised him a generous reward.Year after year, his name would be called.

The Half Brother

Taliwas sa alam ng marami, hindi lang isa ang kapatid ko kung hindi dalawa. I have a half-brother; a sibling four years my junior. He was already featured in one of my entries. At that time he was asked by my mom to check her test papers. He bought a male companion to help him. Ang buong akala ko nga ay partner niya ang kanyang kasama. The speculation was a product of a naughty imagination