Explore more Articles in

Fiction

Ceferina in Apartment 2G

When she looks out the window from the second-floor apartment she is in, it strikes her that the blueness of the late afternoon sky over Los Angeles does not have the same familiar aquamarine comfort of home. How can the sky be so different here? And yet here it is: there is a cobalt deepness to the blue that makes it feel like a gigantic void closing in, and when she thinks about it deeply, she finds herself shivering a little.

Over the Stilt Houses at the Fishery

“They’re still having a meeting. You can sit here,” a friendly woman offered me the plastic monoblock chair beside her. I couldn’t tell her age. Her voice sounded like she was in her early thirties, although her coarse skin and hunched posture told me otherwise. But I said friendly, because her eyes told me ‌she was smiling despite the face mask covering half her face. Also, she was the only one who greeted me and gave an explanation why even though the hallway was full of people waiting, no one was coming out of the office to talk to any of us.

Time for Tattoos

I was careless to let the small house gecko fall from my hands, and my heart sank to see the creature torn into two. Its own tail wagging on the ground, opposite the head! “I’m sorry!”

When Words Fail

It is mid-morning on a weekday along Ayala Avenue, and the stretch I’m on is no longer as toxic as it was during rush hour. The most rabid of motorists are off the road, although this is no reason to let my guard...

Patch of Green

I grew up calling her Tita Patch. To me, she was like my real aunt and not just my mother’s best friend. We would frequent her large house on Kamuning Street where she grew up. My mother was among her childhood besties who...

The Virgin

In 1952, "The Virgin," written by Kerima Polotan, won first prize in the Philippines Free Press Literary Contest and in the Carlos Palanca Awards. He went to where Miss Mijares sat, a tall, big man, walking with an economy of movement, graceful and light,...

Random Pickings

The Maids’ Revolt

The gunfire echoed along the ship’s corridor. Kuya One, who was known only by his call sign, welcomed the sound this time, as it...

Fence Sitter

THE SWEETEST RAMBUTAN she had ever tasted grew on their neighbor’s tree. When it was in season, the tree brimmed with loose hanging clusters...

Senior Momentous

What was I, a retired university professor with a doctorate degree in education from a so-called prestigious university, doing with a much sought-after missing...

Live to leave, leave to live

“You don’t need time?” He repeated looking straight at the lady’s eyes. “I am already decided, sir” she responded without even thinking for a second. “I...