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Fiction

The Cleaner and the Nice Woman

Intoy moved the wet mop back and forth across the marble floor with utmost concentration. He was careful not to miss the stubborn scuff marks and streaks of mud that had stuck so hard they could not be cleaned with one swipe; he...

The beautiful horse

One day my father brought home a beautiful horse. She was the most beautiful white horse anyone in our barrio of Pulong-Masle had ever laid eyes on. She had long and slender legs, a silky mane, and a flowing tail. She was, however,...

The Last of the Igorot Head-hunting

Dang-on is the youngest survivor of the worst landslide that happened in Cordillera. On that tragic evening, Dang-on found himself clinging to a branch of a dead pine tree. Below him, an avalanche of mammoth soil mixed with water gushed like a legion...

Thy Fearful Symmetry

She found it in a yard sale and her childhood came back in a rush. She remembered holding one to her eye until the classmate who owned it asked for it back, annoyed that she was spending an inordinately long time “borrowing” it. Reluctantly,...

The Untermensch

Bernard was an Untermensch. He had the “power” to get into accidents. It first manifested when he was ten years old. A bully had taken his lunch. Bernard had been small, and the teachers didn’t care. He cried in the toilet and wished...

Beloved

My Beloved Selya, Do you remember the last time we played takipsilim under the ancient acacia tree? I hated playing hide and seek. Takipsilim. The concept horrified me. I knew it should be played at dusk - that was the name of the game...

Random Pickings

Rice Wine

When Santiago saw her in the mirror, comb in hand, he knew it was time for him. It was time to leave the hut....

Mother

I notice it now that the house is oddly quiet. Pop songs no longer beam inside my daughter’s room, and the living room is...

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...

The Commencement Speaker

He arrived a couple of hours early before the appointed hour.  Earlier, he took the first plane to his province at five in the...