Explore more Articles in

Fiction

Etymologies

Jun was squatting over a burrow hollowed out by an old acacia’s jutting roots, wary of creepers that might crawl on him as he defecated. He was in a shitty mood. The dewy weeds tickled his extremities, and every now and then he...

Where the Sun Was

The rains have been pouring for more than seven years now. The clouds have always been dark. I can only remember of how much I surveyed the blue skies before the rains started. It feels like detaching a splinter—just to remember what the world...

Martika’s Kitchen

  My parents have a rather unconventional setup. They may be living separate lives now, but during the past three years or so, Dad has been coming back to our house in Cubao to have lunch. He drops by every Friday, the day when almost...

Sometimes when shadows walk ahead

We were in front of the Aristocrat’s Restaurant, where the malignant bone of Ermita and Malate in Manila breaks into two. Traffic was like a sledgehammer crushed on disgruntled drivers and pitiful passengers. The wind was accelerating like a developing mental disorder. A...

“Smartphone Arguments”

In a Chinese restaurant, a mother and father tapped away on their smartphones, ignoring the three children in between them. If someone was writing a story about us, Anna thought, then dismissed the possibility. No one in the restaurant was even looking at her...

Babaylan in playland by the sea

“Rosebud… A girl’s name? You wouldn’t think that a man in his dying breath would mention someone’s name out of the blue after fifty years, would you?” “Well…you’re pretty young, Mr. Thompson. A fellow would remember a lot of things you wouldn’t think he’d...

Random Pickings

Rise in Love

A ping sounded on my phone, and the words blinked on the screen at six in the morning.  “RISE IN LOVE.” I squinted at the screen,...

The other side

Even from the corner of Mang Vicente's eye, the portal loomed over the main laboratory. He tried to focus on mopping up the spilled...

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...

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...