Chapter 1 : "A Little Danger"
“Tak tak tak,” I sit still at my desk as I listen to the droplets from the recent rain. My husband of 2 years is currently away, not like he’s ever even been here anyways.
I feel my chest get tighter at the thought and right as the door opened, I stood up abruptly.
“PUNYETA!”, I screamed at nothing in particular as I see my one and only maid look at me in shock. And right then and there I thought, ‘My image is ruined.’
“Esmeralda, what on earth are you on about?”, she asks as she slowly closes the door behind her and approached me. I shut my eyes and sighed.
“I’m sorry manang, I’m just too frustrated,” I sat back down and held my pen, something I completely forgot to do these past few weeks was to write to my husband.
“Iha, a letter arrived from Espanya. It’s about Adonis,” she said and my eyes lit up almost instantly. I threw my pen as I scurried to reach out for the letter in manang’s hands, she giggled at my actions.
I opened the letter, getting rid of the wax. I decided I needed to savor the moment and I plopped myself onto the bed. I slowly took out the actual letter.
“Dear Esmeralda,”
It’s my older brother that Adonis brought with him to Espanya.
“How are you? I hope you’re doing fine, it’s pretty cold here in Espanya.”
I frown as I see the unusually long flowery words of my brother, ‘Why don’t he just get to the point?’ He’s acting strange, and so I decided to skip that part.
“Well, as I’ve said , Adonis is getting a death penalty tomorrow. I know you skipped a lot so I decided I needed to keep repeating these words.”
‘What the f-? Did I skip too far?’ I stood up from my bed, the words not coming completely to my head. I don’t think my brain is this slow though?
I read the letter again and again, yeah – well, my husband’s dying. I stare onto space for the longest time before I finally look at manang’s curious eyes.
“I suppose it wasn’t good news?”, she asked, unsure of what was inside the letter.
“Hic,” I finally burst out as I hurried to hug my manang. “E-Eme- hic, Emelito – he,” I cried on her shoulders as I struggled to compose words.
“What’s wrong? Did he bully you again?”, she asked as she pat my head to calm me down. I continue to cry, it’s not like I don’t have affection for my husband, I’m one heck of a loyal wife.
“Joaquin!”, manang called out for my younger brother and I heard banging from the outside. “Who’s-“, I stopped my manang from shouting and furiously shook my head.
My little brother opened the door and timidly goes near us, perhaps curious about what’s going on. I grab my little brother and manang as I formed a hundred plans in my head.
“We-we need to leave,” I said as I started packing things, “Start packing your things, and quick. I’ll explain later.”
They nodded and hurried to their respective rooms, the house is pretty small and our belongings are not more valuable than our life. I immediately finished packing and then I heard the banging on the door stop.
“Open this door! Now!”, a man’s huge voice echoed throughout the place. Manang and Joaquin entered my room with their little luggage.
“Ate, what’s happening?”, Joaquin’s trembling voice asked. I was about to answer but then we heard the front door getting smashed.
“Quick!”, I whisper-yelled as I jumped out the window, from the second floor. I opened my arms as I see manang holding Joaquin, trembling.
“Manang I’ll catch you, so jump!”, I called out to them, she might’ve thought it was improper but she just nodded. We collectively knew we were in deep trouble.
They came down crashing onto me, it felt like I broke a rib or two. But knowing my physique, I’ll probably be fine tomorrow.
“Run!”, I commanded as I grabbed them and ran with all my might. “Iha! What’s happening?”, manang asked, panting.
“Emelito said Adonis is getting a death penalty in Espanya tomorrow,” I answered as tears slowly ran down my face, despite that I continued to run for my life.
“Wha-?”, I heard manang’s confused voice and at that moment, rain started pouring out. I heard manang and Joaquin’s cry of despair as we cried and ran together.
Everybody in the household treasures the young – Well, the master. He had his own views, we opposed him going to Espanya knowing full well of his intentions.
We could only watch his back as he left, claiming it was for the country. I believed him, he said he would come back, he said it was for the future of our children.
“WHAT CHILDREN ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU LITTLE BRAT COME BACK HERE!”, I screamed on top of my lungs as I let the rain mix in with my tears and snot.
“WAAA-“, my eyes widened as a sudden light struck us and a loud thundering sound was heard, a sound so loud I felt my head cracking open.
“What is-“
End of Chapter 1
"You are more than enough. If you don't feel so, your value is not seen as it should be."
Vocab words for international readers:
Punyeta - It is a curse word, more or less means f*ck.
Manang - It is a term given to an older woman.
Iha - This word is equivalent to "little girl" or "girl" in English.