Pasidaan

The Prize

The evening was bright as the full moon shone directly to the world. Friends and relatives are once again gathered in the house. White chrysanthemums filled the every corner of our sala. Outside are people playing mah-jongg and bingo. The once euphoric mood is replaced with anguishing aura. Everyone is grieving for my daughter Fausta's sudden death and a look of condolences are drawn on their faces. The kitchen is busy as they prepare for tonight's food. My husband Fidel is seated on the porch, staring at nowhere. He's been like that since the first night of Fausta's wake. My son Eloy never got out from his room. His sister's death really saddened him and chose not to talk to anybody including his cousins Patyong and Nathan. As I took a glance on my lovely daughter in her coffin, looking so beautiful in her pink bestida and a crown of carnation on her head, tears once again rolled down from my eyes.

"Manang... Let's start the orison, the mananabtan has just arrived." My sister Martha approached and offered me a tissue before escorting me back to the main door.

"Good evening, Mam Imelda"greeted everybody I met while giving them a tight smile and a small nod.

The clock turned seven in the evening and according to folk beliefs that during this time, spirits of the dead wander as well as evils. That is why an orison must be held to chase bad spirits away.

In the complete silence, only the voice of the mananabtan dominated the entire sala. Nay Pransing is nowhere to be seen. After my husband found Fausta's dead body on the stairs, everyone thought it was an accident. However, before Nay Pransing left, she gave me a sign. A sign telling me that my daughter's death was because of our repugnance and carelessness.

"Manang? Do you really think that what happened to Fausta... was an accident?" Martha whispered to me, making sure others wouldn't hear her. I look at her with a great sorrow and slowly shook my head.

"Sus! How unexpected... No one knows the breaking of the glass was already the warning to Fausta's death. Such a bad omen.. My sweet little girl" A tone of sadness can be heard in her voice. Martha loved Fausta so much and treated her as her own daughter.

"I don't really believe it was an accident..." Before she continued her sentence, she leaned on me and whispered to my ear,"I think, Fausta was taken by some evil spirits living in the Balete tree..."

Upon hearing what she said, I intently looked at her and said, "Let's just not talk about it, Mar."

Fausta's death remains a gossip and a mystery to all people in town. We chose not to talk about it and leave it inside these corners of the house. The Balete tree still firmly stood in the garden. Every four in the afternoon, I visit it with a new flower to plant, and water them. These beliefs might not be true to some, but I know supernatural beings are just lurking around us. If I only believed on such, maybe Fausta will still be here with us. This tragedy is unsolved, and only few people know the real story.

Nothing is lost if we believe.

The end.