Catrina: A Les Miserables Story

chapter 1: pamamaalam

pamamaalam : [noun] farewell; final; parting; valedictory; saying goodbye

pictured above: sampaguita flower

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~translations will be at the bottom of the chapter~

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"Doña Catrina..."

No answer. Another knock on the door.

"Doña Catrina," She tried again, breathing an exasperated sigh. "We must be leaving soon."

Nothing.

Imelda shook her head, reaching for the doorknob, pleased to find that it was unlocked. Pushing the door open slowly, she crept into the room without a sound, hoping to not alert her. She found the young woman sitting solemnly by the open window at the far side of the room.

Feeling sympathetic, she quietly shut the door behind her, shuffling to sit in the chair across from her. Catrina had her legs tucked in, chin resting on her knees. But still, she did not spare her a glance. Only outside her window which displayed a beautiful flower garden, one that the young woman spent much of her leisure in. In between her hand, a single sampaguita flower, which she rolled the stem in between the tips of her finger.

"To think," She whispered, shifting so that now she lay her head sideways. "This may be the last time I shall be seeing it."

A moment of silence went by again, letting her words sink in. Imelda shifted her eyes to the window. Drinking in the variety of colours that even now, after many years of working for the Solanos, still never ceased to amaze her. The rainy season had just gone by, leaving Catrina's garden to flourish from the expanse of rain that blessed them that year. Each and every single one of the blossoms in full bloom.

"You're lucky enough to be leaving the day it's at its fullest." She finally spoke.

Catrina hummed in reply, still twiddling her flower.

"I fear that whoever needs to take care of it won't do a reasonable job." Heaving a sigh, she finally turned to look at the older woman, a slight smile on her face. "Then it'll be ruined by the time I get back."

Imelda had been resting her hands in her lap, but she wasted no time in gently grasping Catrina's in her own.

"I will miss you greatly, anak."

Catrina stared down at their connected hands, a tear that she failed to hold back finally slipping down her sun-kissed skin and staining her cream-coloured skirts. Imelda had been by her side from the day she was born into the world, caring for her like a mother would her own. She even considered her more of a mother than her real one ever was, well the fact that she barely even knew her. She had died long ago when Catrina was a child from an illness of the heart. With a shaky breath, she lunged to cage the older woman in a bone-crushing hug, Imelda instantly responding back in the same way.

She knew Catrina wasn't one to express her feelings through words, so she didn't mind when she said nothing. To her, actions spoke louder than words. The lady she had come to raise remarkably would be so far across the seas, in a foreign land of which that will never fully accept her. Unlike Pasig, the province she would always call her home. Imelda squeezed her tightly one last time, taking a hold of Catrina's shoulders. Her hand gently cupped the girl's face, wiping away her tears with the pad of her thumb.