Do you know the first record of lunacy?
It was believed that lunatics are associated with witchcraft, black magic, possession, and a curse.
And if deemed guilty...
They'll get persecuted, be hanged to death, and sometimes get burned too.
-CURSED MONTH-
"As in? So si Agnes yung taong tumulong sa atin dati noong ninakawan si Emi?" Nasorpresa si Gelina sa sinabi ni Aquil.
"Oo, hindi ba dati ko pa naman nasabi sa inyo?" Naiiling naman ang binata.
"Marahil nakaligtaan namin," wika naman ni Filipe.
"Kung ganoon pala'y dapat hindi nalang ako kaagad nagpaniwala sa kuro-kuro dati." May pagsisisi naman sa boses ni Diego, at ganoon din si Emilda, "Ako rin, dapat pala'y hindi nalang ako nagsusungit sa kaniya dati. Marahil nangibabaw yung pagkadisgusto ko sa kaniya kaya nakaligtaan ko ang katotohanang siya yung tumulong sa akin. Mabuti nalang at naging magkaibigan na kami ngayon. Hindi ko man lang siya napasalamatan nang personal."
"Mamaya Emilda, pupuntahan natin siya sa kabilang gusali," sabi naman ni Aquil, at bumaling sa nakasaradong silid kung saan dati nakaukupa ang pinag-uusapang dalaga, bago ito nilipat sa kabilang gusali kahapon.
'Sana, Agnes... maayos ang iyong kalagayan sa kinaroroonan mo ngayon.'
THE HALLWAY was scented in an unfamiliar medicine. There were several patients assisted by few healthcare providers. Some of them were smiling, and some of them were not. Just so, Agnes who was escorted by his brother felt a sense of different belonging, having to see people who shared similar problems as her.
'At least now, I learn to acknowledge that polite truth.'
To the hallway, the little calmer yells, screams, and shrieks of other patients echoed from their rooms at a farther part of the psychiatric ward, perhaps those who are in the paramount of their despair. Then there were the windowless rooms, the paucity of real light, the handleless doors... it was the world's most pronounced constructed metaphor for emotional indifference.
'After all, this world isn't as beautiful as perceived in cliches.'
A psychiatric nurse continued to lead her to her room. Dito'y namaalam na ang kaniyang kuya Vanjoss sa kaniya, kailangan pa nitong asikasuhin ang iba pa niyang papeles at kausapin ang doktorang aasikaso sa kaniya.
Ang sabi, her stay is only a week for a reason that she still doesn't know. As said, it would take at least three weeks and at most several months for the entire therapy.
'I guess this is a place to continue the chrysalis that I've started so far.'
Naiwan si Agnes sa loob ng isang silid. Malapit sa isang durungawan ay siya'y umupo at pinanood ang ibang mga kapuwa pasyente na ang iba'y masayang naglalaro sa labas at ang iba'y payapa sa kanilang pagpapahangin.
'So this is what asylum is, huh. A place of refuge from the blizzards that hurt the mind, a place of love and sanctuary, a place to be welcomed into arms that will hold you until the entire self is soothed, a place where you could just be you, a place where it's okay not to wear a smile on the face.'
She could hear the psithurism that complements the serenity of the place, 'I will be okay here.'
SA HAPON ng araw na yaon ay inilibot si Aquil ng kaniyang mga kaibigan sa labas ng ospital upang makapagpahangin.
BINABASA MO ANG
Victims of Medusa｜PUBLISHED UNDER UKIYOTO
Novela Juvenil[The Jose Memorial Awards for Literature WINNER] Set in the late '80s, antisocial teenager Agnes Delgado, suffers from a mental disorder that makes her not cry, and a genetic condition that devoids her tactility. But what happens when she meets Aqui...
