Socorro (English Translation)

Chapter One: I Want To Know You Better

SOCORRO carefully dipped the quill into the ink, then stared at it until she was nearly cross-eyed. Meanwhile, her sister, Amor, and her friend, Nova, stared at her without nary a blink. They were bearing witness to Socorro's sacred ritual before she penned a letter.

They sat quietly in a circle inside the small house perched amongst the branches of an Acacia tree. You could find it in the middle plot of land of the De Avila mansion. The small house at the top of the tree had served as the resting place and playing ground of the De Avila siblings when they had been little. However, lately, only Socorro and Amor could often be found within.

There were many books in that little house. Most of them were written by Socorro's favorite author, the Palabras Perdidas. Not a day passed that she would not exclaim how beautiful these books were. She quoted words written by the author in her day-to-day speech.

"Each word crafted by this quill is important, which shall form the words that we will be using," Socorro explained, then glanced at the two. It was noon, and they weren't paying attention to the music, laughter, and celebration of the people that were one-by-one trickling into the mansion of the De Avila family.

It was the birthday of their father, Lord Jose Epifanio De Avila, who was a skilled and well-known engineer. Most of his projects were infrastructure and roads located in Metro Manila. The professor was also popular amongst the youth, seeing as he was one of the most esteemed professors. Lord Epifanio was the sole heir of the riches of the De Avila, who owned five, large ships that were used in trading with other countries.

"Neat and orderly writing in a letter is truly most inviting," Nova agreed. This was the first time she had ever received a letter from a suitor. She had attempted to pen a reply for the letter, however, she couldn't achieve a proper result, which was why she had sought assistance from her friends Socorro and Amor.

Socorro handed the quill to Nova. "It is time for you to express your feelings towards this man." Socorro smiled. Nova tried smiling as well, but she could only sigh deeply and her shoulders slumped.

"Would it be possible if you were to write this letter for me? I am not very eloquent. And aside from that, I err in my spelling." Amor placed her hand on Nova's shoulder. She, too, could not write eloquent letters. Which was why she often placed her hope on her sister, Socorro.

Socorro licked her lips, then smiled. "It would be my pleasure to assist you, Nova. Leave it to me." Socorro grinned and once again dipped the quill. Nova let Socorro and Amor read the letter her suitor sent her.

Amor covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself, for the metaphors mentioned were fascinating. Meanwhile, Socorro had nodded several times to herself in approval at the loveliness and depth of the letter.

Socorro had noticed that the man was intelligent—from the words alone that he'd used to describe his admiration for Nova, one could not deny that he was well-versed in literature. "Where is he now?" Socorro asked. She needed to know several pieces of information to be able to write a response for the letter.

"He is in Manila. He's studying law at college." Nova grinned as she blushed. Both the De Avila sisters smiled. Socorro asked for a few more details to better respond to the letter.

"It seems that any day now you might be able to live in Manila!" Amor grinned and tried to tickle Nova.

"Doubtless, it will happen, Nova. Come, let us begin to endeavor to bring color to your love life." Socorro smiled then began to write. Their eyes followed the quill scribbling across the clean paper whilst Socorro wrote the name of the youth who had captured Nova's heart.

A few minutes passed, in which it seemed they had held their breath until Socorro had finished the letter. Nova and Amor couldn't believe that Socorro could pen a letter under the span of ten minutes.