Firewood

Chapter 3

The locals saw Alfred carrying his father towards their house. They all stared at them as the two walked silently with their heads down. They waited until the two were already far from them.

“There go the traitors…”, teased the older lady among them.

“Hey, be careful on what you are saying, they might hear us”, said the youngest.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s true. And besides they should have also been taken by the revolutionaries because of helping those injured Japanese who killed our friends and relatives”.

“But I still feel sorry for them, especially for Elena. She should have focused treating the other injured Filipinos”.

The third lady interrupted, “By the way, I heard that the revolutionaries tied a card board on her neck with something written there. I just can’t recall what’s it but I think it goes like…”

“I am a traitor and I deserve this…”, recited the older lady who did it in a funny way.

“Yes, that’s it”, conformed the third lady. “What she did was really treason against the Filipino people. There were lots of our town mates who were killed by those Japanese. She should have left him there until he died; she must have been alive until now”.

“I also heard that Mayor Salcedo will never grant Elena to be buried in the cemetery. She deserves it”, says the fourth lady.

While they were busy talking, the oldest lady saw three Japanese soldiers coming.

“The Japanese are coming. Come, let’s all go home before whatever happens to us”, says the lady in haste.

They all picked up their things and walked fast away from the coming Japanese soldiers.