CHAPTER THREE
Den was alone when she woke up the next morning. She crawled out of the tent and stood outside. The rain had stopped, it was a clear morning, and the temperature started to grow hot. She couldn't wait to get out of her wet underwear as it made her skin sticky. Nakita nyang iniwan ng babae ang maikling shorts na ipapahiram neto sana sa kanya kagabi. She was tempted to use it, kaso hindi nya alam paano tuluyang maaalis ang natitirang bahagi ng kanyang damit.
"Hindi ka ba naiinitan dyan sa damit mo?" said the woman from behind her.
Den gasped and clutched her dress to her.
"Saan ka galing? At bakit ganyan ang suot mo? Magbihis ka."She demanded when she saw that the woman was wearing a two piece swimsuit. Commoners were not allowed to dress something like that infront of her.
She heard her chuckled. To her horror, the woman's face leaned forward until she was only an inch away from her face. So close, that she could feel her warm breath on her face.
"Bakit, ano ang gusto mong isuot ko, pajama? Magpapajama ako habang lumalangoy?"
She decided not to answer her. Instead, closed her eyes to try to restrict herself from looking at her.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Princess?" She could feel her hot breath on her earlobe. "Masyado mo naman atang naoverestimate ang charm mo. Look, kahit humubad ka pa sa harap ko, I wouldn't be interested. So, magbihis kana at magluluto pa tayo ng almusal."
It took Den a moment to recover. "Bastos," she blurted out lalo na nung makita nyang bahagyang nakangisi ang babae.
"Magbihis kana." She tossed her a white shirt, short and underwears. "Wag kang mag-alala bagong bili yang mga underwear."
"Saan ako pwede magbihis?"
"Nakikita mo ba yung malapad na puno na yun?"She turned to look at the tree. "Dun ka magbibihis."
She was about to argue with her, because the mere sight of the tree brought chills run down on her spine. Pero nanatili na lamang syang tahimik, at baka mas lalo pa sayang pagtawanan ng babae. Mas maaatim nya pang kimkimin ang takot kesa mapagtawanan na naman ng hambog na babae. Lalo na at may kinakaharap na naman syang suliranin.
"Hindi ko alam kung paano eto aalisin." She had no choice but to ask the woman.
"Pinanganak ka ba talagang tanga?" The woman yelled at her for no reason.
"Akin na nga." She grabbed it, then began ripping off her dress using scissors she got from her bag. "There, hindi mo na rin naman mapapakinabangan yang damit mo.
"Kukunin ko lang yung mga isdang nabingwit ko, kailangan pagbalik ko nakabihis kana." The woman hurriedly went back toward the beach.
Using scissors, she finally cut off the last remaining materials of her dress. She was already in sweat from the effort, but she couldn't care less. Hindi nya maatim na humingi uli ng tulong sa babae. On the other hand, she was proud of herself kasi kahit hirap na hirap na sya, natutunan nyang bihisan ang sarili nya. She was glad na halos magkasukat lang sila nung babae. Saktong sakto lang kasi sa kanya ang mga binigay na damit. She now felt comfortable on her new dress, although medyo naaasiwa pa rin sya sa sobrang ikli ng shorts na binigay sa kanya.
The woman already returned when she went out from the big tree. She was glad, nakasuot na rin eto ng tshirt ngunit ganun pa rin ang pang-ibaba neto, but atleast hindi na masyadong asiwa di kagaya nung kanina.
