Because They Were Here

Part 4

The girls laughed and joked as any two girls would after a long day, careless and indifferent to anything around them. That included the bags of market goods they had bought earlier that morning.

"Susmariosep! Jesus, Mary, Joseph!" Anna called out to the Holy Family when she realized that they lost a week's worth of bakery ingredients.

Fortunately, the girls were able to retrace their steps accurately, and were able to find what they had lost. They then took the same route home as they had before and continued on. They stopped however, by the tindero with the flowers to examine them. The bright colorful flowers reminded Yerin of this song her mother used to sing her when she was a child, which prompted her to sing:

In a small white boat

In the blue sky

Are a cinnamon tree and a rabbit

Without sail and without oar

Yet gliding

Gliding smoothly to a western shore

Sailing across the Milky Way

To the lands of clouds

Where does it journey

Beyond the land of clouds?

Towards the sparkling reflection

So far away,

To the beacon light of a new dawn

Now, child, find a road

Anna listened to the song intently and almost immediately grasped onto the lyrics. Yerin taught her how to sing it and she practiced it on the way home. If they had come earlier, they probably would have had a chance to escape with their family.

As they reached the entrance to their village, some women came out running in a panic. Their hair that were clearly once in neat buns, were now messy as if they were heads were used to sweep the dirt floors as leaves clung onto the ends. A woman had tripped and fell behind from the others as she carried her already crying child in her arms. Yerin dropped the groceries and rushed to the her aide as Anna stopped one of the other women.

"Ano ba nananyari? What's going on?"

"Ang dito na ang ma Japon! Tumakbo ka na! The Japanese are here! Run!"

And they did. But in the opposite direction. The girls ran home, which was three minutes away from the village entrance. By leaving their burdens behind, they had hoped that they would be able to beat the shot clock.

The village was chaotic. Horrible screams were heard throughout as if there were a hoard of people being burned alive; which may have actually been true. People shoved and shouted looking for loved ones.Women were being thrown into vehicles as if they were sacks of rice. Their fathers, brothers, and husbands attempted to fight back but they were restrained by the monsters. The rumors had come true. It was a slaughter farm. They came and went as they pleased to gather supplies and "essentials."

Anna struggled to keep Yerin in her sight, who was so far in the crowd. It was like keeping her eye on a moving ping pong ball and hoping that whatever girl who had short hair and porcelain white skin was Yerin.

Yerin grabbed onto the threshold of their home when they got there and yelled out her parents' names and Maria's as she swung herself into the room. Anna soon caught up to find the room to be bodiless. The former panicked and ran outside again. Anna followed but the girl had been consumed by the anarchic crowd. The monsters roared with laughter as their prey wailed like sheep who were powerless to the guerillas. She screamed and cried in agony. She cannot afford to lose her too.

From a short distance, she heard the sounds of a gun popping in celebration which resulted in a scattered herd. Through the dust that clouded her vision, Anna spotted a figure fall to the floor and knew in her heart that it was her. A beast passed by and kicked her and laughed. He reached for her hair and yanked her up. His knife tore at her dress. He took to his buckle. A even more horrible sound roared out of Anna; it was worse than before. The stone pressing onto chest pressed harder. Yet, she fought it and began to run in hopes of saving Yerin. However, a hand had grabbed her arm from behind and pulled her back. Again, she fought the force. It was no use. She was then dragged and knocked unconscious. That may have been her saving grace.

Anna woke up on the floor of a wrecked church. She rolled over to her side and watched as those who still believed prayed at His feet. Some cried. While others who were too broken just stared at Him. American medics ran about in the room, tending to their fellow man while her people groaned and screamed in agony. The scene was the aftermath of catastrophe.

Her head throbbed and pounded at her skull, but for some reason had felt lighter than before. She ran a hand through her hair but the action was short. She looked around her frantically and spotted a surgery tray right next to her. She cleared the blood right off it and put it up to her face as if it were a mirror. Her hair had been cut off.

"Mas mabuti yan. It's better off that way," an elderly man had come to her side squatting to match her level. She continued to stare at the stranger in metal who had hair resembling that of a boy and marks on her head that were made by the barber who had improvised with a knife. In her peripheral vision, the damaged girl saw the man raising a hand to her head. She slapped him with the metal pan using both hands. "Oy ano ba! Hey what the hell?" Anna lunged as he retreated and scratched him like a feral cat. He put up his arms in defense until he thought of a way to restrain her.

"Bakit? Ano ba ang gusto mo sa akin? What do you want from me?" Tears squeezed out of her eyes as her lips quivered and trembled. Again she screamed out, "Ano?! Gagawin mo din ba akong isang kalapating mababa ang lipad? What?! Are you going to make me a whore too?"

The man's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Ay! Hindi anak. Hindi ko magagawa yun sa iyo. No child, I could never."

When she finally calmed down, the man explained to her what had happened in the last few hours including the story of her hair. At the end of the grave narrative, Anna began to understand as to why she was made to look like a boy. It was for her safety. She also began to feel remorse for the elder as he started to cry. He too knew her pain.

She was advised to stay in the church until morning. That was when the Night of the Crying Women would stop. When dawn arose, she got up and with a broken heart, went home.