The Girl Who Woke the Sun

The Girl Who Woke the Sun

By Alex Landrito

Mikaela Santiago is nineteen, a nursing student, a scholar, and the eldest daughter of a family still healing from loss. Every morning, she wakes before the sun-preparing baon, locking the door behind her, and carrying the weight of her dreams, her sisters, and her silence.

Her mother works long hours as a private nurse in Angeles, Pampanga. Her father never made it through the pandemic. And Mikaela? She's holding it all together-barely. One slip in her grades, and the scholarship vanishes. One wrong move, and the secret she's keeping-about the man she met five months ago-might shatter the fragile peace she's built.

But there is beauty in the burden. And in the quiet hours before the world stirs, Mikaela walks the road to morning, not knowing that love, grief, and glory are all waiting for her at the edge of the light.

A story of quiet strength, unspoken love, and the kind of hope that rises even when no one is watching.

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📝 Author's Note

What does it mean to carry everything before the world even wakes?

How do you hold your family, your future, and your grief-without letting anyone see you tremble?

And what happens when love arrives quietly, in the middle of all that weight?

This story is for anyone who's ever walked through heartbreak with their head held high. For anyone who's ever hidden joy because they were afraid it might not be allowed. For anyone who's ever whispered "Kaya ko pa" even when they weren't sure.

Mikaela's journey is tender, quiet, and full of questions. I hope you find pieces of yourself in her silence-and strength in the way she rises.

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