Manananggal
Mahika Realismo Bagong taon nanganganak ang isang manananggal ngunit ipinatawag siya sa pabrika ng telang pinagtatrabahuhan. Iniwan ang kalahating humihilab sa bahay upang mag-labor at ang bahaging itaas niya ang siyang nag-overtime.
June 2019
Pulubi
Sinilip ng pulubi ang basong lalagyan ng nalimos. Sa loob, nakita niya ang ulo ni Rizal, dumudugo at bagong pugot.
Tides of the Sea
Alanna Michelle Escudero For the children and their dreams for a better tomorrow
Once in a beautiful village far from the barrio, hidden in the marshes; where children play under the warm sun, soft sand, by the seawaters. When gentle waves splashed against stones, and mothers dutifully plant seaweeds, and children play swimming, diving with their laughter filling the warm village air.
This village in the marshes had houses with wooden legs soaked deep underwater, old and worn, built out of bamboo and rods. Barely holding through the monsoon storms, as they gently swayed against the blowing wind. The houses are old but they were strong enough to hold together happy families.
Two Women of Bantayan
Danton Remoto A block away from our house stood a wood-and-stone house beside the river.
Our housemaid told us to avoid this house. “Aling Barang,” she said, referring to the woman living in the house, “kidnaps children and keeps them in her house. She has closed her windows,” she added, and before us rose the image of her windows tightly shuttered even in the hottest days.
“It’s because she keeps the children inside her house,” she continued, “and then she would stab them in the chest, drain their blood, and drink it.” Gooseflesh crawled on our skin. “And you know what she does to the bones of our children?”
Manananggal ng Sitio Toledo
Gabriela Baron Ayaw maniwala ng mga taga Sitio Toledo na manananggal ang pumutakti sa mga manok ni Mang Dawe.
Nagtaka syang walang tumitilaok sa bakuran nya samantalang pasado alas singko na kaya’t agad syang tumungo sa likod bahay. Tumambad sa kanya ang duguang ulo ng mga alaga. Wala lahat ng katawan.
Iba-iba ang naging reaksyon ng mga kapitbahay nya.