His Neighbor

Well, this story didn’t happen in my neighborhood but in somebody else’s. I just find it very funny that’s why I posted it here.

So, here goes. My new friend Frances* is a brave girl who doesn’t mind going home very late from work. For some reasons, she was so confident that nothing wrong was going to happen to her. But one night, after her shift from the airport, she left her work at midnight and was about to meet her boyfriend so he could take her home. But as soon as she left, she already noticed a suspicious looking man behind her. Scared that it was a hold-up-er, she didn’t look back nor did she slow down. She just kept on walking, hoping to reach the place where her boyfriend was supposed to meet her.

She felt relieved when she saw him waving at him, so she walked faster. But it was then that the man declared ‘hold-up’. So, as soon as she reached her boyfriend, she told him to keep on walking as there was a robber behind them. The robber ordered them to keep quiet, keep on walking, not to look back and to give him their wallets.

To keep both of them safe, Frances fished out her wallet from her bag while her boyfriend reached back for his wallet at his back pocket. But probably out of nervousness, his wallet slipped from his hand and fell down on the sidewalk. On impulse, he looked back to grab the wallet but recognized the robber. It was one of his neighbors, in fact, the robber was even in their house the previous weekend because there was a party.

The robber asked them to please be quiet about his job. He even apologized for that unfortunate event. He let them go and warned them to be careful in those parts of the city because there are a lot of robbers roaming around.. :D

 *not real name

Thy Neighbor

On the early summer of 1988, I was in second year high school. My friend and I were talking in front our house when we both noticed smoke coming out of our neighbor’s house. The house was across the street from ours, a little to the right. It was actually a house turned into a store and the fire probably started from the store and spread throughout the entire house. The family was not there as they stay at their big house during the night. There were, however, two houseboys inside but were lucky to go out when the fire broke.

I guess my friend and I were few of those who saw the fire first and we felt responsible to do something about it. My guy friend yelled for help from the other neighbors while I alarmed my parents about the fire. My father immediately turned off our power supply to try to stop the fire from spreading through the electric cable. Then, he, too, went out carrying buckets and helped the other men of our neighborhood put out the fire.

Maybe it just took less than an hour, but for me, it felt like forever. It was hot and the smoke made breathing difficult. In the end, the fire was extinguished. The house, though not totally burnt was beyond repair and the merchandise was everywhere soaking with water. The men were tired but happy except for the owner of the store. He said that at the confusion, some neighbors took some items from his store and instead of thanking the people who helped save his burning house, he expressed his disgust to the thieves, turned his back and went home.

The men were equally disgusted about how the owner reacted, but my father said to be still thankful that they were fast enough to stop the fire from devouring our own houses. The men found it reasonable and dispersed calmly.

The store was rebuilt right away. But it never again regained it popularity and its regular customers. After several years, the store was sold and it is now being operated by someone else.

Deeply In Love

I know of some people who love too deeply or thought they do. And some of them expect to be rewarded for loving another person too much. It’s as if they suppose the other person should love them as much as they love the other person and if they aren’t loved as much, they felt sad.. and mad.

Most of my childhood friends have very jealous spouses, both the guys and the girls, but mostly the guys. It wasn’t only once that I sent a text message to an old guy friend (to ask for another friend’s cellphone number) only to be texted back by the wife who, for some reasons, asked me ‘What do you need from my husband?’ (Ano’ng kailangan mo sa asawa ko?).

Wow! As if I needed anything from anybody’s husband (you know what I mean). And then another friend sent me an Instant Message which I answered very enthusiastically. But then, after 30 minutes of chatting with ‘my friend’ he, rather she, admitted that my friend was actually doing something outside and it was in fact his wife that I was chatting with. Gosh…

But at least one of my friends, (one of my closest in high school in fact) told me straight that he wouldn’t talk to me again or text me again because his wife didn’t want him to. Well, I knew I had to respect that and so I did.

Some people say ‘jealousy’ is part of love and I wouldn’t argue with that, but unreasonably jealous? Well, I guess that’s another story.

The Poor Employee

Arnel* was having trouble with money. He wasn’t earning much and his family’s needs are getting more. With his eldest daughter in grade school, the middle in preschool and the youngest one a toddler who lives on milk and uses diaper every night, Arnel was deep in debt.

He regularly borrows money from me and from numerous other friends. Maybe they feel as sorry for the kids as I do.

But one day, his wife came to the house very early. She said Arnel walked from their house going to his workplace. She said they don’t have enough money for fare. Since I knew how far the distance was from their house to Arnel’s office, I got worried if Arnel made it. I called him on his cell phone and he said he made it to work after walking for two hours.

When I asked Arnel’s wife how he would come home, she said he would probably walk again. Then, I asked if he had something to eat for lunch, and her answer was no. I took my wallet from my purse and handed her a couple of hundred bills.

I wish it would never happen to me…

*not real name

Unnecessary Grief?

When we graduated from high school in 1991, one of my classmates eloped with her boyfriend and became a mother in a matter of months. But life had been very difficult and my friend started working as a domestic helper abroad as soon as it was legal for her to do so. She worked like she’d never worked before, believing in her heart and soul that she was doing it for her kids.

Years had come and gone and her kids grew up. They grew up like strangers to her. She didn’t know them that much, their likes and dislikes, their moods, their dreams, their angers and fears. She didn’t know them at all. She felt sad but she couldn’t do anything. Working abroad is not for the faint-hearted, it is for tough people, and she met one tough guy. They got drawn to each other that when they came back here in the Philippines, she chose to go with him instead of go back to her real family.

More years passed. She kept on working as hard as she could and never stop sending money to her children and doing her responsibility, thinking that she was doing her part as a parent. So, she was surprised to learn that her eldest child joined a fraternity and allegedly got injured in the hazing, the boy was only fifteen years old. The boy’s injury led to a more serious illness. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and his leg was amputated. Even after the amputation, the boy underwent a series of chemotherapy.

Two years ago, I saw the boy’s pictures in Facebook. He died after fighting cancer for a year. My friend came home for the wake and went back abroad after a few days.

People say that things happen for a reason, but sometimes, it’s difficult to find the reason for a painful thing like this.. :(

Loving.. Knowing.. Accepting..

Love isn’t blind. I guess you would agree with me on that. It actually sees the flaws and the shortcomings, but it doesn’t mind..

Actually, we mind, but at the back of our minds, we have this wish that someday, somehow, the person we love would change, probably for us, for himself, or even for someone else. And when he doesn’t, we feel hurt, frustrated and sometimes betrayed. We keep thinking that ‘if he really loves me, he would do this or he wouldn’t do that…’

More often than not, the person doesn’t change, wouldn’t change or wouldn’t want to change, whatever the case may be. Once I asked a cousin if she knew that her husband was overly jealous before they got married, she said yes. Then, I asked a friend if she knew that her husband was pushy before they got married and she said yes, as well. So, if they knew it right from the start, why are they complaining now?

My cousin got separated from her husband 5 years ago, and my friend has not been living with her husband for 3 years now. I could say I wasn’t surprised with the turn of events, and though I’m definitely not happy about it, I was actually kind of expecting it.

Sad, isn’t it?

The Heroic Woman

I was in high school when I heard about this story.

There was once a fat woman in our town. Most of the townspeople ignored her while children made fun of her because she was fat. Jeepney drivers didn’t want her because she occupied nearly two seats. Consequently, she didn’t have any friends.

One day, she rode the jeep to go to the city. During the trip, she looked out of the window and ignored four children who were talking about her. The children were sitting on a duffel bag on the floor of the jeep. The oldest was telling the young ones how she swallowed a dozen small children which made her very fat.

The fat woman was so used to that story she didn’t mind it anymore. She just kept looking outside. Then, she saw it. She saw another jeep going directly towards them. It was a head-on collision. The woman threw herself down the duffel bag to shield the children with her body and encircled them with her strong big arms.

Both of the drivers died and a lot of passengers were severely injured including the fat woman. But the four children were alive. Except for minor bruises, the children were safe, thanks to the fat woman.

I didn’t have a chance to meet her. But one thing I learned was that anybody can be a hero regardless of age, size and shape..