Bagong Taon (New Year)

December 27th, 1:09 PM

Wind Paper

The spirit of the wind

guides a piece of

paper softly to a

window sill,

where I am sitting.

I feel the smooth

lines in the paper,

as though it had

been crumpled

up several times,

and then finally

reopened.

On the paper was

a story, not with words,

or sound, or a

television screen,

but a story of pictures.

The first picture is of a

raven, soaring

through the sky.

It has a slick, black

beak, and feathered

wings. It lands on a

papaya tree and

steals one of the

seeds. The seeds

are black and

slippery, like

a snake eye.

In its beak,

it takes it to

a collection

of items,

keepsakes.

It then looks

at me through

the paper and

moves its head.

Then suddenly,

the remainder

of the story

vanishes

into thin air.

I look

at the

backside of

the paper.

Nothing. It

f

 a

   l

    l

     s

out of my hand

and to the ground.

Where did it come from?

Who did it belong to?

I search for a trace

of who it might have

belonged to.

Yet, I find nothing.

I turn the paper

over in my hands,

and see the address.

It was my address.

I yelp and nearly drop the

paper again.

When I show it

to my grandmother,

who is staying with

my family until she

gets well, a dark

shadow forms

over her face.

They’re coming for us.

Who?

Them.

What do you mean?

Your father was a

witch hunter, Bayani.

Now,

they have come

for their revenge.

Ina (Mother), rolls her eyes,

Go back to sleep,

Bituin.

Then, she whispers

to me,

I think your

Lola’s getting

a bit cuckoo

in her old age.

December 28th, 3:04 PM

Missing

I somehow didn’t

believe what Ina

said yesterday.

Instead, I believed

my Lola. Father

left home

on a trip

on this day

ten years ago,

when I was almost

eight. He still

hasn’t come back.

So we’re all waiting

to feel his soft

embrace once

again.

December 29th, 2:09 PM

Altar

Today, Ina prepared

Father’s altar with glutinous

rice cakes and tikoy.

He looks peaceful,

and smiling.

But now I know

that his mother,

my Lola, must be

right. He was

a wind witch hunter.

Something that

scares me is that

these witches

might come for us.

I realize that Ina

looks sad,

looking into his

young-forever

eyes.

December 30th, 4:02 PM

Rizal day

Today, we celebrate a

national hero, José

Rizal. I bring milky

white mango flowers

to his statue in the

village. Ina

and Brother Agapito

bring a basket full

of Choc Nuts, a

small, crumbly, sweet,

and nutty candy bar.

Our neighbors brought

steaming bowls of pancit,

(long noodles), and

tinola. Hopefully,

this is enough to pay

him for his tributes.

I can tell that Dr. Rizal

reminds Ina of Father

because raindrops

fall from her

eyes.

December 31st, 10:09 AM

Bisperas ng Bagong Taon

I pull on a polka dot shirt

and deck the table with

twelve fruits, representing

the twelve months and how

the year has come in full circle.

Bisperas ng Bagong Taon,

our New Year’s Eve is special,

some would say, for we

are the only people

who jump up and down,

and make loud noise during

New Year. It’s only to

scare the bad omens away,

of course.

Today I fill my pockets

with pesos and clean

the house, scattering

coins onto tables, dressers,

drawers, and cabinets,

as I clean. Lola says

I should do it to

bring good luck.

When I’m outside

to enjoy the cool

breeze, a piece of paper

folded into quarters falls

into my hand.

I open it, and again there's

another story, very

similar. With a raven.

It has a beak that looks

like a fishing hook, and

wings that instill fear

even into the bravest humans.

Sleek, black, and fast, it soars

through the sky, landing on a

branch watching a person

from overhead. Then

after it lands it suddenly

springs back and flies to

a woman, who looks like—

a wind witch. It’s a warning.

A sign. I shouldn’t, I mustn’t

move. My breath catches

in my throat, and I know

that Lola would definitely

call this a sign of bad luck

for the coming year.

December 31st, 11:59:59 PM

Bagong Taon

I jump very high, even though

I know I can’t grow any taller,

but Lola does it and so does

Ina, so it must grow you by

maybe at least two inches?

Whatever the case may be,

Ina taught me it when I was

young and told me it would

help me grow

taller. I hope

it still does.

As I land,

I feel a presence,

watching me.

I turn around,

but I only see the

happy faces of

neighbors around me.

I smile and sigh, like

ocean waves going

in and out. I’m happy

that the message

on the paper before

was not what I thought

it was. Luckily, it was

only a story. So

there’s no more creeping,

dark feeling in my head,

just happiness. And

I forgot it at that time, and

shoved it out of my mind.

I shouldn’t have.

January 1st, 1:02 AM

Omen

Ina made sweet

rice cakes,

pancit, adobo,

ramen, taho,

balut (ew),

and cooked

pork chop for me

and my younger

brother.

Lola looked nervous.

I asked her why,

and she said that

she felt something.

Her eyes, with

peacock tails at

the end of them,

seemed very worried,

like something was

going to happen.

I really trust Lola. I

really do. She

could sense

when a rain

storm was coming,

and if she could do

that, she could probably

tell if

something was

watching us—

watching me.

Perhaps, an

old witch with

a wart over one

eye, and a sly

grin. No.

I look out the

window and

see

a raven, sleek,

and black as night,

wings folded, and eyes

dark and smooth.

It looks at me,

and then 

caws.