THE MOON IS full and serene as Leonardo walks out of the door of
his grandfather's house into the streets of San Marcelino town in
Zambales.
The town is dead. The lights are out on the rows of houses that dotted
the main road. The side streets are deserted with only a few brave
souls like himself darting every now and then as he made his way into
the old stone house on the far side of the sleepy town.
The people are afraid. But not Leonardo for he does not believe that
the unsolved deaths of several people that occurred the past few weeks
and was attributed by some old timers in the town, as the works of
the vampires are true. Nevertheless, stories like these that are not
uncommon in remote places in the Philippines even in this age of cellular
phones and digital technology still brought fear into the hearts of
every inhabitants of the town. Besides he is going to visit Divina,
the girl who captured his heart instantly the moment their eyes met
while walking along Magsaysay Street. For in Divina, he saw the girl
of his dreams that eluded him for years even when he was still studying
Engineering in one of the universities run by Catholic religious orders
in the capital Manila.
The moment he stepped into the front yard carpeted by damp, well-manicured
Bermuda grass, he knew that something was up in the air. The house
was dark with only a solitary light bulb from a makeshift lamppost
providing a glimpse of its facade plus the awkward silence and serenity
of the place only adds to his feeling of dread and uncertainty. From
a far he can hear the night birds chirping and the monsoon wind blowing.
The smell of the flowers of the Kalachuchis that lined the sides of
the unpaved dirt road filled the warm summer air.
He was about to change his mind, turn his back and leave when the
sound of the wooden Narra door suddenly opening caught his attention,
and there came out Divina smiling her sweetest smile as she ushered
him into the living room. She introduced him to her family who struck
him as not of the typical Filipino natives but rather foreign in its
features and bearings. They are more of the Castillan race, a fact
that Divina confirmed by admitting that her father's ancestor having
come from Catalan to escape the Spanish Civil war and settled in the
town in the late 1930's. And what with their jet-black hairs, aquiline
noses and deep set pairs of brown eyes. In fact, their only daughter
has inherited these features that set her apart from all the girls
in the town.
When Divina offered him a cold glass of orange beverage and a handful
of American biscuits bought from the American Base in Olongapo City,
he seemed to relax and settle in the comfort of the old rattan chair
in the porch. He noticed a black cat lying on the floor under the
Mahogany side table, looking at him like a hungry hyena watching over
his prey. He didn't mind it though for his attention was centered
on Divina, the girl that captured and enamored him not only because
of her beauty and charm but also with her wit and intelligence.
They spent the night there on the porch talking about anything and
everything but whether by design or not, they did not delve on the
events that happened in the town the past weeks.
It was close to midnight when Leonardo bade her goodbye just as the
single cry of a dog howling from afar tore the stillness of the night
punctuated by the sound of frogs croaking their lungs out coming from
the rice fields at the back of the house.
He walked like a man possessed on his way home, his mind filled with
lovely thoughts of her and his heart longing with desire as he made
a vow to himself that finally, after years of searching for the elusive
girl of his dreams, he now found it in Divina.
That night, he could not sleep. He tossed and turned on his bed.
It was the time when you really tried hard to fall asleep yet your
mind and senses are running and wide-awake. He couldn't wait for the
sun to come up for he wanted to go and visit Divina again and tell
her his feelings about her.
He got up and walked barefoot on the cold floor towards the window.
He reached for the lock of the glass stained window and opened it
for a breath of fresh air. His eyes darted on the face of the German
Cuckoo clock that is hanging on the bare white wall and read 15 minutes
to three o'clock in the morning. His dry mouth yearned for the taste
of nicotine. In one single motion, he reached for the half-filled
pack of menthol cigarettes on the glass-topped table, put a stick
between his lips and with his right hand reaching for the old Zippo
lighter on the left side pocket of his Levis denim jacket that was
lying on a nearby wooden chair. And just when he was about to light
a stick, he felt a soft, feathery tap on his right shoulder.
He turned around and was surprised to see Divina, with her big beautiful
brown eyes and luscious ruby lips staring and smiling at him as the
unlit stick of Marlboro Lights fell from his mouth to the damp marble
floor.
A horrible cry was heard that night in the neighborhood.
From a distance the town was getting back to life as the rooster
crowed to signal the beginning of a brand new day.
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Bill says he is a a bum who writes in his "spare" time.
