SCENE 1

Narrator: Francisco B. Reteche was brought to anayat to ba school-teacher in that

small town, but his eyes shouts secrets that needed to be unfold since he was
knows as the young exile that was brought from the big city to anayat.
[FLASH SCHOOL SETTING]
Mr. Reteche: Zita, Zita,Zita
Zita: Yes sir, I am Zita
Mr. Reteche: Zita is not your name; it is just a pet name,no?
Zita: My father has always called me that, sir.
Mr. Reteche: It cant be; Maybe it is Pacita or Lucia .. It is not possible
[FALSH LIVING ROOM SETTING]
Don. Eliodoro: Have you met the new teacher in town my dear
Zita: Yes I have father
Don. Eliodoro: Its funny that he had neglected the offer of staying in our house
but instead he chose to live in Turongs home.
Zita: Maybe he loves to look at the sea.
Don. Eliodoro: Or he was used to living alone, they talked about him everywhere.
So how was his first day at school?
Zita: He strode into the room, very tall and serious and polite, stood in front of us
and looked at us all over and yet did not seem to see us
Zita: He asked for our first names and also he read off each one we looked at him
long, but when he came to my name, Father, the most surprising thing happened.
He started pronouncing it and then he stopped as if he had forgotten something .Im
sure I had heard my name repeated three times.
Zita: Father, it actually seemed that he was begging me to tell him that that was
not my name, that I was deceiving him or something.
Don. Eliodoro: Maybe you were not paying attention to him.
Zita: No father, I shook my head for disagreement. My answer must have angered
him. He must have thought I was very hard headed, because he said
Don. Eliodoro: Then you must try to please him, he is a gentleman; he comes from
the city. I was thinkin.. Private lessons, perhaps if he wont ask too much.

SCENE 2
Narrator: Not Only Don. Eliodoro and Zita noticed stranger acts on Mr. Retche but
also turong had his own story to tell, a story as vividly etched as the lone coconut
palm in front of the shop that shot up straight into the darkness of the night, as
vaguely disturbing as the secrets that the sea whispered into the night. Every
month there was a letter for Mr. Reteche, sometimes two or three; large, blue
envelopes with a gold design in the upper left hand corner, and addressed in broad,
angular sweeping handwriting. [FLASH LETTERS IN GOLD ENVELOPE]
[FLASH WINDOW AND MOON]
Narrator: Zita sat by her window, half asleep, half dreaming
Zita: Francisco B. Retche, Whatv a name! What could be his nickname be? Paking,
Frank or Pa.
Zita: Francisco? Wait no I must be dreaming, am I dreaming?
[FLASH BACKYARD SETTING]
Don. Eliodoro: I am so grateful that you have finally accepted my offer to teach
you how to be a lady, We are going to the city soon, after the next harvest perhaps.
Narrator: Turong remembered the ominious, terrifying nights when he had got up
cold and trembling to listen to the aching groan of the bamboo floor, as somebody
in the other room restlessly paced to and fro, his pupils remember those morning
when he received their flowers, the camia which had fainted scent of her fragrance.
Suppose one day turong brought not only those letter but the writer as well?
Don. Eliodoro: Why are these dresses so tight fitting?
Zita: In society, women use clothes to reveal not to hide
Don. Eliodoro: Why do these dresses have such bright colors?
Zita: Because the peacock has bright feathers
Don. Eliodoro: They paint their lips
Zita: So they can smile when they want to
Narrator: He was not pleased like her father; she saw it, he had turned his face
toward the window and she came nearer, swaying like a lily atop its stalk she heard
him.
Mr. Reteche: One would think shed feel shy or uncomfortable, but no.. oh no .. not
a bit all alike comes naturally
Zita: why?
Mr. Reteche: Look Zita, a society girl does not smile openly; her eyes dont seek
ones so that receals your true feelings.

Zita: But if I am glad and happy and I want to show it? ( to you)
Mr. Retche: Dont if you must show it by smiling, let your eyes be mocking; if you
would invite with your eyes, repulse with your lips.

SCENE 3
[FLASH DANCING BOY AND GIRL]
Narrator: Zita can never forget the look on his face when she came out. It was not
surprise, joys, and administration. It was as if he saw somebody there whom he was
expecting, for whom he had waited, prayed.
[FLASH DR. MIKE]
Mr. Reteche: Zita
Zita: Mr. Reteche
[FLASH DANCING BOY AND GIRL]
Mr. Reteche: Lets get on with the lessons, I want you to master this as soon as
possible
Narrator: Mr. Reteche is so serious and so intent that she should learn quickly, but
he did not deceive her when she steps closer to him that she could feel how wildly
his heart is beating
Zita: (Closes her eyes and dimly wondering if his were shut too)
Narrator: The dance lessons was interrupted for turong came and gave a letter to
Mr. Reteche.
Mr. Reteche: ( Opens the letter) I thought I had forgotten.
Zita: Why do you tear up the a letter if you must put it together again?
Mr. Reteche: Someday Zita you would understand too.
Narrator: One day Turong came from Pauambang and this time he brought a
stranger. They knew at once that he came from where the teacher came--his
clothes, his features, his politeness--and that he had come for the teacher. The door
was thick and zita did not dare lean against the jamb too much, so sometimes their
voices floated away before they reached her.
Friend: like children making yourselves so unhappy.
Mr. Retche: happiness? Her idea of happiness
Narrator: Mr. Reteche's voice was more low-pitched, hoarse, so that it didn't carry at
all. She shuddered as he laughed, it was that way when he first came.
Mr. Retche: "She's been did not mean understand.

Friend: learning to forget

Narrator: There were periods when they both became excited and talked fast and
hard; she heard somebody's restless pacing, somebody sitting down heavily.
Mr. Retche: I never realized what she meant to me until I began trying to seek from
others what she would not give me.
Narrator: She knew what was coming now, knew it before the stranger asked the
question:
Friend: Tomorrow
Mr. Retche: Yes
[FLASH BED WITH LAMP]
Narrator: He did not sleep that night, she knew he did not, she told herself fiercely.
And it was not only his preparations that kept him awake, she knew it, she knew it.
With the first flicker of light she ran to her mirror.
Zita: Hell come back, please come back
Don Eliodoro: Zita please, stop putting too much make up, he will never come
back
Zita: No. Perhaps we would soon meet again in the city, But I must know now what
were the words he had wanted to whisper that night under the dama de noche,
what he had wanted to say that day he held me in his arms
Narrator: The big house was silent as death; the little village seemed deserted,
everybody had gone to the seashore. Again she looked at the mirror. [FLASH PIA]
She was too pale, she must put on more rouge. She tried to keep from counting the
minutes, the seconds, from getting up and pacing. But she was getting chilly and
she must do it to keep warm. Turong was tasked to give the letter to Zita coming
from Mr. Reteche. Zita saw a blur of white moving out to sea, then disappearing
behind a point of land so that she could no longer follow it; and then, clearly against
a horizon suddenly drawn out of perspective, "Mr. Reteche," tall, lean, brooding,
looking at her with eyes that told her somebody had hurt him. It was like that when
he first came, and now he was gone.
Zita: Mr. Retche..
Narrator: there was a sound of tearing paper, once, twice. She became suddenly
aware of what she had done when she looked at the pieces, wet and brightly
stained with uneven streaks of red. Slowly, painfully, she tried to put the pieces
together and as she did so a sob escaped deep from her breast--a great
understanding had come to her.