Where it all began

By: Gian Carlo A. Alfaro

It was a gruesome and dreadful day; the rain was pouring

heavily and the wind was blowing as though it will toss away the
patched and uneven roof of the Cipriano siblings. Bryan, a twelve
year old scrawny boy and the eldest among the siblings was
comforting Annie, his younger sister who can’t seem to stop herself
from crying, it broke his heart to hear her muttering the names of
their deceased parents, who had passed away a year ago, his father
was shot dead due to false accusations relating him to the illegal
selling of drugs, and not so long after the unfortunate incident,
his mother who was left to carry all the burdens of raising them,
hung herself to death.
While worrying about their scabby house, Annie’s stomach
grumbled loudly and that was when he was reminded that they haven’t
eaten anything since last night. With that thought and all the
other worries running inside his head, he hastily grabbed his old
and worn out jacket, pulled up its hood and muttered, “Don’t go
anywhere Annie, I’m just going to look for some food so wait for
me okay?” as soon as her poor little sister nodded, he went out of
their house immediately thinking about how he’s going to score
something to fill her sister’s grumbling stomach. He thought of so
many ways including asking for even a tiny bit of food from their
neighbors but no one was willing to gave him any because they said
they’ve got only enough for their own families. He also went to
the nearby sari-sari store but he was immediately refused by the
owner because of their piled-up debts.
The rain was still pouring and he was already shivering
because of the cold breeze that’s been seeping through his frail
skin, but then he was left with no choice but to