By Alma Nonas Carpio, December 17, 2016

Midnight Collector

Yes, I am a collector. I collect coins. And stamps. And knives. And books. I gather the mementos of other
lives lived separate from mine. I take each treasure in hand and trace my fingertips over every bump and
groove, for I must remember how each of these things feels to my living hand.

I relish the paper cuts, the cuts from the keen blade edges. I relish the temporary intaglio of
coins pressed to my palms. I relish the smells of book paper and dried ink, the scent of chamomile oil
and forge-fire lingering on the steel of the unsheathed cutting edge. I immerse myself in the wordless
stories of each of these things I gather to mark those private moments when I collect the shards of
myself to put them back together after the world shatters them.

When I am no longer even a memory, these things will outlast me. When they, too, are dust, we
will finally be inseparable, as we were once, when we were all part of a whole thing that has since been
forgotten as I will be in the erasure of time’s plodding.

The world needs to forget, to make room for those things that insist upon being remembered, if
only for the time they exist, and shortly after they cease to be. Some things just must be consumed by
midnight like a snack before they can come back. Revenants never stay gone for very long. But they
never come back the same, either.

Now I begin a new collection, before my shadow fades into the intrepid darkness, never to
return: I open a fresh new box in which I place the faces I’ve collected. They are clean now, free of sinew
and bone. So are the knives, though the flensing and fillet blades will always carry the scent of blood and
microscopic nicks from unfortunate jawbones. My hands tremble when I touch my treasures, you see.

I am collecting faces, for when I lose my own.

THE RITUAL BY CIRILO F. BAUTISTA-1070

The Ritual is a short story written by Cirilo F. Bautista. This short story is about two people who wants to
improve a group's culture while the other one, which is the narrator, doesn't want to change one's
culture and tradition. The theme of this short story is about reminiscing the past and the improvement
of traditions. Dayleg came from the mountains and is the character who wants to change or improve
one's culture and wants civilization for his people.

Dayleg is open to possibilities that can improve their culture. Dayleg teaches pedagogy; a study of
science and arts of education and philosophy; a study about the nature of knowledge. He wants to
escape from his original norms and he wants to convince many people. The narrator, which is an
another character who doesn't want to go back to his past because he is afraid of some scenarios that
might make the narrator more anxious. In the story, Dayleg really wanted to change their ways, but in
the end they also went back to their same and old tradition and culture. The narrator was convinced by
Dayleg to return where he came from.

In this story, Dayleg and his friend killed a boar which is sacred in their culture. The crowd disagree with
him because the boar symbolizes an important role to their community and yet, Dayleg and his friend
killed the boar. Dayleg wanted change for his community but he didn't even think about how the people
would feel if he did that.

If I were to compare Dayleg to Marcos, They have similarities when it comes to beliefs, he's trying to
improve the traditions of people regardless of the people beliefs. Marcos didn't respect the tradition of
other people because he wants all people to improve in all aspects.
1962- The Hand of the Enemy

Kerima Polotan’s book entitled “The Hand of the Enemy” is a story of a woman who realized she has to
struggle as a daughter, a mother, a wife, and a woman. Emma Gorrez, the protagonist of the story,
suffers from her relationships with men: her father, her husband and her employer who wanted to
become her lover.

In the first part of the book, the reader is introduced to the main character working in the city. She
recalled the time when she was still in college, working to support herself because her father cut her
allowance. It was a conflict between the father and the daughter and the first time she went home was
when she was to attend her father’s funeral with her half brothers and sisters and her stepmother.

She applied for a job as a teacher in Tayug, a barrio, and there she met Mr. Rividad, a married man who
confessed he loves Emma days before she got married to Domingo Gorrez. Mr. Rividad had a wife whom
the people of Tayug considered a whore because she slept with different men but Mr. Rividad learned
to mind the rumors no more and still accepted Norma as the mother of his children.

Another female character then enters the scene. Nora Cosio arrived in Tayug, causing much curiosity to
the people, giving away free shirts to earn their votes for the election. She charmed the people and
made friends with Emma and Domingo. Weeks after Nora Cosio went back to the city, Doming decided
to live the city life and established a printing press to start a new living. But the business was a failure
and their marriage too was in danger. But Doming never wanted to go home. It was their first major
fight and Emma chose to go back to Tayug with her children.

Emma struggled to raise the children on her own and Doming would give them financial assistance every
month. It was a fight she never expected that would lead the marriage to its bitter end.

It started when Doming seemed not bothered at all with the distance and he did not dare visit the family
even once. And she, who could not endure such a distance, came to the city to settle the problems. But
she never expected to see a woman in Doming’s apartment. The woman was younger than her and
claimed to be Doming’s girlfriend. And it was the sign of the end of their married life. She bought home
a jacket and some things for her kids, pretending they were from Doming’s.

She did not know how to cope with the breakup. Out of desperation, she went out with Mr. Rividad,
whom she now called by his first name, Rene. But she could only show the same sympathy towards the
marriage that they both suffered. And the story ended with Emma going home and Rene feeling so
hopeless for his love for Emma. Marriage became each other’s funeral. Marriage gives authority for men
to rule and for women to suffer.

The story did not only revolve around the main character’s life but also on the challenges of women
characters in the story as well. Nora is portrayed as a whore because she is occasionally going out with
different men and people began to misjudge her. Nora, Mr. Rividad’s wife, is under the power of the
phallus. She has conflicts with her relationship with her father, the same case with Emma. When she
was younger, she longed for her father’s love and attention, but her father had been too distant with
her. He went around with different women and she met different sisters and brothers from her father’s
different wives.