Let us dissect the story "The Safe House by Sandra Nicole Roldan".

Grab your 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World book, pages 15 - 18.

Together let us analyze the events and underlying meanings in each paragraph for better
understanding.

The narrative started with the description of the scene. There mentioned, "a one box among
many", "identical to all houses", and "it is easy to get lost here".

What kind of place is being described? What is exactly the box that was mentioned?
With the mentioned lines above, we can sense that we are inside an apartment complex, or
might be a subdivision, where houses all looks identical that if you're not that familiar enough,
you'll get lost.
Aside from the houses, being all looking the same, an oozing feeling of luxury and elegance
can be felt as luxury cars, pools, tennis courts and a clubhouse was mentioned. Yet, inside,
reveals little of what happens - "there is not much else to see".
The box mentioned here is our main building, where all scenes takes place - the safe house.
The safe house, where silent cries are poured, wounded are healed, and empty stomachs are
filled.
The house that looks exactly the same with the other buildings, but not THAT the same. A
refuge where the visitors know exactly where and when to turn even in the midst of darkness.

"It is 1982." The time that there was a struggle against the life in Martial Law. A five year old
girl, witness through her innocent eyes the coming in and out of strangers-- people with faces
that differ every night. She does not care that much, but make sure to keep quite because the
"relatives" are "Talking about Important Things".

Who are these people?

The girl sees these people as her "relatives", well, at a young age, with people eating, talking
inside your house every night, everyone just seems like relatives. Every new face becomes her
"newer relatives".

There was this man, with band-aids on his feet instead of toenails and wears dark glasses on
his eyes. Funny to think about, she's wondering if he man has superhuman powers like laser
vision, or maybe a one-eyed pirate.
Needless to say, this man might have went to tremendous danger, with wounds on his feet.
What could have happened to his toenails right? What happened to his eyes that even at night,
he covers it with dark glasses?

"sundalo, kasama, talahib --- katawan" A lot of things can come to mind, yet one thing can be
clear -- someone died in the midst of the bushes. It may be their comrade, the government's
army, or the army killed their comrade. SOMEONE DIED.

We later get to know that these people are against the current administration - the rule of
Marcos. With the grownup's eyes nailed on the television, she did not have the chance to watch
her favorite channel, instead, curses are heard. People are not just angry, they are furious!
 A year passed, 1983, and more and more people are coming. With children's birthday as
masks for their meetings. Dusty beer bottles that are never opened were serve. The "relatives"
do not drink at all, it's all just a game of pretending. A laughing game through the eyes of the
little girl. Then, there's the mother not enjoying the game at all, crying as the laughter of the
husbands continues.

"underground, revolution, taxes and bills" words that does not make any sense to the little girl.

The mother left her for good. The siblings would just spend their days playing outside as their
house is occupied with more and more papers, plus the smoke that most probably from the
cigarettes of the "relatives".

There is a mention of the "small red book". Based on the description of the little girls, we can
say that it is a book of Mao Zedong or Mao TseTung. This book was distributed in China during
the Cultural Revolution, in which many people were killed, owning it became a way of surviving.
This book covers class struggles, correcting mistaken ideas, and other things that talks about
revolution. This book has been carried secretly by the "relatives" and may be a source of idea
and inspiration.

Another year had passed, the father got arrested. Everyone was quite witnessing the arrest,
but after the soldiers left, murmurings went louder.
The siblings lived with their grandparents. A story about lovebirds was also mentioned, that
may have an underlying meaning of soldiers that has been taking over since long ago.
The little girl would come visit her father in his "new house", of course that means prison cell,
and sleep there during the weekends.
She had dreams, bad dreams -- scary images of what's supposed to be her house. She sees
her house now as a dangerous place, a scary place. To make things better, she paints it pink,
blue and yellow. Such lovely colors through the eyes of a girl, then have the sun and the moon
and the star on the floor, to provide light to such dark world. A world where she is left-- alone.

Soon after, when she comes of age, she will still be living in the same old house -- the safe
house. With it's new door, and a familiar stranger will come knocking looking for his now gone
father. She knows the stranger needs help, but she will still decide to close the door, and "push
the bolts firmly into place".

The safe house, was actually not safe. Years passed and the house has been catering
defectors, "relatives" that were not actually relatives. Now, she knows better. Though she knows
she can help but, she chose to close her doors so that what happened before will not repeat
itself. She will keep her house--- safe.