Novels by Jill

It was tiring hopping from one situation to another. Polly missed the certainty that his mother and brothers brought to his life. It was truly a roller coaster ride for him since he was left alone.“Polly! Polly!” Polly heard voices calling his name in nothing short of a whisper. He looked around but saw no one.“Polly! Polly!” the voices called again. He stood up on all fours inside the closed crate. Polly looked at Tagpi and Bantay. It seemed like they were hearing the voices, too but preferred to just ignore it. Popo seemed to be doing the same.“Over here,Polly!” slowly he two heads started to appear from the left side of the front gate.“Martin? Bruno?…Am I dreaming?”The two dogs did not respond. They walked away.“Who’s Martin? Who’s Bruno? Popo asked.Polly sat before answering. “They are my friends.

Polly always looked forward to mornings and afternoons just like Popo, Bantay, and Tagpi. At dawn, the three large dogs would assemble by the gate looking at the path where Terry would walk with a basket of food.Polly wanted to join them there. He was excited, too, but he was afraid he might rock the hierarchy. He felt then that it was only Popo who had truly accepted him. So he just content himself watching the three dogs welcome Terry. They jumped, they spinned at the mere sight of their human.“I do not know whether they had been trained but at least when it comes to patience and control at meal time, the three certainly displayed them to a T.”They just stayed in their open crates as Terry divided the food.“One, two, three bowls.” Polly counted. The bowl that Polly was using in the last few days was that thin microwavable plastic that always got ruined. Much like the temporary food bowls that Cornelio used f

“I can’t understand why Terry has to get another dog. There’s so many of us already!”Tagpi posed the question while the three of them were in their crates during school hours.Since there were only three crates, Polly had to join Popo in his. He was the only one nice enough to share the space with him.Polly pretended to be asleep. He wanted to find out what these dogs think about him.“We should get used to it. That’s how Terry is.”Bantay replied.“Popo, I can’t believe you are taking another responsibility. Remember the time you got separated with Cattlily? I knew how difficult that time was for you. It was hard to start a friendship with someone and then having it abruptly end.” Tagpi said.“What are you implying? That I should get mad at Terry for taking Cattlily away?” Popo whispered. He did not want to wake Polly up.

Polly was looking around from inside the box. It was not too tall for him not to see the surroundings. Once in a while, he would glance at Terry. He couldn’t believe that she could do this to him. “I mean, she saved me from the storm, she kept me warm, she fed and even gave me a bath only to throw me away? That just does not make any sense.” Polly was busy with his thoughts that before he knew it, they were hailed in a three-wheeled vehicle, a tricycle, as they called it. The box where he was in was not on the floor. It was on her lap. Sometimes, he would feel her hand on his body when the ride would go over rough parts of the road. “Where could she be taking me?” Furry Friends Grooming Services and Pet Supplies. The tricycle stopped right in front of it. The shop looked really nice and clean and there were lots of pictures of purebred dogs and cats. It was much like Patty’s Pet Shop and Pet Supplies but a little sma

“So I am not dead!That’s one cause for a celebration.“And my human finally noticed me!”“Your human? I don’t think that’s right!”it was the white dog with brown patches that spoke, the leader of the three, the one that stayed in the middle crate.“Yeah, it’s premature for you to say that!”agreed the black one.Polly was about to say something when he felt his legs depart from the ground. When he looked behind him, he saw that his human was carrying him with her bare hands. He could feel all ten fingers, her palm supporting his whole body.He had never experienced being held like that by a human. He was so high from the ground. If he fell, he could really break more bones. But he looked at her face. She did not look like she was about to do that.She then held Polly with just one hand and opened the crates of the three larg

Heavy rains continued to pour. So heavy that it felt like nails pricking every part of Polly’s body. There were no more children and adults passing that alley. It was just Polly stuck on one side of it. He sat there just trembling. His brain was commanding his body to move but his muscles refused to follow.He closed his eyes praying for the rain to stop and even the rain refused to do so. Instead, it went on in the same intensity for hours. It felt like the rain was pressing him further down onto the ground.“This is it. This is how I am going to die.” with no one in sight to rescue him, he was certain that he would not last for a few more hours under that heavy downpour.“But no! I can’t die like this! All I have to do is hold on a little longer. Just like what I’ve been doing time and again. I don’t have my mother and brothers to cheer me on, no Pilita or Lupita to share the agony with, no Martin and Brun

“Oh my God! Did we just kiss?” Mandy said to herself touching her lips. She couldn’t recall a time when a kiss had been that good. Her first kiss was forgettable. It did not live up to the hype that everyone was saying about first kisses.Time did not stop. There was not much fireworks and gosh, she wanted so much for sparks to fly when their lips met. She closed her eyes real good. She felt his lips, every part of it on hers and that was it.Not that Mandy was an expert on kissing. That was not that at all. She only had a few boyfriends and the kiss had always been a barometer as to whether the relationship had some sort of potential.“Huh, when was the last time I have felt like this over a kiss? Wow, that was a long time ago… Oh my God!” Mandy suddenly felt embarrassed thinking about how she chased Herbie’s lips for more kisses. “But he was chasing my lips, too.” She laugh

Herbie was fidgeting as he and Annie waited for their turn to board a bus. He was biting the nail on his thumb, too.Annie, on the other hand, was watching Herbie at the corner of her eyes. She was controlling her smile. She was seeing Herbert, her boyfriend in college, the way he would fidget and bite his nails when he was nervous. But he looked much more handsome than he was back then. All the success that he had at work was adding a lot to his character. But part of his charisma was that - his old fidgety and nervous self.“I see you haven’t changed a bit!” Annie spoke as she bumped her shoulder lightly at Herbie.“Wh-what?”“I meant that!” she replied using her eyes and lips to point at the finger that was still attached to his mouth.“Oh.” Herbie suddenly felt embarrassed and hesitantly stopped the biting.Herbie placed all their bags at the compar

For a few seconds the world stopped for Herbie and Mandy. They both let go for that brief moment. The rules, the inhibitions, the fear, all gone. It was not Herbie, her sister’s ex kissing her. It’s just Herbie, the man that he trusted with all her heart. His kiss brought her the same electric energy she felt the first time their lips met. And she was holding his face, prolonging the kiss.Everything that he wanted to do the first time they kissed Herbie was doing that moment. His hand behind her head pressing her lips harder onto his. His other arm supporting her back, caressing her there.Then his phone vibrated, startling them both. He chased her lips again when the vibration stopped. But then it jiggled again. Foreheads together, they laughed looking at each other’s lips that already looked swollen. Their lips met one more time then parted for good when the phone received a message this time.Herbie did not want to look at the message nor t

Herbie was pacing the floor of their apartment’s lobby. He was nervous and excited at the same time. He was shaking his limbs because he felt like his nerves were taking over his body.“Herb!” Mandy called as she was entering the lobby.Herbie kept on looking at the elevator and was surprised that the person he was waiting for was be coming from outside.“Mandy!… You look…” The words in his head were beautiful, gorgeous, stunning but he instead said “different.” which he regretted. He could normally say those words to her but now that the tickle in his heart had grown into a full-blown flame, he was afraid things would be more awkward between them than it already was, at least on his end.“Wow, thank you, Herbie. I’ll take different. Although I’d love it if you’d say gorgeous or stunning.”“Well, you are stunning.&rdqu

Mandy pushed Migs away. She didn’t expect that kiss at all. She would’ve slapped him on the face if she hadn’t thought about the job that she badly needed.“You didn’t like it?”Mandy answered him by gesturing how tired she was and that she wanted to sleep.Upon closing the door behind her…“Oh my God! What was that? Did I do something to give him the idea of kissing me?”Mandy knew Migs liked her. He wouldn’t spend all this time with her if he didn’t. It was not part of his job as an editor to tag along in her photoshoots and it’s not part of his job to pick her up or bring her home.She was already the toast of the office. She even overheard some women calling her “Mig’s flavor of the month.” Some would even say she just got the job because Migs was smitten. She was psyching herself to endure. The job that she wanted entailed a lot

The night was getting deeper and none between Herbie and Migs wanted to leave first.“Hey, look at that, it’s almost one in the morning!” it was Mandy who spoke. “You, too, have got work to do later so you better both get going.”“Oh yeah! So Herbie, why don’t you go first.” Migs suggested.“Oh but…” Herbie wanted to object but he saw Mandy gesturing for him to go ahead and so he did.It only took Herbie a few seconds to get inside his apartment but that night, he walked really slowly because he was trying to see whether Migs was leaving also.Herbie stayed by the hallway for a while listening to the sound inside unit 1204. He was glad he heard footsteps because that could only mean Migs was also on his way out. He heard the doorknob turn. Herbie immediately entered his unit but did not lock the door.“What’s taking him so l