The three men felt terror rising within them, but they remained where they were within the safety of the cave, thinking that they would be in greater danger if they went out. The wind whistled and the branches of the trees continued to sway dangerously. If they went out of the cave, it would not be the dark figure that could kill them, but trees that get uprooted or heavy branches breaking and falling on their heads.
None of the fishermen said a word but went closer towards the fire and tried to protect it from the wind by placing stones around its base. As the fishermen huddled together, they would glance furtively outside at the place where they saw the apparition to see whether it was still there. It was.
The fishermen then reportedly saw strange visions that they were in serious danger if they stayed within the cave. One fisherman said that he saw the cave collapsing over their heads and saw them getting buried underneath the rubble. Another saw the waterfalls ragi
Emil led Flora and Nadi up the slope where he said the vegetable patch was located. They walked closer to the mouth of the cave, but Flora could not see far inside. The cave opening was larger than she expected, and she estimated that a few people could comfortably fit stand at the entrance, giving credence to the story of the fishermen. Flora wondered how far inside the cave went, but she knew that these caves could extend kilometers into the earth. How far this cave went, Flora did not know. Some caves get narrower a few meters into the entrance before widening into larger chambers. She remembered entering one of the many caves in the outskirts of Cardena. The cave had a pool of fresh water and was said to be clean after rainwater seeped through kilometers of limestone that acted as natural filters.Flora wondered if the cave had other entrances and she decided to ask Emil.“Emil…” Flora called Emil as she tried to keep up with the gardener. &ldquo
Flora quickly walked towards her daughter and placed her arms around her. Nadi responded and clung to her mother’s arms, but she held on tightly to her doll and did not take her eyes off Emil. Nadi eyed Emil suspiciously, her eyebrows pushing towards each other.Emil saw the angry look on Nadi’s face and turned to Flora. “Your daughter’s doll,” said Emil. “My daughter used to have a doll just like it.”Flora looked at Nadi’s doll which she hugged tightly. “You mean Kay?” Flora asked Emil. “I bought that doll for Nadi last Christmas. I remember that it was quite a popular toy back then.”&ldqu
“She’s beautiful!” exclaimed Nadi as she held her doll in front of her. The yellow and orange flowers encircled her doll’s head and she was amazed at how it looked.Flora smiled as she remembered her old past time when she was a girl herself. She continued to make a bracelet and another crown for Nadi who was amazed at how her mother was able to transform the stems and flowers into something that she could wear. She giggled as her mother placed the crown over her head and attached the bracelet of flowers around her wrist.“Now you look like a princess!” exclaimed Flora.Nadi clapped her hands with glee before picking up her doll with an identical crown of flowers over its head.“How does Kay like her crown, Princess?” asked Flora.Nadi placed the doll’s mouth to her ear before replying, &l
“These weeds should be burned. How did these get to be at the vegetable patch, I wonder? Where is Emil? I will have a serious talk with him about this!” Pablo looked around him as if to see if Emil was working on the flowering shrubs nearby. “He should know that these plants are to be pulled to their roots when he sees them!”Flora was close to tears when she heard Pablo’s shouts as he called out the sanaria that Flora picked from the vegetable patch, but seeing Nadi frightened as Pablo snatched the sanaria flowers from her daughter’s head made Flora tremble. She had seen Pablo angry a few times, but this would be the worst, Flora thought. She knew she needed to protect Nadi at all costs from Pablo. She did not know what psychological damage the shouting manservant could inflict on her daughter. Flora let Nadi hide behind her and prevented her from seeing the angry manservant as he unleased his anger at F
Flora had not expected Rosa to ask her a question about drinking wine. In the past few days that she had worked with Rosa in the kitchen, the old cook would only talk about their tasks and the dishes that they were going to prepare. Flora also found it quite unusual for Rosa to suddenly open up about giving up alcohol altogether and to say something about her sister was even more uncharacteristic of her.Rosa stayed quiet after revealing to Flora that she had not drunk alcohol since her sister died, leaving Flora to think about what the cook said. Flora started to wonder why Rosa began by asking her if she drank wine. She could not recall Pablo talking about alcohol as being forbidden at work, but Flora assumed that that was a rule. Flora did not drink alcohol, but she does not think of it as entirely evil. She knew that alcoholi
Flora could not understand all that Rosa was saying. She said that she had been working at the mansion for a long time with her sister and then, she mentioned that just a week ago, her sister died. Perhaps it was an accident or an undiagnosed illness. Flora heard of those kinds of illnesses that present no symptoms until it was too late.However, there was something else that Rosa said that Flora could not quite understand. She mentioned that she was chosen, and her sister had to offer herself. Chosen for what? And why did her sister need to offer herself? Offer herself for what?Then, Flora remembered that Rosa mentioned that her sister was the housekeeper before Maya. Perhaps Rosa was chosen to be the housekeeper, but for some reason could not accept. After all, Rosa did seem to be a good cook and it looked like she loved her kitchen so much. With the housekeeper’s responsibilities covering the whole mansion
Flora loaded the first batch of dirty laundry onto the washing machine. The laundry area was filled with the alternating hum of the machine and the slopping water. She went to the next laundry basket and resumed segregating the clothes systematically. She remembered Maya’s instructions not to get the clothes mixed up and decided to just load the clothes per basket. It was tedious and would occupy more of her time, but she could not let the same mistake happen again. She wondered who would be in charge of the housekeeping since Maya had gone and guessed that Pablo would probably get someone from Cardena to replace her.Flora looked at her daughter who seemed to be content playing at the corner by herself. She had propped her doll on a chair and had crowned her with some of the plants that she had picked from the vegetable patch. She remembered how Nadi used sanaria previously, but now she had to content herself with stems and leaves from discarded vegetables. Then, she r
Eva’s door closed and Flora was left alone in the corridor wondering who it was that Eva called a very important visitor. The first person that Flora could think of was Emil, but the man in the room with Eva was taller and had a thinner frame. Flora could not see his face because his back was turned towards the door, but she could tell it was definitely not Emil. Could he be one of the master’s guests who took a liking to Eva? But why would he visit Eva in her own room inside the servant’s quarters? Maybe another servant who had just arrived in Orsica and turned out to be Eva’s acquaintance? That would be more probable given that Eva seemed glad to have him inside her room. That glass of red wine Eva was holding though. It did not seem probable that Pablo would allow one of the master’s bottles to be taken to the servant’s quarters. Yet, Rosa did say that servants also drink wine although the old cook did not mention if they were from the master.
The water was clear and Lisa had no trouble seeing the cave opening just ahead. Before swimming through the opening, she took a quick look behind her and saw Nestie just behind her. Lisa gave Nestie a quick wave and shot through the opening of the cave with broad strokes of her arms and legs. Lisa swam to the surface and was quickly amazed at what she saw. The sun shining through the opening of the grotto made the water luminous, turning it from emerald to a glowing neon. She looked at her hands from under the water and saw the fine bubbles on her skin turning her hands into silver. She looked up at the ceiling and saw the ripples in the water reflected on the high dome of the grotto, giving the cavern an otherworldly appearance. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling glinted in the green light and looked like numerous fingers reaching for the water below. Nestie’s head bobbed out of the water and he quickly wiped the water from his face with his hands. Lisa watched his friend’s re
The boat glided over the water, leaving ripples in its wake. The boatman jumped aboard and started the engine, steering the boat towards one of the many islets that dotted the sea. Nestie turned his head and looked at the cliff that they had just descended. He swallowed hard before saying to Lisa. “I can’t believe we descended from that,” he said. “Are we going back the same way?” Lisa smiled as she saw the expression on Nestie’s face. Her friend took the front seat on the boat while she sat behind him. “Do you want to?” Lisa asked. “I don’t know if I can make it,” Nestie replied. Then, he added. “Maybe I can, but you will have to pull me up.” Lisa laughed at Nestie and pinched his back. “Ow! What was that for?” asked Nestie, rubbing his back which Lisa had just pinched. “For being so adorable!” Lisa answered. “Look ahead of you and enjoy the scenery. Don’t you think the islets and the rock formations look stunning?” Nestie loo
Upon alighting from the tricycle, Nestie saw the ocean and the tall cliffs that surrounded a wide beach. They were a short distance from the sandy coast where several boats were docked. Out on the sea were numerous islets that rose from the water like the backs of turtles or upturned boats. Several of the islands were connected to each other like a pearl necklace, the sea between them becoming labyrinthine for boats to navigate through. Fortunately, the islets also served a purpose in protecting the moored boats on the small beach where Lisa and Nestie were standing as well as the inner islets in the archipelago from the strong currents and big waves coming from the open ocean. “Do you like what you’re seeing so far, Nestie?” asked Lisa who had just paid the tricycle driver and stood beside Nestie to admire the scenery. “I’ve seen so many coasts in my life, but this is still breathtaking!” remarked Nestie, drinking in the scene before him. They were on top of a cliff
Lisa woke up from the sound of birds outside the window. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the room flooded with golden light. She stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes before sitting up in bed. It looked like it was going to be a good day, she thought as she looked around the brightly-lit room. Celie was still sleeping soundly so Lisa silently got off her bed and prepared to take her morning shower. It was good that Celie was able to sleep without any incident. Her cousin needed to have a good night’s rest if she were to look great for her birthday party. After taking her shower and putting on her usual comfortable clothes of jeans and a cotton shirt, Lisa noiselessly left the room. She then walked to Nestie’s room and knocked on the door. “Come in, Lisa,” came Nestie’s voice and Lisa twisted the door knob. “How was your sleep last night, Nes?” asked Lisa. Nestie had already changed and was combing his hair. “Very well. Thank you,” replied Nestie.
Lisa lay in bed with her blankets to her neck. Celie was right. It was a cold night. Lisa, however, could not figure out why Celie insisted on having the windows open despite the cold. Her cousin’s actions had been a bit erratic and illogical these past days, thought Lisa. She knew that her cousin tended to be unpredictable at times even when they were young. Back then, it could just be attributed to their youth; Lisa, herself, remembered doing some wild things with Celie. However, they were now grown women and very much in control of their actions. Lisa could understand Celie’s predicament of having to live under public scrutiny and always acting as a model figure for her father’s citizens, but Celie’s sudden disappearances and escape from her security detail were quite irresponsible. There was a quick snort coming from Celie’s bed and Celie moved restlessly to one side. Lisa looked at her cousin and wondered where she had gone after her photo shoot at the Home for the Elde
“Is that you, Lisa love?” came Celie’s drowsy voice as Lisa entered the guest room. The lights were off and Lisa could only tell from the dark shape over the bed that her cousin was already lying down as if ready to sleep. “Yes, Celie,” said Lisa, looking at her cousin. “It seems too early for you to be sleeping. Would you mind if I turn on the lights?” Lisa switched on the lights and saw that her cousin was in bed with her blankets drawn up to her neck. There was a soft moan from Celie. “Oh, sorry. Is the light too bright?” asked Lisa. “N-no,” came Celie’s reply. “Keep the lights on.” Lisa was about to walk towards her bed when she noticed Celie’s face. Celie’s face was ashen and her lips were pale. “You look pale, Celie. Are you sick?” asked Lisa worriedly. “No. I’m alright, Lisa. Don’t mind me. I just feel tired, that’s all,” came Celie’s reply. “Sorry to hear that,” said Lisa. She nevertheless went towards Celie and
The gates to the Adobe House opened slowly to allow the van to enter the grounds. There were soft knocks on the van’s window that made Lisa look at the person making the sound. She saw a young woman outside the van offering her garlands of sanaria. After a short pause, Lisa decided to lower the window and bought several garlands from the young woman. The young woman beamed, briefly showing her white but misaligned teeth. She thanked Lisa before walking off to find other buyers of her sanaria garlands. The sweet smell of the fresh garlands filled the van as it drove inside the Adobe House grounds. Lisa took a deep breath and was quickly reminded of her time as a young girl in Cardena. She remembered that there used to be plenty of sanaria growing wildly in nearby vacant lots and she and Celie would compete on who could pick the most. The flowers were brought to the kitchen were the kitchen maids would take some of their time to turn them into garlands. Sanaria leaves that did
The rain fell just too heavily and too sudden that Lisa could not tell if she did see what she thought she saw. She remembered seeing banners pinned on the trees outside as they entered the building earlier and knew that she could have imagined those to be something else. There was another flash of lightning followed by thunder and Lisa knew that it could be another one of the freak weather disturbances that she and Nestie had been seeing more frequently lately. “Toto, you have to stay calm,” said the nurse to the old man. She had come to the old man’s assistance when she found him to be distressed. “It’s just the rain. It will be over soon.” Lisa walked over to Nestie who was looking at the nurse as she tried to calm Toto. The two friends wanted to help the old man, but knew that the nurse would be able to do a better job. The nurse turned to Lisa and Nestie and gave them a smile. “He’s always like this during thunderstorms. Crying like a child.” “Ju
Toto placed his wrinkled hands on top of his notebook. He took off his glasses and looked at his audience around the table. They had all finished lunch and were listening to him as he read from his notebook. "Why did you stop?" said an old lady. "Go on. I want to know what happens next." "Yes, I want to know what happened between you and Clara," asked another bright-eyed old lady. "You had me talking for almost an hour. I think I deserve some breather," said Toto. He coughed, prompting Nestie to grab the pitcher and pour cold water onto Toto’s glass. “Thank you,” said Toto to Nestie after taking a few gulps of water. Lisa was amused. "You mentioned the Devil's Sea. Is that a real place?" Toto gave another cough and set down his glass on the table. "It's real alright. You don't hear a lot of stories about it now, but in those days, there were a lot of boats that went missing in that area." "You mean like the Bermuda triangle?" a