Bulate (Fictional)

Summary:
A young street kid spies a strange man collecting water samples from a polluted river one day while visiting the grave of his fellow gang member. As he religiously eaves drop on the man's experimental projects, strange things begin to happen around the river. Poor people bathing in the area begin to disappear both in the broad day light and in the evening.

One old cranky homeless guy swore he saw a dinosaur moving out of the waters. But is it really a dinosaur? Scientists are reluctant to find out because of the obvious pollution. They fear the toxin in the water might affect their men. Months pass and finally, the young street kid is about to encounter the most horrible emblem of poverty...


Chapter One: In which the Setting and the main Characters are Introduced

In the haze of the clogged street, from which a discord of sound, blasts like an amphitheater of clashing musicians, a white plastic bag fluttered high above the roofs of the colorful vehicles. They were jeeps and tricycles and some recycled trucks with Chinese characters that come from mainly the generosity of the Japanese government- or so I’m likely to believe. The speed of Japan’s advancement cannot be met by the size of its continent. To solve their problem of excess refuse, they came up with a solution to dump, sell, or give (call it what you like it’s still depositing) all their old gadgets in the 3rd World countries and the Philippines, being one of the top ten lists, happen to be the most convenient candidate. It’s nearby and in need of transportations.  
The jeeps and tricycles have a different origin.
It’s not truly as original as the natives would explain. In the first place to state the obvious, the name jeep or tricycles are not Filipino words but mainly American. The vehicles are adapted from the mechanism of American troops in the mid 1900’s, who left a few behind after creating another wave of damage to the country and it’s mentality. So much trashing this country endures from their colonists that it’s not a wonder it’s looted with garbage.
It’s bad enough that the adapted conveyance stands as a symbol for the Filipino nation. It’s even worse when the capital city stands as proof of the country’s incompetence. Drive down a freeway, let’s say the South Luzon Express, and you’ll find walls built up along the railways or the flea market, an unsuccessful attempt to hide the pestilence of the poor, who make up the majority of the country’s population. Despite the suggestive inference of the wall, the poor people disregarded it, creating a passage to the freeway from which they can conveniently hail a jeep and ride to their designation. It is a dangerous crime for the drivers are required to be attentive to an illegal crossing.  Should they hit a person crossing the driver will always be the culprit and pay the price. That or they can hit and run. It’s usually the latter for neither party want to pay for the cost.
The government has made several attempts to prevent accidents. They’ve built an overpass so that the people would cross safely. However, it’s too often that a poor father and child will cross the street anyhow regardless of the risks they’re taking. Barbed wires are useless cause the poor would hack it apart and cross all the same repeating the same problems over and over again. Even then, people always treat car accidents as something of rare and shocking event. It’s commonly known as roadside show instead of road kill. People would wonder and stare for hours, lining up to see the victim, not realizing that their curiosity is delaying the arrival of the ambulance, which could have saved them time to survive. So when Bitoy saw Little Chiko lying on the asphalt floor, surrounded by a pack of people staring at his twisted body and waiting for the damn ambulance to arrive, he stood there plastered in the spot. In minutes,
Little Chico was dead.

A few blocks down, a little boy named Chiko lies dead.


Bitoy, a.k.a Bing Torrano Flores, is quite tall and big for a malnutrition twelve-year-old. He is a street can collector, notorious for his pick-pocketing habits. Implications of his unhealthy condition reveal a tuft of yellow brown hair and dark brown skin with blotches of white on his dirty cheeks and arms.  From the midsection of his thigh to his ankles are streaks of scars he suffered from beatings by other street kids and cops, who would at times barter him for a few pesos to ensure his escape from the law.
“Begging is useless,” he once boasted to his friends. “Those rich bastards in their old automobiles will only give you piso-piso. Why beg when you can steal?” His friends, typically the older kids, all laughed at him with approval. One boy with long tangled hair and a vertical scar on the side of his left lip questioned him inquisitively, “Yeah but the cops get half the profit.”  His name is Anton. He is one of the oldest street kids in the district, older than Bitoy. Tall and lanky, Anton is surprisingly strong and can load as much as two sacks of bottles, a sum of 18 kilograms in 4 hours. As much as he is a hardworking kid, he is also strict with little tolerance for the feeble. “”The strong will persist,” he’d always mumble.
Bitoy looked at Anton and waved him away, “Nah that’s nothing. Just make sure them cops don’t see the whole thing.”  He told him with a grin and they all laughed once again. Anton chuckled and shook his head.
They were all gathered in the House that night sharing their achievements for the day; money, wallets, and some earnings they got collecting bottles and cans. As they mumble among each other what food can be purchased and who will go out to buy them, the red and blue glow from the fire lighted with a cigarette lighter sparked in the air. Up on the ceiling, a round mark of soot from the fire grows darker in time.
The House is a run-down factory, three stories tall created by an ambitious, over-night millionaire, who earned his riches from a lotto. His knowledge in the marketing business was so little he soon lost his assets and abandoned the building. Now, the place is a home to parentless children who were left on their own due to poverty. Each children have a tale of their own but renders a similar pattern. Abusive parents, dead and missing parents, abusive relatives, and some were either sold or kidnapped by slave traders and escaped. But the most common tale was parental neglect. His own father tossed Bitoy out of the house the day he turned eight. And despite the desperate plead of his mother, was threatened never to return until he had found himself a fortune. He still remembers very well how he screamed back, “If I ever get rich, I’ll have you gunned down you old fart!”
He was recalling that day of his maturity as Bitoy sat atop a pyramid stack of old bottle racks with one leg dangling and the other folded, his barefoot tucked just below his abdomen. Like all the rest of the abandoned kids, eight and counting, he reeked of sweat, rubber, and refuse. His stomach grumbled. He slipped a hand under his long shirt, brown with dirt and other liquid that’s best left unknown. He rubbed his muscled toned stomach to ease his hunger. He drew out a sack of rugby he had been hiding behind him and announced matter-of-factly,
“I suppose we won’t be eating much tonight. Good thing we still have some of these left.”  Chiko, who had been sitting on his right, his pointed ears pricked up and in a startled voice warned him, “Aren’t those illegal now?” Bitoy snorted. “As if! So what, stealing is a crime so should we stop that too? How will we survive? Collecting cans alone won’t do it! You want me whack Prito for dinner?” Prito is Chiko’s dog. He picked it up as a puppy down a river and fed it some fried meat, even before he met Bitoy and his gangs. Since the puppy liked the fried chicken, Chiko have named him Fried or Prito in Tagalog ever since.
Chiko, who became a member of the House eight months before, pouted and kept quiet. He watched Bitoy sniff the rugby with contentment from the corners of his eyes and bit his lips. He knew it’s not good to be inhaling that horrid substance but to honor Bitoy’s rights as their ringleader, he decided not to provoke him any further. He had a high respect for Bitoy for he was his savior. A runaway child from his abusive mother, Bitoy found Chiko under an old vendor’s table one night, cuddling Prito. It was raining and Chiko’s lips were blue from the cold. Chiko knew Bitoy took him in out of kindness despite Bitoy’s claim that he planned to cook Prito when Chiko wasn’t looking. He believed in Bitoy’s good heart for he always forgave him whenever he failed to do his share.
Within the gang there’s a different given responsibilities for each members. Little ones like Chico who cannot brave a job of pickpockets or pretend to look sympathetic assumed the jobs of garbage collectors, Those who prefer to beg than work, takes the said choice, while the bigger kids do which ever positions they feel like doing. For Chico, picking bottles were as hard as any other task available for the sack grows heavier.
“The heavier the better you know that!” Bitoy scolded him knuckling him in the head. There were times when Chico wanted to runaway once again however, he would think on it twice.
“Yeah sure he (Bitoy) smacks me in the head sometimes,” he reasoned to himself once, “but he never hurt me as much as mama did… and he does protect me from the other big kids.”  Anton had almost beaten him unconscious once when he failed to collect enough bottles. “It was too heavy,” he tried to plead but Anton would not hear of it. He is much more older than Bitoy but the gang trusted him more than they do Anton. So when they saw that he was going too far, they called on Bitoy. When Bitoy arrived and glared at Anton, he stopped immediately and walked away in disgust. At Chiko, Bitoy sternly told him that whining is not a privilege among the gang. “It’s either you work, or you starve” he scolded him. Soon after he invited him back into the House. “Come… it’s time to eat.”  Bitoy’s kindness had since marked a heavy pressure on sweet little Chiko. He wanted so much to please Bitoy he was willing to learn the art of stealing… alone.







Chapter Two: Chico’s Decisions Choice

It was late noon when Chiko woke up. He folded his bed of cardboard and an old insect infested cloth and pushed back his greasy hair. He took one look at Bitoy and the others fast asleep and quietly walked down the building. Prito, who was given the honor to stand guard incase of unwanted trespasser was sleeping at the door. At the sound of Chiko’s descend, he got up and panted with excitement. But Chiko hushed him to silence. “No Prito old boy! You stand here and guard them okay? I’ll be back, five hundred pesos richer!”  He beamed at the dog. Prito whined but sat down, obedient to his master and he watched Chiko walk away to the direction of the wet market where he planned to make his fortune.

The wet market is a bustling place of every mixture of sound, smell, and stalls unevenly stacked.  The place is not only buzzing of people selling their wares, poultry and such, but it is also buzzing of flies synchronized by the sound of people’s flabby arms swatting away at them.

Describe the market, how far it is from Bitoy’s headquarters and introduce a sub character Rina-

A Rina is a rich girl from the upper middle class who has a keen interest in the lives of the “”poor people.”  It was summer and the heat was mortifying her. But tired of everyday visits to the pool, the mall, and the country club, she decided to go to ajoin her yaya to a wet market just for fun.


Despite her yaya’s precaution, Rina She’s such an idiot she carries with her some took with her two hundred dollars worth of cash along with a five hundred peso bill. She  reasoned that they might go straight to the mall right after.  She will change in to peso at the money changer booth. Without a word to her yaya, she tucked her wallet under her arm and walked to the door.

To avoid too much attention to themselves, the yaya announced that they will be taking a tricycle to the market. She expected a grown from Rina, instead she was rewarded with a blast of enthusiasm and youthful energy. She was not amused. Yaya is not fond of her alaga because she is almost always so happy it exhausts her. “For once I want to see you brood!”  she would mutter to herself.


Ya ya was counting on her alaga’s education not to bring too much attention to herself least she attract unwanted attention.. But Rina is one of those girls who nods at everything without hearing even the first note of warning. She continues to put on airs, holding her pointed Mestizo nose high, covered daintily with a laced handkerchief and insists on talking ink talked to her yaya in  English in such a dangerous zone. It doesn’t matter if her old maid is with her, no old maid can rescue a princess from sudden attacksIt drove her yaya over conscious of their surroundings worrying that someone might hurt them. Rina She breached so much attention that even the guard is most attentive to her English prattle:
Smiling and wrinkling her nose no better than Sam in Bewitched, she’d whine within a pretensivepretentious cuteness that could make any sensible being vomit onin the spot. “Oh my go~d! It’s smells so bad!” she giggles behind her humiliated maid who remained silentblushed with embarrassment when the butcher eyed her warily and minded her own business. The butcher again raised her flat square knife and  thwack! Cuts off the fish’s head. Rina squeeledShe and all eyes turned on this  white skinned Filipina.  Rina was oblivious to her audiences and watched with a gross interest as the fisherman butcher cuts out a side of a fishthe innards of the fish. Nudging her yaya, she whispered,
“Oh! I learned that in biology of fish anatomy like stuff in biology! It looked just like it!.”

From the corners of her eyes, Rina noticed a little ornament of pigs. Rina love pigs. She’d been collecting pictures, stickers, books with pigs from the fairy tale, Three Little Pigs, to George Orwell’s Animal farm. She’ll take whatever cute pigs she finds. The pig ornament she found was displayed openly at a window of a small stationary shop just outside the market. In excitement Rina draws out her wallet to see if she had enough. She’s the forgetful type who won’t remember your name till you tell her the fifteenth times.

Tell what Chiko will do:

Chiko was sitting by the stall  next to the stationary exasperated by his initial instinct. “I will be able to do it! I will! Stop despairing Chiko, you’ve just started. Follow the 6 steps to Heaven!” The six steps were Bitoy’s Instruction on How to Steal.

1. Have Faith!


2. Pick a corner

i. Pick any corner that seem ordinary for you to be
ii. Act bored and stupid

3. Stop, Look and Listen
i. Find someone with a lose wallet
ii. Make sure that person is loaded,.
4. Observe your target-
i. See if you can tackle them by a surprise
ii. Make sure it’s the kind of person you can outrun
iii. Check to see that they are not carrying a weapon
5. Lock your target

i. Close in on your prey
ii. Tackle and be nimble

6. Thank your prey and leave
i. If your target did not notice, walk quietly away
ii. If they do notice, run as fast as you can towards a crowd of people.

“”That way,” Bitoy explained, “”They won’t ever catch you!”
“”Oh okay…”  Chiko replied half heartedly his brows tied in a know.
Then he plucked up courage and asked Bitoy why he called it the Six Steps to Heaven (cause you’re really doing something very bad… stealing money he thought himself but he daren’t offend Bitoy) and Bitoy grinned.
“Don’t you get it?”  he laughed “After completing those six steps, you’d have all the cash to buy a feast only heaven can give!”  He explained, smiling from ear to ear.
Bitoy taught the steps to him so many times, even demonstrated him victorious in the act, Chiko tried to convince himself he’ll succeed. “The real trouble is finding someone worth the effort,” he said to himself. He was soon losing all hope until Rina walked past him.

Chiko spotswatched  Rina opening her wallet and sees his eyes bulged at the sight of the five hundred peso bill behind a wad of dollars. He immediately thought of stealing the pesos, since it the only kind of currency he’s familiar with. Rina was just tucking the wallet under her arm. He figured he could easily snatch it from her after knocking her down.

So Chiko does just that and Rina falls crashing in a pool of fish blood on her butt. She screams, “Ow!!” and later “Ew!!”  as her hands were smeared with mud and rotten banana. She frantically searches for her wallet and upon seeing Chiko running away with it, screams on the top of her lungs, and after, “Stop that kid ! He’s got my wallet! There’s two hundred dollars in it!!!” In To which upon hearing, the cops and guards raced after Chiko thinking, “Two hundred dollars!!! “

Their batons raised high, they policemen ran after Chiko and having quite a distance from them, one fat cop involuntarily aimed his gun and shot at Chiko. Rina screams, “NOO!! Don’t shoot him!!!Stop! Leave him alone! But wait get my money! Don’t hurt him” At which point, the poor policemen were confused as to what actions they should take. Nevertheless, they followed after Chiko putting away their guns. As Chiko manages to crawl through the wall, another police tried to catch his foot. He fails and climbs over the wall since he could not fit in the hole. On the other side, the vehicles were speeding… there was no traffic until Chico ran across.


Tell how Chiko is buried:
He caused a major traffic in the freeway  to which he ran in attemptsince he ran that way to escape the police man.

He lies half dead on the street, his left leg over his right;  his knee cap exposed of white flesh with trickles of blood. His ankle stick out letting a gush of blood flow as his tibia, displaced in the front of the condoyle tear a long deep gash along his calf.  Chico’s hips bled from the scratches rolling over after the impact; his hands were cleanly broken off the arm and only remained intact by the sturdiness of his skin. Chico tried to breath and instead coughed up blood coming from his lungs, punctured by his shoulder; the blades jut out  below his clavicle.  He could not move his body but his eyes and in earnest, tried to look at his hand that held the wallet.
It was gone. The impact had forced him to drop it a yard off his reach. Chiko coughed again and tried to move his right arm. He saw a man approach him, glance at the wallet, picked it up and walked away.
Chico cried as he heaved heavily, his lips turning blue.
and the first guy to checked him, took the wallet he stole and walked away.
He stared at the jeepney driver who  reproached him, and cried. He could see the jeepney driver moving his lips but he could not  hear a word he said. Little by little he drew sleepy and the pain slowly diminished.

Rina rushed to the scene with the policemen. One look at Chico and she was vomiting in the bushes on the island. Her yaya stroked her back her face as white as her uniform.

People circled around Chiko at his ghastly disfigurement; the irregular twitching as he gasped and in the commotion attracted the attention of Bitoy and his gang. One jerk of his head towards the scene and his boys were up and about pick-pocketing the witnesses. While they do, Bitoy sees Chiko dying with bitter tears in his eyes. He froze in his spot and stared hard at his little friend. The other boys witnessed it too and immediately tried to pull Bitoy away from the scene. But Bitoy pushed them off.

Three body pickers arrived in a blue Toyota pick-up truck at the scene forty minutes after the ambulance doctors have officially pronounced, “the boy is dead.”  Two men one at each end, lifted up the body with great care while another straightened out a black sack underneath.

The third body picker stood back besides Bitoy and sighed. Without turning away from Chico’s body, he forced his word out.
“Manong,” Bitoy started and the man looked at him. “Hmm?”
“Anong gagawin n’yo kay Ch- sa patay?”
“Dadalhin namin yan sa ospital muna. Baka may pamilya siyang hahanap sa kanya.”

Chico was laid down slowly, tucked comfortably into the bag and zipped closed

“Muna”? Bakit ano’ng mangyayari pagkatapos?”

. The men placed him at the back of the pick-up truck and walked towards the cops.

“Kung walang tatangap sa kanya, eh di lilibing namin siya sa malapit na libingan o kaya ibebenta namin sa ospital.”
“Ba’t anong gagawin ng ospital sa kanya… patay na siya diba?”

“Pag-aaralan! Hihiwa-hiwain nila yon at ilalagay ang mga organs sa mga bote filled with chemicals for the new doctors to practice. Sa tingin ko, maibebenta namin siya kaagad kasi ang tagal nang walang bagong patay. Lahat ng patay na niipon namin yung di na-claim, inuuod na. Sabi kako bukas na namin yon ililibing eh.” Bitoy stood his face as still as stone. But the body-picker droned on, “At isa pa, eh to bata, di at a to taga riles, malamang nagiisa lang to, teka kilala mo ba siya?”  the body picker asks him… “di naman…”  Bitoy whispers, the body picker took it as no, “kung nag-iisa lang siya,, talagang mabebenta naming siya. Laking pera panoon kayalang halos lahat mapupunta sa gobyerno… nakakainis nga eh.”  One of the other body pickers turned around and called him to them.   

The bodypicker snorts and walks off spitting saliva on the blood-spattered street. A few bystanders lingered behind Bitoy but with the body sealed, their attention returned to their duties and walked away. Bitoy stayed on. While the grave diggers talked with the cops and Rina a good distance away, Bitoy drew closer to the back of the truck and stared at the black sack where Chico’s body is sealed.
  His hand touched something wet. He looked down and saw Prito looking up at him, “Think we ought to follow him?” his voice rasped. Prito’s eyes saddened whimpering with his tail tucked between his legs. There was an empty box at the head of Chico’s body, big enough to fit the two of them inside. Bitoy quickly boarded the truck, Prito jumps in after him just when the grave diggers turned back. They did not see them.

Thre three men got on their trucks and drove away, rattling viciously.
Inside the box, Bitoy buried his face in Prito’s fur. Prito whimpered again. As if understanding his language, Biitoy answered… “He’s dead Prito… and they’re going to sell him off…”

While the truck drove on towards the hospital, Bitoy has made up his mind to take back Chico’s body and honor him a proper burial. “”we’re all he’s got Prito”  he whispered to the dog. So when the truck stopped, Bitoy mumbled to himself practicing the art of pleading. He started with, “Manong, akin na ‘tong patay, ililibing ko syia…”  but he figured it’s not enough to get them to agree with him. He wanted to make sure he could say one sentence and win their consent. “”hey Prito how about, ‘Parang awa n’yo na, ako lang po talaga and tangi niyang pamilya… pero wala po akong pera para ilibing ko siya…”  He practiced, digging the stolen wallets deeper down his pants. Thinking that the last was the best sentence he could make out, He pushed out Prito, crawling out the box and slowly tried to stand. His muscles and joints screamed pain from staying in the same position for such a long time. He had to slowly rise to minimize the pain. The men were returning and as he was about to shout out to them, he heard one of them scream followed by a comical dart away from the truck. Bitoy was left alone. Puzzled, Bitoy waited for as long as he could—five minutes. As he waited, he noticed there were some shovels and a spade under a rag beside Chico. He looked around and also saw a forest up ahead and a thought came to him.
“If those men aren’t coming back soon, I’m burying you myself. Besides, there’s no guarantee they’ll let me take you home…” With the five minutes gone, Bitoy began the painstaking effort of dragging Chico’s corpse away from the truck and into the woods to give him a proper burial.


The way to the hospital was long and dreary. The three men decided to take a leak. It was near sun down and the men decide to stop by an old building with an open lot of grass and stones. While the two of them walks to the back of the building, to urinate, the third man stayed out to watch over the truck. He leans on the side and smokes his cigarette. He hears a noise, turns around and perks his ears… he grew afraid… “Has the dead come back to life?” he asked himself. Another muffled sound and the man jump back the hairs on his arms standing straight as a pike. He runs off to his mates his face as white as his retina. “The dead… ”  he stutters, “”I think it’s alive..”  the two men bursts out laughing. They jiggled off the last drop, zipped up their pants and threw their arm around their frightened co-worker. “After all these months of working, why now?”  said one. “Yeah man, I mean this body isn’t even that crushed as the last one!” said another. The poor man laughed uneasily trying to regain his comfort with his peers. As they all walked back to the truck they stopped in their tracks and stared. The sun have gone down and the lights on the street were dim. At the back of their truck appeared a silhouette of a child rising onto its feet.
“  It’s a Zombie!!!!” yelled the three men and darted off down the road, away from the truck

While the truck drove on towards the hospital, Bitoy has made up his mind to take back Chico’s body and honor him a proper burial. “”we’re all he’s got Prito”  he whispered to the dog. So when the truck stopped, Bitoy mumbled to himself practicing the art of pleading. He started with, “Manong, akin na ‘tong patay, ililibing ko syia…”  but he figured it’s not enough to get them to agree with him. He wanted to make sure he could say one sentence and win their consent. “”hey Prito how about, ‘Parang awa n’yo na, ako lang po talaga and tangi niyang pamilya… pero wala po akong pera para ilibing ko siya…”  He practiced, digging the stolen wallets deeper down his pants. Thinking that the last was the best sentence he could make out, He pushed out Prito, crawling out the box and slowly tried to stand. His muscles and joints screamed pain from staying in the same position for such a long time. He had to slowly rise to minimize the pain. The men were returning and as he was about to shout out to them, he heard one of them scream followed by a comical dart away from the truck. Bitoy was left alone. Puzzled, Bitoy waited for as long as he could—five minutes. As he waited, he noticed there were some shovels and a spade under a rag beside Chico. He looked around and also saw a forest up ahead and a thought came to him.
“If those men aren’t coming back soon, I’m burying you myself. Besides, there’s no guarantee they’ll let me take you home…” With the five minutes gone, Bitoy began the painstaking effort of dragging Chico’s corpse away from the truck and into the woods to give him a proper burial.


It took the three men thirty minute to get a ride to a nearby gas station. Their uneasiness scared the life out of the farmer they hitched, who kept an eye on the road for a zombie.  At the gas station they used the public phone and screamed and hollered their tale of a zombie at the police on the other line. The clerk, who heard the racket got frightened by the looks in the men’s eyes, and called the police on a whim. Upon the police’s arrival, the men told their tale of the dead boy come alive to haunt them. The police man laughed and promise them he’ll kill the zombie once again, “So take me to your truck.” As they got into the car, it started to rain….

  
By the time the rain came, Bitoy have managed dig a deep pit for Chico.  He lowered Chico’s body into the pit as careful as he could to avoid adding damage to Chico’s body. “I hope you won’t mind…” he said aloud to Chico, “After all I’m doing this all by myself. The least you can do is be grateful I saved you from being sold.” He grunted as laid on his chest arms stretch down into the pit to drop Chico down the bottom. He fell with a gentle thud. Wiping off his brows, Bitoy picked up the spade, shoveled up some dirt and piled it over Chico’s body. As he patched up the grave, he began to get dizzy… he hadn’t eaten since that morning. He was hungry and beat but he continued on.  The rain was slow and steady but it will soon get stronger. Holding the spade, Bitoy stood at the foot of the grave.
“Well, I won’t say good bye… I’ll come around sometime to see how you’re do-“ Bitoy caught himself and laughed. “Nah well, rest well, I’ll visit you sometimes and don’t worry, I promise you here and now I won’t ever eat Prito” Prito who is by now as hungry as Bitoy pricked his ears and lowered his head beside him. “If anyone as ever did as eat him or hurt him, I promise you I’ll kill them. I’ll take good care of Prito you’ll see.” Bitoy smiled and walks away. He turned around, whistled for Prito and together walked towards the closest light they could find. And the rain began to pour harder..






The Inside the patrol car policeman sat with his elbow on the steering wheel. He was baffled with mystery… “”The body couldn’t have moved by itself!”  Hehe reasoned. But the shovel was gone and so was the body in the black sack. “Could it be? The body got up in the sack, taken the spade and walked away?”y? “  The policeman’s eyes widened and he chuckles to himselfhe wondered at his own silly logic and shook his head. He wondered at his logic and shook his head. He looked up at the mirror and stared hopelessly at the three body picker. “You sure there was nobody in the back other than the bodydead kid?” He asked them once again. They nodded. The policeman turned on his wipers to wipe off the water drizzling down the panewind shield.… ????  He sighed leaning on his arms folded across the steering wheel. “Well, there’s nothing we can do right now… the rain’s too strong. We’ll have to come back tomorrow and asked the detective about it. Okay? Meanwhile, you can stay at the police station. Least you can keep dry.” They all nodded again, their teeth chattering from the cold.

When they arrived at the truck, the The three men ran back in to the police car, dripping wet without hesitation. They left the policeman to inspect what he can. They relaxed a little when he got in alive. The police man sighed and turned on the ignition key. “”This will be a hell of a ride come tomorrow,” he thought to himself as he wheeled back on the road.



The Walk in the woods in the Storm

Bitoy was hungry. As he walked the muddy soil of the forest, he gazed far ahead searching for the street road. But the night was dark spare for the occasional blast of lightning now and again. The heavy rain gravitates him deeper into the mud as he fought off starvation. Time and again he finds himself longing for Prito, seeing him as food rather than an adopted family. He’d shake his head in frustration. Fight it! He’d scream in his mind as he trod on. He slipped and fell hard, his wallets dropped out of his pocket. Desperate, he tried reaching out for the wallet but the flowing rain had formed a little flood of stream and sent it drifting away from his reach.  Prito tried to run for it but he too slipped and fell, whimpering in his failure. Groaning, Bitoy pulled himself up again.
“Never mind it Prito! You can’t eat money… not now.”
Prito supported him in the only way he could… nudging his legs forward for them to keep going. With the rain pouring hard, his nose is overwhelmed by the smell of damp soil. He could not trace them selves back on the road.

A few distance away, an elder lady bravely stepped out of her nipa house into the rain to fetch a pail of fresh water in a dirty kitchen, adjacent to the shower room. She spotted moving shadows ahead of her.  Drawing the lamp close to her face she called out, “Who’s there?” A faint bark returned her call, followed by a loud plop! as a small figure fell upon the ground. She quickly ran forth and found a dog nudging the limp arms of a young boy. The dog whimpered. Not wasting another minute, the old lady put down her lamp and picked up the young boy. She looked at the dog as to beckon him to follow her back into the house. Upon entering, the kerosene lamp dies in the rain.

(first encounter with the strange man)
When Bitoy came through, it was a glorious morning with the sun shining as though rain was but an illusion the night before. As he rose from his thin coated bed, his head spun and he remembered his hunger.“Don’t just sit there boy! The longer you linger, the more you hunger!” said a friendly voice behind him. He turned to face an old robust lady in her 40’s, round and cheerful. Her graying hair was plaited to one side and she wore a flower patterned duster. The aroma of dried fish and kamoteng kahoy reached the pointed nose of Bitoy and he immediately sat himself by the table and ate. After about a handful of food stuffed in his mouth, he looked up again and gulped it all down… “Pardon me… but, who are you? How did I get here?”The old lady chuckled.
“You ask me that after eating a handful, do that to the landlord and you’re sure to be poisoned! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”Bitoy raised his eyebrow and took another bite.
“Never mind what I said.” The lady continued, “I was fetching water last night when I saw you and your dog in the rain among the banana farm.” His mouth still full, Bitoy shot up from his seat and searched for Prito.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha!” the old lady laughed. “Don’t worry! Your dog is outside eating. You have one good loyal friend out there. He stood by your side all night you know! ”
Silently, Bitoy finished his meal. He walked out side, followed by the curious old lady. Prito pounced on him the minute he got out. Bitoy smiled and laughed. Turning to face the old lady he said, “I have no money. I can’t repay you… but if you let me work for you, I can.” The old lady smiled.

“well, I am living alone after my sons have left… so I suppose I can use another pair of arms!”Bitoy eased. “Do you have a place to stay?”Bitoy frowned and shook his head.
“Then stay here. I’ve a room to spare.” Bitoy’s face brightens.
“Salamat po! Pagchachagaan ko po kung ano man trabaho bibigay nyo sa akin”
“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! That’s the spirit!” The old lady laughed.
“What’s your name boy? I’m Nida”
“Bitoy po.” Looking down at his companion he introduced him to Nida, “at ito po naman si Prito!”

Down the dusty street of the country, Bitoy cheerfully whistled to the trees.
“Your fist chore is to buy me the things I’ve listed. Make sure you’ve got them all right before you leave the market. Of course, if they don’t have it, they don’t have it. ” He recalls Aling Nida instruct him. “It’s an easy task really. Even YOU can do it alone”he told Prito. Prito barked in agreement.  

Bitoy enjoyed the market more than the market he has been to in the city. Even though there were the same products, and similar stalls, somehow the smell seem fresh. Even the people seem fresh. “Must be the air,” he said to himself as he paid the butcher for the chicken breast and legs.

He bought eggs, knorr cubes and some green vegetables and potatoes. He had a few coins to spare but he decided not to spend it without Nida’s consent. Checking that all was in the basket, Bitoy headed back… “Home…” he stopped. A smile forms on his face and beckoning to Prito he called out, “Let’s go Home Prito!”

On the way to Aling Nida’s house, Bitoy and Prito saw a familiar bunch of trees. They walk towards it remembering the spot where Bitoy buried his friend. Ahead, they noticed was a wide river bank.
“Tabing ilog pala ito… malapit lang sa bahay ni Aling Nida, tignan mo o!” Bitoy pointed at the tip of a nipa roof down by the river. Prito barked as Bitoy laughed. Somehow, he felt relieved and happy as he had never felt before. This is a good place… he thought to himself. If only chiko, he said looking at the mound under which his friend lies, If only you were still alive… But we’re here together… it’s not so bad. Picking up a stone, Bitoy was about to skip it on the surface when he noticed a strange young man bent down by the river bank, peering into the water.
He hushed Prito aside and watched attentively as the man reached into his cooler box and drew out a sealed jar of water. He set it aside, fishing out a pair of gloves from his brown bag and put them on. Picking up the jar once again, he dipped it into the water and apparently opened it beneath the surface, releasing the liquid into the river. He gleamed, his eyeglasses reflecting the sun ray into the river.

Bitoy, ever watchful, hid behind a rock with Prito close behind him as the strange young man stood up and walked away. He had a small old 1998 Honda parked a little distance away by the road. He got in and drove away, the sound of the motor echoing like a sardonic laugh.

Walking out of his hiding spot, Bitoy and Prito stepped onto the road and head home. Well that was strange! Bitoy thought to himself. But he shrugged his shoulder and instead thought of the meal Aling Nida will be preparing for them. Once again, he whistled merrily as Prito trot behind him.

How  He is accepted by a farmer’s wife.
  It’s not fun to be walking down a


The Pot Bellied
Visits chiko and sees the man again
Back in Aling Nida’s house, Bitoy was in time to see a visiting neighbor. He was an old man with a goatee, wearing an old grey shirt with tattered pants folded to his shins. He wore a grim expression, hunched over his mug of coffee, sipping it slowly while Aling Nida stood on the other side of the table with a concerned look in her face. Seeing Bitoy, the old man got up, nods to Aling Nida and went out the house. Bitoy looked quizzically at Aling Nida. She sighed,
“That was Mang Julio!” she introduced him, “Four of his grandchildren are pot bellied and they don’t know how it happened. What they do know is that his boys started feeling sick after swimming in the river four days ago.” She explained as she took the basket from Bitoy and set them by the kitchen stove.
“He’s not the first to have that kind of a problem… There was Trining and her sons too… then Beth’s husband... ”
Fishing out each products, she continued, “It’s strange… we never had problems like this before… the river is supposedly clean of sickness because of the Major’s projects to protect the provincial assets here… I wonder if the act is performed too late… It shouldn’t be… ”Careless as usual, Bitoy shrugged his shoulders and sat on the table…
“It’s even stranger that Mang Julio’s boys have developed pot bellies over night!” She shivered.
“It’s terrible! They have no clue how it happened.” Aling Nida added, she took out the potatoes, washed them and began peeling.
“I will tell you now boy, keep away from the river… something’s gone wrong with it… I can feel it in my bones!” She warned peering through the kitchen window that looks out to the river.

It was afternoon and Bitoy have completed his new chore that is to carry bananas from the farm to the truck, helping out when he could with the older men who came to pick them up. Resting under a mango tree, he decided to explore the village.

He picked up a stick and whistled Prito to his side. Prito came willfully.
(Describe the Village)
Along the way, he met children playing with homemade bow and arrows. It was an interesting piece of weapon made of plastic straw, rubber band and a barbeque stick.  The straw acts as a bow with the rubber band tied to one end. The barbeque stick is the arrow with which end is placed on the nave end of the rubber band. Placing their thumb and index finger on the fore end of the straw, they aim the pointed edge at the target with the other end pulled back with the rubber band and then released.  Bitoy was enthralled. He had never in his life thought of inventing such a game. Amused, he too made his own and played along with the kids.

As they shoot leaves and tree trunks with their little weapons, two boys came walking towards them. Their bellies were unusually round, some of it sticking out of their shirts. They looked pale with their eyes half closed barely walking straight, as though they could not control themselves.

The children felt uneasy, backing away as the boys drew nearer. Even Bitoy could not help but be freaked out by their unfocused eyes.  Prito growled low.  Trying to ease the tension, Bitoy joked,
“You kids got rabies or something? Prito here has some… want more?” He half threatened. But the boys paid him no attention and walked passed him. He shivered as he felt a musky vibe from the boys.
“Hey!” He called out, “Where you going?” But the boys just kept walking.

Sunset and the kids were called back home. On his way back to Aling Nida, a frustrated young woman ran past him. Turning around, she ran back to him and asked with a desperate look in her face, “Excuse me, have you seen my younger brothers? They were wore brown and blue shirts with Son Goku pictures on them.” Bitoy recalled the afternoon freak show and nodded.
“The pot bellied kids right?” He asked frankly
“Um… yes…” She confirmed rubbing her hands together.
“They walked that way.” He pointed “Towards the…” He stopped and frowned.
“Towards the river?” She finished his sentence.
“Yeah… ” The young woman smiled and thanked him, running off to the river bank. Somehow it disturbed Bitoy to have led her to the river. But he chose to ignore his conscience and walked on home.

That night as he lay sleeping, he was woken up by a loud shriek. He got up and looked about. There by the window, was Aling Nida peering into the night.
“What was that?” He asked her
“Hush boy!” she whispered. “Go back to sleep!” Laying back on his banig, he listened to Prito howl. Aling Nida was chanting the rosary. Soon Bitoy fell back to sleep once more.


The Missings
Visits chiko and sees the man again
The following day at the market, everyone was bustling busily with a disturbed gloom over the head. A group of policemen were inquiring each and every one that five people have been missing as of the night before. They were Angie and her two brothers, Tin and Mac, Mang Isko and Gingoy.  Their families have been searching for them the whole morning. Who so ever have seen them last must report to them immediately. Bitoy felt horrible. Somehow he felt responsible for Angie and her brother’s disappearance and so feared reporting to the police. He chose to keep his silence and went on home.

For the whole day, he felt disturbed by the turn of events and could not get himself to work diligently as he normally would. Tired of the recurring sound in his mind, he




Grounded Meat
Visits chiko and sees the man again


The Mystery of the 8 year old Zombie
Visits chiko and sees the man again


The Creature in the Water
First witnessed by the an old man.


Prito’s Heroism
(Prito is killed and eatened by the Creature in the Water
when he tries to save Bitoy.)


Bitoy’s Revenge


The Strange Strange Man


The Creator


The Plan


Bitoy’s Last Breath