The Moonlight Daughters

The Moon Arises

Saturday, a nice day to clean Burnham Park. It was also the day for Sherdel to fulfill his grandfather's wish.

All the volunteers and some volunteer clubs from some selected schools around Baguio were beginning to assemble around the wide grass area at Melvin Jones.

"Oh my gosh, Bes. A few months more to go and we'll get separated" Grace Joy's friend Sza-sza whined. They were walking towards the center of the ground then as they talk to each other.

"You are overacting," Grace gently slapped Zsa-zsa's back.

"What? It's true," she said back. " We are soon going separate ways. You will study in a different school but still here. Me, I will go down to Tarlac to pursue my college,"

"I guess that's life, Zsa. But on the bright side, we can still communicate through f******k or text. Despite the distance, we can still connect," she responded.

"I am nervous, you know that?"

"Of course, you are," Grace Joy told her. "I am also nervous. We must not think about it too much since the opening of the new school year is still far," Grace replied. "Why overthink it?"

"I am just thinking that I am in a huge problem since no one's going to do my assignments," Zsa-zsa joked.

Upon hearing what she had said, Grace Joy gently pushed her away.

"You...is that the reason why you befriend me?" She teased. "You b***h," Then she chased her with the broomstick she was handling.

On the other hand, at the center of the grass area wherein people were gathered...

The two, Sherdel and Gregory, were standing along with the other organizations of the Horizon Reached. They were holding brooms as they quietly sterned at each other. They might be quiet that time but their blood was boiling as they see each other. Moreover, they were beside each other so no one knows what might happen.

"Am I suppose to thank you for bringing me here in your damn hell?" Gregory suddenly broke their moment of silence.

Sherdel smirked and chuckled faintly.

"Wow. The innocent was talking. Who do you think was the one who punched first, eh?"

"Tsk." Gregory scowled as he slowly shook his head.

*****

Finally, the people were gathered. The host of the campaign was already at the stage.

"Good morning volunteers!" the host greeted.

"Good morning!" They greeted back.

"By the way, to those who don't know me, ako po si Governor Louie Tan. Thank you volunteers for being here who sacrificed their day to help me and our sponsors to clean up here in Burnham Park. Thank you so much!"

The audiences clapped their hands.

"Handa na ba kayong maglinis?" He asked.

"Yes!" they yelled.

"Let's get this cleaning started, now!" The governor excitedly announced.

Then, the students disassembled. Each group spread out toward different areas of the park.

*****

The campaign was finally over, it was finished within two hours. But before they will be dismissed, the volunteers must gather around the plaza first for further announcements from the governor. After that, the people had spread out.

At the corner of Burnham Lake, on one among the benches, Grace Joy and Zsa-zsa took a seat.

"Hay! I am so tired," Grace Joy complained.

"Right," her friend agreed.

They sighed while watching the moving boats at the lake.

"I am thirsty. Let's eat some ice cream or coke?" Zsa-zsa asked.

"Thanks, I'm fine. I'm not that thirsty anyway. Moreover, I have my water in the bag so no need," she insisted.

"Okay, suit yourself. Promise me don't go anywhere? Just stay there so that no one is going to occupy the seat," she warned her.

"Yes. Yes. Just go," Grace Joy told her.

"Okay," Zsa zsa stood up and she immediately left.

"Hurry!" Grace Joy shouted.

After that, Grace Joy took her eyes on the lake. She stared at its water as it sparkled by the sunshine. Slowly she made her lips grin. The lake had suddenly made her memories flashback. Back to the time, she fell into an unknown lake where even her doesn't know. She doesn't even know why was she there, how did she got there or where was she.

The only thing she knows was she got drowned there. As she slowly got deeper and deeper, she suddenly felt that her feet got lighter than usual and she felt her legs were uniting. She couldn't remember more than that but she knows she went unconscious.

She miraculously, found herself on a hospital bed as she woke up. The first person she saw when she opened her eyes was her mother who was worried sick.

While she was having a terrible flashback, a boy, who happens to be Sherdel suddenly came to the bench where she's sitting. The young stranger sat down at the space beside Grace Joy. He sighed just after he seated. While ignoring the girl beside him, he texted his grandfather. He told him that the community service was done. But when he was about to press the send button, he remembered that he had run out of load.

"Buwisit. I don't have a load," he was disappointed. He rubbed his hair.

Meanwhile, something small came flying towards Sherdel at high speed. When the thing landed on his back, he yelled in pain. He immediately reached the part which the small thing had stricken.

Because of that, Grace Joy got startled. The voice of Sherdel had brought her out of her terrible memory to the real world.

Sherdel looked back down. He saw the object which hurt his back which had settled on the ground. He was surprised to see that it was his locket.

"You are lucky I was the one who found that," a boy suddenly appeared in front of him just after he picked up the locket.

"Kuya?" He got surprised.

"Hi, step-brother."

"What are you doing here," He asked.

"I am here to watch you mess up with Gregory," he answered. "And I also want to see you struggle."

Grace Joy was silently listening, she could feel the tension and she might expect that it will get terrible.

"Zsa where are you? I want to get out of here," she nervously spoke with the softest of her voice.

 Then, Sherdel's big brother continued.

"I always wish that that should be your life, you know? Looking at you while picking up the trash, recycling the trash, and getting dirty like those trash hahahah. It is very fitting for your life. It made me wish that you are not an Alhibing. You shouldn't be in the mansion, you should be with your slut mother."

Sherdel got hurt so much after hearing those words. Grace Joy could already see Sherdel's fingers folding. It would be a matter of time before he'll run out of patience. Instead of talking back, Sherdel kept quiet. He was pretending that he didn't hear such words.

"I wonder why Lolo accepted you despite your insignificance."

Sherdel couldn't hold back his wrath anymore. And so, he stood up and he faced his big brother with a glare.

Meanwhile, the moment broke when Grace Joy's phone suddenly rang. She got startled. The two boys turned their heads to her as she hurriedly clicked her phone. She got so tensed that her heart was racing, that she might get killed by those two who awkwardly watching her respond to the call. She couldn't say a word but to do fake chuckle and she said sorry to them. She turned away from them then she put the phone on her ears.

"Zsa-zsa. Where are you now? This not funny anymore. I might die," she muttered.

"Ha? Why? Is there something wrong?" Zsa-zsa asked while she was deciphering why Grace Joy's tone seemed upset.

"Not yet. But later maybe. Get over here quickly," she panicked.

"Um...I'm sorry Grace Joy," Zsa-zsa replied.

"Ha? What!"

"There's an urgent matter to attend to," Zsa-zsa answered.

"What?"

"My Dad's doctor just called me. He said that my father was rushed into the hospital. He's having a heart attack again while he was at work. I must see him," She explained.

Instead of being upset with her, Grace Joy felt empathy for her father.

"Is that so? Okay. Just say "hi" to your father for me," She hung up.

After that, she turned towards the brothers to see how's the situation. But fortunately, she could no longer see the big brother. Grace Joy watched Sherdel sat down once again then he rubbed his palms against his forehead in frustration. When tears came out of his eyes, he grabbed a stone that was laying on the ground and threw it away to the green water. Luckily, no boats were shot.

*****

Somewhere in the mountains far away from Baguio...

A woman, who was running fast, being chased by three unknown large wolves. She was panting and tired. But she must force herself not to stop running until she got away from those strange dogs.

Even though she doesn't know which path of the forest will she go, she doesn't care as long as she felt that there will be a nice space for her to hide or at least to slow them down. Until she halts when a wolf suddenly appeared in front of her which blocked her path. She turned to her right and about to run but the other one appeared. She realized she was cornered. They circled her for a minute. They stopped...and they began to change shape. They turned into three well-shaped men.

The woman sighed then she grunts.

"Would you please cover your p*****s before we do drama?" she said in Kankana-ey dialect.

"Hey. Just imagine that we have clothes, okay?" one man said.

"Go back to the baryo Daya. Your father is looking for you,"the other one said.

"No. No matter what you do, I will never go back in that hell. You heard me, that place is hell," She yelled angrily.

"Dad is worried sick," her big brother said back.

"Then what? I will watch you all kill each other?"

The men didn't respond.

"Kuya, I hate this way of life? Killing. Really? I am worried sick for our father. "

"You don't know what you are saying," the brother talked back. "Father is just trying to get back the land that was supposed to be ours."

****

Sherdel was silent. Letting his tears flow down his face. He's got no reaction at all. He doesn't care if people who passed by seeing him crying on a bench.

Grace Joy slowly stretched out her arm to reach Sherdel's back. She might not know him but she sympathizes with him. She really wants to comfort him. She wants to say "Ayos ka lang ba?" but there was a doubt in her mind saying not to talk to strangers. Her hand had almost touched his back but she decided not to.

Before Grace Joy put her arms away from him, he turned his head to her. She widened her eyes in surprise, and so as he. He saw her arms froze an inch near his shoulder. Grace Joy immediately got it away when she came back to her senses.

****

"Torture is not the answer, Kuya!" She insisted. "You have forgotten how those people accepted us in their own community."

"So they're on your side now?" He raised his voice. " You can't disobey your father just because of your husband, Daya!"

"Then tell me, what wrong have they done so that Wendel and his tribe deserve their deaths?"

"I see. You want to see Wendel?" He asked.

But the lady didn't respond. She gulped as she waits for his big brother to speak again.

"Then, I command you to get back home so that you'll see him again."

The woman slightly smiled.

"Just tell him that I'll be gone for a while."

Then, a large wolf suddenly appeared behind the men as it howled. The three got startled, then they about-faced. The wolf then hit the three with its hard head as it passed through them. It ran towards the woman. It stopped in front of her and the woman hurriedly rode on it and flee.

The men who got knocked down by the wolf's force tried to get up from the ground as quickly as they can before Daya got out of their sight.

****

The two were speechless as they stare at each other's faces. Sherdel creased his forehead while wondering why was her hand near his shoulder. Grace Joy rotated her head opposite Sherdel's direction and she acts as nothing happened.

Sherdel wiped his tears off with his sleeves and he rotated his head away from Grace Joy. A few moments of silence later, Sherdel stood up. He looked at Grace Joy for one last glimpse, smirking at her, before he finally walked away. Grace Joy ballooned her cheeks while reflecting on what she had done. She blew the wind out then she looked around if the boy was still in sight.

****

That night, the moon was full. At the top of Mt. Cabuyao wherein Daya and her friend Danny overlook the wide Baguio City from up there. Daya was staring at the moon.

"You're not going to eat?"Danny asked ( in Kankana-ey Language). He was sitting on a rock while chewing a piece of meat that he roasted on the bonfire next to him.

The woman turned her head to see him. She smiled, but her eyes were telling him that she's deeply worried.

"What did you cook?" She asked in Kankana-ey dialect.

Danny held his head down then he quietly chuckled. He looked at Daya again. She was slowly walking toward him.

"Are you worried about him?" Danny suddenly asked. She didn't answer. She sat down beside him. After that, Danny quickly got the plate where he put the meat he roasted below him and he passed it to her.

"Adi-yak ammo ya ( I don't know)", she finally answered. "I think I just miss him. I am always wondering how is he. Is he okay? Is he being tortured? Or if he was eating properly?"

"Don't worry," Danny said with an optimistic voice. "You have faith in him, right?" he said. "As long as you believe that he can make it through, he will be strong for you.

Daya forced to smile right after what he had said.

"Just a little more, Daya. Soon, we can rescue your husband," he smirked.