Slaughter

The smell of blood filled the room with its warm,rustic stench.

It was creeping its way up the walls,through the pores of her skin,and into her senses. A familiar stench that was threatening to nauseate her into unconciousness.

She didn't flinch though she felt dizzy. She aimed the knife well right below the belly,stabbed through hard,and ripped it open. With one swift movement,she reached inside and felt around the lining of the belly for the internal organs that were there for the harvesting. She gave a firm grip and in a split second pulled out the intestinals.

The fish,bloodied and guttered,lay lifeless on the kitchen sink. What life left of it was ebbing away down the drainage.

She stood stock still for what seemed forever staring down at the mess she made unable to gather her wits. She stood in catatonic stillness before she snapped out and began to clean.

She meticulously cleaned the bloodied remnants of the slaughter. Cleaned while humming a song under her breath.

Every Granny's Apo

She goes about in her skipping steps humming an unintelligible song only she knows. In the breaking of early morn,she greets it like a chirruping bird.


"Good morning lolo! Good morning lola!",she goes greeting the two-old timers sitting by the waiting shed.


This brings a smile to the old couple who had to sit by this shed day after day watching the world pass by. It had seemed decades ago since they last heard a child greet her elders. At their age,they had watched technology ripen into an incoherent language it was most maddening. The children nowadays and their jejemon language was too much for these two old people who had been left behind by time.


So to find this small ray of sunlight singing delightedly to her heart's content was a treasure. She looks as fresh as the morning dew. Or so they thought,because funny that it had just rained at dawn that day. They greet her in return affectionately.


She goes on with her day in her usual mischievous self,asking questions even the angels in heaven would not have found an answer. But she is so adorable,adults couldn't resist answering a question or two they soon discover to their exasperation. To which she would reward them with endless giggling.


Almost a day would pass when you'd find her still skipping along the street corner. Hair held in a simple pony tail,in her light blue shirt and dark blue maong shorts with only a smile to adorn her mischievous face. With that same smile,she greets every old person she meets along the way with a booming 'good morning!' at 5:30 in the afternoon. At 3 years old,she still couldn't distinguish well the difference between morning and afternoon. Only that there's light during day and darkness during night. Nevertheless,her smile and heartfelt greeting always warms every granny's heart.


Her humming can still be heard from a distance as a booming 'good morning!' explodes around the bend. She must've cornered another granny. Her mother is grateful that each granny doesn't seem to mind each endearment from this child. Her mother lets her be anyway. She doesn't have the heart to tell her they're not her actual grandparents and that they ought to be left alone. Her daughter's happiness is reason enough to keep such things to herself. If time is what will take for her daughter to realize matters as this,she can always wait.


The grandparents have only as much time in their hands to enjoy a rainy morning with a cup of coffee and a skipping little ray of sunshine.