Love Bus Book 4: Chapter 5 — The Hidden Book

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By 2025, I was seventeen and Bernadeth was ten. She had grown into a very curious girl who loved researching our family history. One rainy Saturday afternoon, while Mommy Brenda and Papa Franz were out, she dragged me up to the attic. Kuya, tara! May treasure tayong hahanapin! she said excitedly, pulling my hand. After moving some old boxes, she found a small wooden chest hidden deep behind old clothes. Inside was a very old, leather-bound book wrapped in faded cloth. When I opened it, the pages were brittle and yellow with age. On page 33 were handwritten words in old Tagalog, along with the complete “Susi” poem. Kuya, ano ‘to? Parang magic book! Bernadeth’s eyes widened in wonder.

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Rainwater Management Project: Positive Shift sa LOA

Sanaysay

Sa bawat bagyo, sa bawat malakas na ulan, may isang salita na paulit-ulit nating naririnig: flood. Flood control project. Flood-prone area. Flood warning. Parang automatic na, kapag may ulan, agad nating inihahanda ang isip sa delubyo. Pero ano kaya kung mali na pala ang panimulang salita? Paano kaya kung ang mismong pangalan ng proyekto ang nagiging magnet ng takot at pagbaha?

Ito ang simple pero malalim na tanong ng Law of Attraction. Ang ating mga salita ay hindi lang deskripsyon. Sila ay utos sa universe. Kapag paulit-ulit nating sinasabi ang “flood control,” tinuturuan natin ang isipan at ang collective consciousness ng bayan na ang normal ay baha, at ang solusyon ay kontrol sa baha. Pero ang ulan ay hindi kaaway. Ang ulan ay buhay. Ang tubig na bumabagsak mula sa langit ay regalo. Kaya bakit hindi natin baguhin ang pangalan? Bakit hindi “Rain Water Flow Control” o “Rainwater Management Project”?

Nature is vigilant. Hindi ito bulag o bingi. Nakikinig ito sa dalas ng ating mga salita, sa daloy ng ating emosyon, at sa focus ng ating atensyon. Kapag ang buong bansa ay naka-focus sa “flood,” pinapalakas natin ang pattern ng pagbaha. Kapag naman inilipat natin ang atensyon sa “rain water flow,” tinuturuan natin ang isipan na may paraan para gabayan ang tubig nang maayos, nang walang panic.

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Manika‑Jamila 2: Chapter 4: Usapang Ina at Manika

I am Jamila. A doll with painted eyes that never close. I watch and listen without feeling. One quiet afternoon, Eloisa came to the nursery alone. She looked tired. Her steps were slower now because of her heavy belly. She picked me up from the crib and sat on the rocking chair.

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When Two Stories Grow Side by Side

Blog

There are afternoons when the house feels full even in silence. The light slips through the curtains the way it always has, soft and slow, and somewhere between the kitchen and the living room you sense it: two stories moving at the same time. Not competing. Not waiting for the other to finish. Simply growing, side by side, the way trees do when they share the same ground.

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Love Bus Book 4: Chapter 4 — The Wedding

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Only a few weeks after Bernadeth opened the old photo album, the house felt different. The questions she asked that afternoon stayed with Papa Franz. I could see it in the way he looked at Mommy Brenda longer, in the way he became quieter at night, and in the way he started fixing small things around the house as if preparing for something permanent.

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