The Failed Coin Flip

I picked up my wallet that was on top of my table. My throat was starting to crave for a breather. A box of yosi would do. There was a bit of eagerness as I searched my wallet for a twenty peso bill. It was again a good day to find fun outdoors. After five sticks, I’ll just send my friends messages and them meet in the mall.

But there were no twenty peso bills. All were a thousand and five hundred bills. Not a single twenty, fifty, or a hundred bill. Who would accept a thousand for a kaha of tens lights?

To Build A Fire

When I was sixteen at the old house, I used to sit on our wooden chair behind her and watch how she built fire with kerosene, wood, and pieces of folded paper. She would bend low enough, reaching for the fireplace, and I could see her spine arching downwards like a bamboo on a windy day, while behind her white head where I could not see much what happened, a light-blue smoke rose up to the sooted roof along with some ashes flying for escape through the slits on our wall.