Piercing Silence

Our house was still the same way it has been after two months when I last left it. I stood at the gate for a moment. I needed a breather.

My mother welcomed me with a smile. I did not smile back. It was not the time for us to exchange our happiness. I still had to unpack the bad news I have been carrying since I left my dorm.

“Ma, I pierced my lips,” I told her guiltily while showing the month-old hole under my lips. It tore her heart when she learned that my rebellious dream had already come true. She gazed at it and said nothing.

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?