IN THE FACE OF DEATH

I could have died
He could have pulled that trigger and take my life.

I could have dropped dead on that wet ground.

Rain and blood will flow and while unmoving, I'll watch my killers go.

Stephanie Perkins in Cebu

I hope it's not too late to post about another one of my exciting book signing escapades. I got stuck with work and I've been saving my post in flash drive just waiting for the perfect time(means being free from the demands of my boss) to finally post it. This is the time.

Stephanie Perkins at National Bookstore SM Cebu

First, I have to say that I've never read yet any of Stephanie Perkins book but I already heard so much about it and I always get stranded in the shelf where her books are displayed at National Bookstore. I'm curious about her books and she looks really pretty in the picture. The books she wrote are not the usual genre I read. What I mean are young love and all the teenage scenario plots. Maybe because I'm already 23 and the thought of reading this kind of stories makes me think about the high school version of myself reading a pocketbook about romance.  The last book I read that contained teen love was Meg Cabot's Jinx and I only bought it because it has some witchy-twist and all. I was always into some kind of Dystopian setting (Hunger Games, Selection, etc), suspense and Harry Potter kind of plots. 

My hands were always itchy every time I would see Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door at National Bookstore. Reviews say that it's fantastic and hilarious  and it really makes me want it. Part of me want to buy them considering that I have read John Green's TFIOS and teenage love kind of convinced me that it's not that bad and it's a feel-good(I mean awesome) book but there was a part of me saying "You're being a bad girl in the bookstore again. You got a pile of books in your room and you are not even half done with it and now you're adding another bunch" and then that's when I would turn my back and say "Good-bye Anna and Lola".

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Premiere Night

"So you would think that at this moment, I would be in utter despair. Here’s what’s strange. The main thing I feel is a sense of relief. That I can give up this game. That the question of whether I can succeed in this venture has been answered, even if that answer is a resounding no. That if desperate times call for desperate measures, then I am free to act as desperately as I wish." --Suzzanne Collins, Catching Fire—

I have to say now that I’m now a certified Collins Fan. I have watched and loved the first movie and now totally hooked with the trilogy after watching Catching Fire last night. The movie was action packed that I can already imagine how more amazing it is in the book. (BTW, haven’t read them all yet) Of course, just like the other book series turned movie (i.e. Harry Potter, LOTR, Twilight), the book of course contains everything the movies can’t show.

HOME AT LAST

Believing the Best of People

This link is the first part and this post is the continuation of Edgardo’s story.

After being away for several months, Edgardo Aradillos was finally home just last Sunday, April 10, 2011 in Argao, a few-hour trip away from Cebu, a place somewhere in Visayas. 

Two months ago, my father brought a skinny man who was about in his mid 40’s age. He was a picture of man who haven’t eaten and slept well for how many days. We only have three bedrooms in our house and only one is vacant but he never accepted the offer of allowing him to occupy in the vacant room. Instead, he just stayed in the small area that used to be our storage area for corn. He said that he was from Argao so my father planned of bringing him with him when he sets to go to Cebu for his checkup and visit to my brothers.

He was hard-working during his stay. He would wake up early in the morning and shepherd our cows and do things even if he wasn’t asked to do so. There were times that when my father lacked workers for their building project, Edgardo would go with him and he got paid as well. On regular days, he stayed in our backyard the whole day cutting woods for sell and for our woodstove use. My mother would pay for the woods so he got to save money for himself. He fed the dogs, chickens, the goats and the pigs in the backyard.  My father also gave him one pig for himself. He planted gabi and ginger at the fences of our backyard. My mother would carry milk and bread, sometimes oatmeal or coffee during snack time like 10am and 3pm and he slept when he wanted to rest. We were happy about him because he really was a great help in our house especially with cutting woods because it was really one of problems at home. Besides, he has really proving that my father wasn’t wrong about taking him home.  He was also a good cook, it was only with him that we saw a different way of cooking Ginataang Langka. We felt great having him around but it was just not right. He seemed to be over workaholic. Sometimes, I would hate going to the kitchen because he would insist of washing the dishes.

Photo Link

When the small barn was finished, he built a small loft and made it his sleeping area. The barn was neat and kinda like Clark Kent’s fortress of solitude in the loft of his barn…LOL…  All the activities everyday was his routine and every day, he seemed to be growing and his face circling. He’s gaining some fats already.

Just the other week, he went to one of my father’s building project. He worked like superman. So workaholic. He worked and got soaked in the rain. The next day, he got sick and of course, we gave him home medications and even thought of admitting him to the hospital because he had fever for how many days but he refused. He would feel sick and then he would feel better and every time he did feel better, he would go walking around and doing chores. He couldn’t stay resting. It was then my brother called pressuring my father to go to Cebu already because he was asking my father’s help in the house he was building and my other brother also wanted him to go there for his checkup. My father thought it was the time that he planned of bringing Edgardo but how would he bring him if he’s sick. To encourage him to rest and feel better, he asked him if he wanted to go with him and he said yes. It was the only thing that made him rest…J to have a better trip.

Last Saturday, they took a trip via ship to Cebu. After my brother took the baggages and other pasalubongs, my father and Edgardo took a trip via bus to Argao where his sisters lived [he wasn’t married anyway]. It was a reunion that looked like a scene in a TV show. Edgardo’s sister cried while hugging Edgardo. She thanked my father for his kindness to him and later that day, my father left and took a trip back to Cebu. Upon his arrival in my brother’s house in Bonbon, he called and shared his experience.

I wonder how he felt about the experience. I know it is heartwarming.