No secret anymore! By Jing Villamil SO went our favorite old-maid aunt’s theme song – “once I had a secret love . . .” And it became not a secret anymore because, in one brief weak moment . . . she told! But I write not about secret loves; I…

In the eyes of a child! (monosyllabic) By Jing Villamil WHEN she leaves our home for a long, long time, my Mom brings the two girls and I and Gran with her. I wish my Dad would come, too. But he would not. And they would not tell us why….

High spirits! (A continuation of Hi, spirits!) By Jing Villamil BELIEVE or not, it is generally accepted that 3 to 10% of us have had had an experience or more of seeing, hearing or feeling something that others have not. And sometimes, the percentage goes up to 75% if only…

Hi, spirits! By Jing Villamil SHE grew up, with “them” not only as a sometime but as a constant presence. But these childhood companions were almost always the good (mabait), the rowdy (magulo), the mischievous (pilyo). Seldom the bad (salbahe) or the vengeful (mapag-higanti), as the knowing claimed or warned…

Recalling the past By Jing Villamil HAVE you gone through an experience of so many years ago and suddenly something you did today simply attaches itself right unto that particular past? Like the dot to your i or j or the cross to your t? The monosyllabic IF YOU HAD…

Quakes! By Jing Villamil THIS talks not of the gooey chocolatey fudge which one rams whole and fast into one’s mouth in heavenly but sinful decadence. Rather, this talks of quakes that grumbled, rumbled and crumbled rocks unto uncovered heads, crushing skulls and bodies and homes and workplaces. Once upon…

Storytelling By Jing Villamil DO you still read, or share from your own stocked knowledge, a bedtime story to your child to prepare him or her to sleep? Sadly, in a research made by technology developer TomTom last February, covering 1000 parents with children ages 3 to 10 as subjects,…

Commatose (A comma overdose) By Jing Villamil DENGUE, leptospirosis, polio, diphtheria, meningococcemia, measles, pneumonia, malaria, tuberculosis, rabies, HIV, the big C for-all-ages, dialysis for too many failed kidneys, too-sweet diabetics, bones young and old weakened, cracked or crushed, Road accidents along SLEX, NLEX, and other EXes and widened roads, doctors…

Stalked! (Conclusion) By Jing Villamil HER message must have gotten across to him who had watched, watched-over her for almost five years. He quieted for the next few months; military training perhaps? She did not really know if she should leap high, twirl a pirouette, scream shrilly, laugh crazily. Or…

Stalked! By Jing Villamil THIS is a true story told by her who was stalked. And by him who stalked her since he was sixteen and she was a year younger. She was new in his school but this was not what caught his attention at once. She had the…