Fisherboy (7 of 11)

March 23-29

Fisherboy: Imaginarily Directed By Ishmael Bernal

A Story by Jonathan Aquino (7 of 11)

That night, they found Orlando, the young assistant of Bugoy's father, in front of the boy's nipa house. Orlando, who looks like Sid Lucero in Tambolista, was sewing their net under a gas lamp.   

               

"Kuya Orlando, it's dark already!" said Bugoy, concerned.

"I need to fix this rip before it gets bigger, Bugoy," he replied.

The gas lamp was hanging from the lowest branch of a kamachile tree, where Orlando was leaning, sitting on a driftwood. Jay sat down on a log in front of him. Bugoy carried a rock and set it on Orlando's right and Jay's left. The young boy sat on it, and they can see the black ocean on Orlando's left. Cicadas were singing along to the chorus of the waves.

"By the way," Orlando looked at Jay, "thank you for helping us with the net."

 Jay smiled. "I enjoyed it!" Even from the weak light, he can tell that Orlando is a good person but his eyes seemed...haunted.

 "Kuya Orlando helps my father, "Kuya Jay," Bugoy said, overjoyed at the meeting of the two people he wishes were his true brothers. "He lives in the next barrio," he added. "But," he continued in jest, "once he buys his own boat..."

"Don't worry, Bugoy," smiled Orlando. "I have no plans!" He turned to Jay. "You're with Mang Prudy, right?"

"Yes," Jay nodded. "But kuya," he asked, "isn't that the dream of all fishermen? To have his own boat?"

"That's for those who are contented with their lives," Orlando said softly, nearly a whisper. "You know, being a fisherman is decent work. But," he sighed. "The truth is, I don't want to be like this forever."

"But why?" asked Jay, confused. "I even asked Tsong to let me stay here so I could be a fisherman!"

"You can say that now because you haven't experienced it yet," Orlando told him kindly.

"But it looks fun," said Jay weakly. "This afternoon, in the aplaya, it seemed like a fiesta..."

 "Everything in life is both happy and sad, Jay," said Orlando. "You'll understand that when you get older. Besides, I think it's only human to try to find where we'll be happy. Me..." Orlando shook his head. "This is not what I want. That's why, you two, the best you can do is to finish school! Don't be like me! I'm nearly thirty and I've never even finished elementary! So there, I can't find work! You're both too young to understand, but nothing is more painful than looking back and seeing that you have wasted your life..."

At dawn the next day, Temyong, who looks like Eddie Garcia in Deathrow, was waking Jay.

"What's the matter, Tatay Temyong?" the boy moaned sleepily.

The old fisherman laughed. "I thought you said you'll come fishing!"

"Oh!" Jay exclaimed, sitting up.

"Okay," chuckledTemyong. "Breakfast is ready!"

Jay followed him to the kitchen groggily.

"Here, Jay," said Miling, fussing about the kitchen. "There's tinapa and fried rice!"

"Thank you, Nanay Miling," said Jay, using a dipper to get water from a large clay jar. He gargled over the sink made of criss-crossed bamboo slices. Water sluiced through it to the ground below the house.

All the while, the roosters in the backyard were crowing.

"Here's your coffee, Jay," Miling hovered over him maternally as he sat down.

"Let's eat together, Nanay Miling!" said the boy. "Oh, you go ahead, don't mind me!" said the spinster, packing some food in banana leaves.

"Still sleepy, Jay?" asked Temyong, amused. He was eating with his hand, one leg up the stool. "Want to go back to bed?"

"No, no, Tatay Temyong!" the boy protested, laughing. "I'm wide awake!" he declared, suppressing a yawn.

To Be Continued Next Saturday Night On The 2Rivers Saturday Evening Posts

(Photos courtesy of flickr.com,crunchyroll.com, entertainment.inquirer.net)

From The Journal of Jonathan Aquino aka Huggybear

March 4, 2013 
1:01 p.m., Monday 

I'm on floating status. The exhilarating sense of freedom makes me giddy. Apparently I can still join the enhancement class when I get my NBI clearance. Today is supposed to be the earliest release date. I went there earlier but they said it now takes 12, instead of 10, business days. The earliest will be Wednesday. Now I have free time. Not much cash but I'll get by. I have a lot of personal projects to do anyway. I now also have the option of applying in another company but the advantage of being in my present company is the daily allowance which they give three times a week. So I'm losing income 

But I will definitely maximize my sudden short, though not exactly unexpected, vacation. I'll do stuff that will bring me fulfillment that money can't buy. Everything that happens to me is good. I'm a child of the universe!

"You are a child of the universe!
no less than the trees and the stars!
You have a right to be here..."

© Max Ehrmann 1927.

Narrated by TV icon Les Crane,

music by Fred Werner.

Best Spoken Word Recording 

Grammy Awards 1971.

Desiderata is Latin for

"Something desired as essential"

10:10 p.m. 

Just got home after filming the first of the Huggybear's Travels documentary series. I will post it on YouTube as soon as I upload and edit them tomorrow. It's on the Cebu Capitol, the public library and the museum

(See Huggybear's Short Films) 

I had dinner in the sidewalk, like, literally. Actually its on the road. There was a vendor of fried chicken innards and pu-soh rice across JY (the locals pronounce it as GY) mall and I was on her only stool. Her son's dogs are friendly too 

I did not feel the least bit embarrassed. I was focusing on the experience itself, detached from the audience, which is an exercise in Method acting 

Example of Method Acting Exercise

Yup, just like Marlon Brando

Top 10 Marlon Brando Performances

Besides, as they say, when in Rome... 

One of the nicest things here in Cebu are those vending-machine-style water dispenser. You drop a 1 peso coin and you catch the water in the little plastic bags in a little compartment. Saves you a lot of money

Here's the thing: I forgot my coin purse at my other pair of pants so I ran out of coins. I tried to change a 5 peso coin in a store but the guy there said he has no change. A habal-habal tricycle driver who was there drinking softdrinks magnanimously gave me a peso coin. I deeply appreciate it but I graciously refused. But I'll remember his face and I will hire him to take me to Tops 

From The Journal of Jonathan Aquino aka Huggybear

March 3, 2013 
8:09 p.m., Sunday 

My article Forever Jung: Study of Jungian Psychology in Pinoy Pop Culture, appears today in Philippine Panorama, the weekend magazine of Manila Bulletin. As I wrote on the cover letter:

Carl Jung, with his revolutionary insights and formidable intellect, had dedicated his life in finding that elusive, primordial link between the individual and the collective consciousness of humanity. His revolutionary insights has become the template in the development of modern psychology

Jung Documentary

"Death Is Not The End"

"We Are The Evil"

From The Journal of Jonathan Aquino aka Huggybear

March 2, 2013 
8:11 p.m., Saturday 
Cebu City 

I'll be making documentaries. Wow, that's a awesome opening! But I'll talk about that in the future. Today, rest day from work, I went downtown. I took some videos in Magellan's Cross. Some of the local women would perform the Sinulog dance for free if you buy their multicolored candles as prayer offerings. 

Then I went to Fort San Pedro, built during the Spanish-era, in Plaza Independencia behind the Santo Niño Basilica 

In one of the side streets downtown, I found literary treasure: Superbeings by John Randolph Price, a guide to your Higher Self. Then there's W.E. Butler's How To Read The Aura. And then there's The Human Aura by Nicholas Regus. 

My most prized acquisition is the rare The Silva Mind Control Method For Getting Help From Your Other Side by the legendary Jose Silva. You can never find these in bookstores or even Amazon anymore.

Silva Method Videos:

Jose and Laura Silva Explaining The Basics of The Silva Method

Jose Silva Method of Mind Control

Silva Method - Mind Mastery Training Session by Laura Silva & Jose Silva

The Silva Centering Exercise Meditation - Silva Method

Learn How To Manifest With The Silva Method

Silva Life System Exercises Overview

The Silva Method's Reality Architects Explained!

Jose Silva's Ultra Mind 9 Lessons Free

John Randolph Price - Message of Hope for 2012 and Beyond

I lost my original copy of the Silva book during the Ondoy flood of 2009 when I was still in Manila. My entire library was destroyed including some 1960s vintage editions of Reader's Digest and a lot of out-of-print books with authors ranging from science fiction god whats-his-name to George Kennan, the architect of the Marshall Plan. Having a copy means a lot to me, one of the many reasons why I know I did the right thing in coming here. I got my 4 Cebu books for only 25 pesos, or less than a dollar, haggling all the way although Cebu is not a bargain haven. I imagine I would be very happy bargaining my way in those famous flea markets in Hong Kong and Thailand when I go there. 

And I will, all around the world, "if the fates allow, hang a shining star upon the highest bough, and have yourself a merry little Christmas now..."