Chapter 1: Expectations

Cebu the queen city of the south was quite a beautiful city. But all the more her attention was hooked to its one particular barangay named kalikasan.

Hila-hila ang isang malaking maleta habang nakasukbit sa balikat ang isang backpack at halos mahilo-hilo sa haba ng kanyang binyahe. Yvonne Xia Dion still manage to smile. Sulit naman ang haba ng binyahe niya dahil sa ngayo'y kanyang nakikita.

Ang barangay kalikasan ay parang isang paraiso sa gitna ng syudad ng cebu.

Her gaze roamed around sa abot ng kanyang matatanaw and she marveled at the sight of all the green lands and its magnificent beauty.

The sun shone to its full glorious heat pero ganun pa man hindi iyon naging hadlang sa gandang natatanaw. Suot ang kanyang wayfarers, isang simpleng puting t-shirt at pantalong maong and her sneakers, her hair in a ponytail. She turned her attention to the driver of the vehicle she had just ridden in three and a half long hours.

The old man politely smiled at her matapos niyang ibigay ang pamasaheng pinag-kasunduan nila.

"Pasensya ka na, ineng at hanggang dito lang kita puwedeng ihatid. Ito na ang bukanang dulo ng barangay kalikasan. Hindi na kasi makakapasok sa looban pa itong tricycle ko at masyado nang makipot ang daanan at matutulis ang mga bato't hindi pa nasi-semento. Basta deretsohin mo lang ang daang yan. Sa dulo ng daan na yan nariyan ang bahay ng tiya Fe at Mang Karding mo. Iyan lang ang makikita mong bahay sa dulo, may kalayuan din kasi talaga ang mga bahay dito. Nasa kabilang dulo pa ang kapitbahay mo. Mas malayo yun sa inyo, ang Karancho Legarde. Yun ang pinakadulo at halos sakop na ng pag-aari nila ang buong barangay kalikasan maging ang kabilang baryo. Ang gamit namang transportasyon ng pamilyang Legarde eh kabayo kapag dito sila dadaan. May isa pa namang daanan ang pamilyang Legarde at puwedeng daanan ng sasakyan. Okay lang namang doon dumaan ineng, sobrang mababait naman ng mga Legarde kahit mayaman ay sobrang mapagkumbaba at matulungin sa mga tao. Marami narin silang naitulong sa amin at talagang wala silang kapintasan. Kaya walang problema, ineng. Pero iyon nga lang mas mapapalayo ka, isa pa ito talaga ang daan pa inyo." A long and brief instruction from the old man where she should go from where she stood with a bits of side stories was laid before her. Mang Kanor said it animetedly, instructing her with a lot of hand guestures trying his best to demonstrate for her to understand his stumbled tagalog-visayan words.

She nodded understandingly. "Okay lang po. Marami pong salamat sa pagtunton niyo po sa akin dito." Tipid niya pang wika at maaliwalas na nakangiti sa matanda.

"Naku ineng, walang problema. Isa pa baryo ko din naman itong barangay kalikasan. Lahat ng tao dito magkakakilala at nagtutulungan talaga kami dito. Kaibigan ko naman ang mag-asawang Fe at Karding. Isa pa'y malayong kamag-anak ka kamo ng mag-asawa, kaya ituturing narin kitang kababaryo ko. Mao nang wala jud nay kaso nako."

She awkwardly smiled at the old man dahil sa dalawang rason. The first one, was she feel guilty to the old man dahil nag-sinungaling siya ditong malayong kamag-anak siya ng kanyang yaya, her Nana Fe, gayong mula pa kanina ang tanging ipinakita nito sa kanya ay purong kabaitan lamang. Ang pangalawang rason niya ay dahil sa huling linyang sinabi nito na hindi niya nakuhang intindihin dahil sa ibang lenggwahe ang gamit nito.

But Mang Kanor seemed to understand her latter delima, he then abruptly added. "Naku, pasensya ka na ineng at ang hirap magtagalog. Bumabaluktot ang dila ko at matigas ang pananagalog ko. Pero ang ibig kong sabihin eh, walang kaso sa akin ang paghatid sa'yo dito." Magiliw pa itong ngumiti sa kanya.

"Aahh. Naiintindihan ko po." Her bright smile again showed. Nakakaintinding tumango-tango pa siya sa mabait na matandang si Mang Kanor. Somehow she feel delighted at the kind of his warm welcome.

"Pero ineng, sigurado ka bang okay lang sa'yong mag-isa ka rito? Kung may kailangan ka magsabi ka lang at huwag kang mahihiya. Nasa sentro ang karamihan sa taga-baryo. Naroon din ang bahay naming mag-anak, welcome ka doon sa amin. Maliit man ang bahay namin eh magkakasya din naman tayo doon kahit papaano. Puwede ka ring humingi ng tulong sa kahit sino ditong taga-baryo. Basta magsabi ka lang ineng at walang pagdadalawang isip kang tutulungan ng lahat dito at patutuluyin ka agad sa mga tahanan nila. Kababaryo ka narin namin eh."

"Maraming salamat po ulit Mang Kanor. Huwag po kayong mag-alala sa'kin kaya ko na po 'to. Hihingi nalang po ako ng tulong sa inyo kapag siguradong hindi ko na po talaga kaya." Maaliwalas ang mukhang pagpapasalamat niya sa matanda kalakip ang isang matamis na ngiti.

The old man seemed reluctant to go off and leave her there, kaya naman nginitian niya ito assuring him that she'll be just fine. Before he turned to leave he added. "At siya nga pala hija bago ko makalimutan. Si Ferdie, siya ang binatang katu-katulong ng tiyang Fe mo dito. Kung may kailangan ka huwag kang mahiyang lapitan ang batang yun." That's when Mang Kanor nodded to her and left her with a wave of goodbye after she had thanked him.

Muli niyang hinarap ang itinuro nitong daan. Grabbing her luggage in hand. Sinimulan na niyang tahakin ang makipot na daan na patungo sa kanyang bagong tahanan na simula sa araw na ito ay magiging tahanan na niya sa mga darating pang buwan.

She had no choice but to flee and left home that same day. She only left a letter for her yaya-- explaining everything-- why she needed to go. Ito narin ang bahalang magpaliwanag sa kanyang tito't tita why she left. Dalawang buwan lang naman ang hiningi niya at babalik din agad matapos makapag-isip. After that, she'll face everything.

She had deprived herself for weeks of thinking about everything that's going on in her life. Now it's time for her to really think. She hadn't truly mourn and let herself grieve for her loss. Hindi pa nga siya tapos sa pagluluksa sa ama and then another problem came knocking at her door sweeping her off. That made her world turned upside down. Turning it to three hundred sixty degree without her realizing it.

It may be her father's way of fixing his daughter. Alam naman kasi ng papa niya na hindi niya kakayanin ang pagkawala nito and that maybe coaxed him to do this drastic decision in fixing her a marriage. Iron-ing everything for her. And that left her only one thing but to wear what was already fixed before her.

What a clever old man you are papa. So cruel.

But before anything else, she needed a breathing space from everything. She needed to be as far away from everything that deals and goes with it.

That's when she made a decision to come here.

She snapped out of her own reverie and stared in disbelief at the bleak prospect before her.

Okay, this isn't what she expected. She drew a shaky breath, panic began to surged through her.

This couldn't be her yaya's place! But then she thought, nothing she expects seemed to go right for the last weeks, anyway. Not that she expects it to be grand, but this was the very least of what she had thought.

Slowly, as if in pure dazed, Yvonne shook her head to get rid of that ugly feeling that was now beginning to crept to her every nerve.

Stand before her was a house. A very small house to be specific, made out of light materials-- which was leaning drunkenly at an angle, and a sagging bamboo fence served as the gate na kulang nalang ay hihiga na ito. Pakiramdam niya isang ihip lang ng hangin ay lilipad na ang bahay, mauuna lang saglit ang gate.

Sa kaliwang bahagi nito naroon ang puso negro na sa awa ng Diyos yun lang yata ang maayos-ayos sa kanyang tingin. Thank heaven! She has a clean source of water. Habang sa kanang bahagi ng bahay may isang matikas na itim na kabayong nakasilong habang ngumangat-ngat ng damo.

Sa kabilang dako ng bakod ilang kilometro ang layo sa bahay may mataas na corral, at the far end of it was a shed trice the size of the house. Dinig pa niya ang iyak ng mga hayop na sigurado siyang mga baboy at biik. Habang sa paligid kanya-kanyang grupo ang mga baka at kambing.

She numbly stood with a bulging eye ng makita ang isang puting kambing na may sungay. He proudly stood infront of his peers with his head, held high. It wasn't exactly the proud animal that had made her almost stumble on the green grass where she stood nor its long curved horns-- but it was that small white fabric on his head that was desperately clinging on its right horn and sticking to his face it made him almost impossible to see.

Oh, good grief!

Yvonne's jaw dropped. Surely, what she saw made her cringed. One hundred and one percent, she was sure that what she's seeing was a man's undergarments.

And oh, she almost forgot, to make this scenario more worse, the one and only chicken. She just hoped that bird has a heart and would give her some of her eggs para mailuto niya dahil kanina pa siyang nagugutom sa haba ng kanyang binyahe.

Calming herself, inisip nalang niyang sa loob-- ng munting magiging tahanan niya simula ngayon-- ay hindi naman ganun kasama gaya ng nakikita niya dito sa labas. She hoped with her crossed fingers.

Wala na siyang ibang magagawa, narito na naman siya might as well accept everything with a cool mind and a positive thinking and wished to have a very long patience.

She definitely can't back out. Now that she's already here, she hadn't had much of a choice in any way though. Wala na siyang ibang mapupuntahan na hindi matu-tunton ng kanyang pamilya kundi ang lugar lang na ito. They wouldn't think of her to be here, her yaya's place. Wala kahit isa man ang nakakaalam na narito siya. Even her yaya Fe have no idea where she went. She didn't include it in her letter.

She had just known and heard of this place from the mouth of her yaya Fe. Her yaya had always been telling stories about this place called the queen city of the south where layed a paradise at the center of its city. Hearing it from her yaya, even before, made her curious and was even fond of hearing more stories of this particular barangay called kalikasan. How her Nana Fe's eyes shone everytime she told her how beautiful this city is, specially this barangay kalikasan.

That's when a decision came to her. Actuality of it was that she had thought and remembered of this barangay kalikasan just that night, when everything had crumbled before her feet. She thought, it wouldn't hurt her to take a look at the place and stayed for a couple months. From what she had heard from her yaya kung gaano ka simple ngunit napakaganda ng lugar na ito, iyon ang talagang nagtulak sa kanya na dito na muna manatili ng dalawang buwan before she crawl back to her own fortress that wasn't a fortress anymore but a beautiful cage for her. But that wouldn't change the fact that a cage is still a cage.