by Cesar Miguel Escaño

Though he and his brother arrived early, Pedro felt he was late to the tournament. It was his first time to attend the National Sungka Championships, the most prestigious sungka competition in the country, though he had qualified for the turn-based game of strategy six years before. 

Better late than never, Pedro thought, as he surveyed the game tables and the competitors who had arrived before him. 

He counted 32 tables in total for 64 competitors, two competitors per table for a match. At this time before the tournament, the tables were empty. The sungkahan, the narrow wooden board used to play the game, would be distributed for each table twenty minutes before the start of the tournament to prevent players from tampering with any board before their match. 

Anne Carly Abad received the Poet of the Year Award in the 2017 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards. Her work has appeared in Apex, Mythic Delirium, and Strange Horizons, to name a few. Her first poetry collection, We’ve Been Here Before, is published by Aqueduct Press. Anne is also the sole proprietor of Art In Jewels and enjoys the aerial arts through Elite Aerial Arts.

by Anne Carly Abad

Webbed lines of electricity flitted across the Motherlode’s network of metal neurons. Evan thought it funny that despite all the rage about Live Vision, they were still using thumb drives to upload shows to Mother. He let his thoughts fly and tuned in to the broadcast, just to make sure the sound and video were good. The actors’ faces were clear. Volume was just right. No lag.

Okay, done. And he disconnected himself. The images dissipated into thin air. He handed back the thumb drive to Maia. He tried not to look at her face.

Maia took it from him, flinching at an accidental brush of their fingers. Their hearts raced in synch. I’m sorry! She apologized again, and again, and again, but never met his eyes. It was a mere touch. She didn’t need to act so guilty about it, thought Evan.

What’s wrong? Want to talk about it?

Dan Merais is a Cavite-based fiction writer. In 2020, he graduated with the degree of MA in Psychology Major in Clinical Psychology in De La Salle University- Dasmariñas. He worked as a writing consultant for 8 years, but he is now working as a psychology professor in De La Salle University – Dasmariñas. He has published two science-fiction short stories (“The Teleporting Man” and “A Nightmare on RPS Obsidian”) in Pinoy Sci-Fi anthologies. He aims to make science fiction more popular in the Philippines. Dan is also a mental health advocate, which is why he wrote the novel entitled Lana that was launched during the last Manila International Book Fair. He has another, “The Hummingbird Paradox“, due out at this year’s MIBF.

by Dan Merais

(Warning: this story involves suicide as a topic and may cause reactions in the emotionally challenged. It is recommended that in the event such emotions are triggered, please click here for the National Center for Mental Health crisis hotline of the Philippines.)

When Philip woke up this morning, he said to himself, I want to die now. 

So that’s what he did. 

But before that, he had a small celebration for his last day on Earth. First, he had sunny side-ups. Then, he bought fried chicken and beer. Also razor blades.

Back at home, he watched Groundhog Day, his favorite film. It gave him time to think about whether he still wanted to die. When he was done watching it, he grabbed the razor blades and proceeded to his bathroom.

In the past few weeks, he read about different ways to commit suicide. In the end, he decided to kill himself in his bathtub since it seemed to be the most comfortable way to die. After filling his bathtub with warm water, he sat in it, slit his wrists, watched his blood spread in the water, and waited to finally lose consciousness.

This was where it should have ended.

If it wasn’t for Life Corp.