by KB Meniado

Image by Наталья Маркина on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

Chapter One – Final Boarding Call

Some would say four hours of flight time is short.

I’m not one of them.

Sure, I’ve taken longer flights before, but four hours is still long enough to make me very aware of the hum of the plane engine and the many directions my thoughts can take in a flying metal tube.

I plan to sleep through this late-night flight, but first, I will go through my photo gallery and cling to that wonderful week in Hong Kong and Macau with friends—birthday celebrations, endless dim sum, and too many photos and steps I’m not quite ready to move on from yet. We just said goodbye at the lounge less than thirty minutes ago, after all.

I could’ve flown home with everyone. My sister Robbie would’ve loved that—especially with the promise of egg tart pasalubong. But multiple flights and more time in the air just weren’t for me. I’d gotten used to flying in and out of Davao instead of connecting via Manila.

So I chose the more practical route: Hong Kong straight to Singapore.

by Mina V. Esguerra

Guest-editor Mina V. Esguerra

Hello to the readers of Philippine Genre Stories, and thank you for welcoming contemporary romance to your space!

My name is Mina V. Esguerra, author of contemporary romance, independent publisher, founder of the RomanceClass writing community, co-founding editor of the Blush Books imprint of Komiket, and media agent for RomanceClass adaptations through LA-based Bold Management & Production. I love reading romance, and I love thinking about it too—especially in the context of what romance by Filipino authors has done, is doing, what more it could do, for all of us.

So…what is it then? What has been done, what are we doing, and why does it matter?

Yeyet Soriano is a multigenre author who specializes in speculative fiction, contemporary romance, poetry, and crime fiction.

Based in Manila, Philippines, her day job is that of a cross-regional IT leader for Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and Latin America for a multinational corporation. She is a people leader, a coach, and a mentor.

She has a very supportive husband who has never read any of her works (he only reads to fall asleep). They have three wonderfully unique kids, each with their own idiosyncrasies.

by Yeyet Soriano

Image by Jenny Mavimiro on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

She has forgotten what she had needed to do. 

She is standing on the top of the stairs connecting the first and second floors of their house. Was she coming down or had she just reached the top? She isn’t sure. Her mind is foggy with sleep. 

She looks down and she is wearing a full pajama set in black with white trim and her gray fluffy bedroom slippers. Strange, she never wears her bedroom slippers outside the bedroom. Is she dreaming? She suddenly becomes aware of her throat feeling parched and slightly irritated. 

Ah, that’s it. She must have been on her way down to drink a glass of water. 

She descends from the stairs slowly. Patches of moonlight stream through the big window in the living room, so it isn’t completely dark. She enters the kitchen and pours herself a cold glass of water from the refrigerator. As she drinks, bits and pieces of the nightmare that must have woken her come flooding back.

Help me!

A young girl’s voice, but sounding muffled and far away.

Ysabelle C. Bartolome teaches at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She likes reading women in translation and manga.