Category Archives: Uncategorized

Last Stand At Ayala Center

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I placed a hand on the small of the pharmacist’s back, feeling the skin dimpling there, as she shifted nearer towards me. I slid my hand lower, and pressed my breasts to her back, hearing her hiss softly between her teeth. I was about to ease my hand to the front of her dress, when she stopped me.

“Let me,” she murmured.

I allowed myself to be eased onto the bed and undressed, her calm and calloused hands relaxing every inch they pressed into the mattress. Very easy when you’re sprawled across a 300-thread count king bed, in one of this city’s most expensive hotels. She kissed me, caressing my cheeks, tracing the shell of my earlobe, my breasts, dipping into my navel. Her hand slid lower and deeper, into the space between my legs.

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Nardo

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3

Long before the automobiles came into view, Nardo had carefully set down the tree he was carrying. He took out his faded kerchief to wipe sweat and grime off his face. Though he had been a recluse for years, he didn’t want to appear uncouth. By the time the cars emerged from among the trees and the morning mist, the somewhat neater Nardo had buttoned up his camiza chino. He waited by the horizontal tree which, not quite accidentally, happened to block the rest of the path.

Nardo presumed that the people in the automobiles would be looking for him. Nobody else stayed around these parts. No one else could cut this deep into the forests of Montalban. Nardo had cleared a way through the trees with his bare hands, and the path ended at his hut and little farm.

He knew that they had not simply lost their way. People in convoys usually had very specific destinations.

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A Diverse Set, And A Reminder

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Joseph Nacino takes over as guest-editor for this next set of four tales, which, if one were to categorize them, would be: alternative myth/reality, science-fiction/horror, crime, and fantasy/action/adventure. The alternative myth/reality work brings together Philippine national heroes with our country’s legendary strong man; the science-fiction/horror tale brings us viruses and zombies in Makati; the crime story involves murder (natch, hehe) and a cover-up in more ways than one; and the fantasy/action/adventure piece has stunts galore. A most diverse set of tales, these four. They start tomorrow! Enjoy!

A reminder: Here’s a link to the call for submissions and reading period! Send in your stories, please! Thanks!

The Promise Of Love

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1

Carina hadn’t noticed the letter right away. She had gotten up early, earlier than usual, not having slept much. It was a night of troubled dreams, sleep had come fitfully when it did, and she was already wide awake when daylight slowly sharpened in her room. When she finally threw off the blanket, it was past six o’clock. She puttered about the living area of her condo, sipping absent-mindedly at her coffee. The wedding wouldn’t be until five p.m., and she had plenty of time to get ready and think how it was even possible that this day had arrived. A day she had waited for all her life was now upon her, and for years she had steeled herself against the ever-more-real possibility that it would never be hers, and now that it was hers, now that she knew an unfortunate soul like hers could still find true love and get married at the ripe old age of forty-two, something deep within her softly rippled with apprehension.

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The Tower And The Kite (Part 2)

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VI

Twenty floors up, midday, and Anita was feeling too dizzy to continue. Hovering between heaven and earth was disorienting. The ground below widened on all sides, the world curving beneath her. She could already see the horizon on all sides of her. Beyond and above her lay an ever-expanding infinity. Isolated from everything else, she had nothing with her but the howling of the winds and the monumental tower that stood equably beside her. The rope that was the only thing real to her touch swayed on and on in the clashing of winds.

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