Chapter Thirty Three: Maria's Abduction

It was the moonsoon season in the Philippines, between the months of July and August, which means that thunderstorms are very prevalent in the northern part of the archipelago, especially in the late afternoons. Also called the wet season, typhoons are expected to form from the vast Pacific Ocean that usually enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility, some traverse the country while others recurve towards the vicinity of Japan. These storms cause heavy rainfall that result to the inundation in rural areas, as well as in the several cities, including those composing Metro Manila that comprises the National Capital Region, where sustained monsoon rains are now prevalent due to climate change. 

But today, it was a great day. The sun is up, and there are no storm advisories from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. In the great Tagalog language, pag-asa means hope, and the rains that are needed for agricultural crops to grow are brought about by the rainy days, which is a testament to the aptly named government agency to refer to the need for irrigation water in the ricefields constituting nominal hope as the primary means of livelihood.

Hope is very important during those days (even today, which is true), specifically in Cabanatuan where people mostly work in farms run by the agribusinesses and the Cooperatives organized for the farmers' welfare. It was the end of the time of harvest, and a new cropping season is about to start in a few weeks time, while everybody is now busy working in postharvest. Hope, as it is known, is the necessary motivation needed for a more productive harvest to come.

That being said, Maria (as she was abruptly introduced earlier) is a nine year old girl who is tending to her sick mother. At a very young age, she was already been introduced to the big responsibilities in life by learning how to cook, do the laundry, and tend to the household chores, while her father was employed to work in the agricultural lands. She goes to school for a brief moment in the day, and then care for her sick mother after that. Life is hard as it can be, and hope in ways to be imagined becomes important more than ever in motivating the dreams to come true.

But Maria de Guzman is not an ordinary child. She holds inside her a power that came from out of this world, and she is completely unaware of this condition. Everyday, while walking on the roadside to deliver food to her father when school is off during Saturdays, she is radiating with that super power. It was a dark and evil ploy that brought her in this place, away from the endless possibilities that she can become, if only she knew how she can fully unleash, embody, and realize that power.

She was abducted from her real parents immediately after birth.

The reasons are still unknown as to why she was destined to live in the fertile lands of Central Luzon, although life in Nueva Ecija is not as poor as anyone from the West can stereotype. Her abduction was a result of an ever changing manifestation of the Magic of Christmas, and even competent magicians will be confused with all the strong rhetoric surrounding this kidnapping that ultimately leads to no where. And this is proof that manipulation is on its way to be undetected, vicious, and atrocious.

A bloody Christmas will take its course sooner than later, and in the foreseeable future; it will catapult her to the destiny where she has a strong part to play. Maybe she does not know it yet, but she needed to cling to every hope at all times. The universe will conspire to help her surpass what is coming, although worry will be largely felt. And then this will start with the cure for the reversal of the tragic death of her mother. The potion is on the way to fulfill this promise of the Christnas magic.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf will soon become a host to a monster that he would reluctantly embrace, and to avoid the many complications, he must stay in a magical coma. Then, the Battle of the Imagination will inevitably take place, and the Bridge will be taken over by a planned barricade.

It is better to make contact with her as soon as possible, without unduely alarming the state of the staus quo.

x--------x

Chapter paid for by Adidas.