3rd Place Winner
FICTION
Bathala: a Biomythography pt. 1 by Scott Ortega-Nanos
Today is the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It’s a time when Catholic families come together, to honor the sacred birth of Mary herself, who is said to have been born without sin. It is also said that Mary, so full of grace, never sinned once, in her entire life. According to Catholic history, Jesus died on the cross to save the souls of everyone, because everyone needed to be saved. Everyone—Norma laughed to herself—except for his dear nanay. Norma loves her nanay too, but she’s especially fond of her father. Tatay Gerardo has always had a fierce, lifelong devotion to the Blessed Mother, and even custom designed a statue of Her, with an ivory head and hands which could be removed, manipulated, and then re-affixed in order to mirror the spirits of different holidays. Tonight, Norma and Tatay will pray to the statue together, and prepare it for the festival mass. *** After lunch, Norma boards a train bound for Los Banos, Laguna; her home. Los Banos is only 50 miles south of the capital, but trains move slow, and the track is winding, built wherever a path was available; sometimes wedged tightly in between rows of shanties, other times, slapped together over deep ravines, where the rail groans and shivers, and one can reach out and almost touch the tops of palm trees. The air is hot and damp, heavy with yesterday’s rainfall. Norma drifts off into sleep.
African Voices 17
