"In the bottom of Pandora's Box" by Acha and Borromeo

In the bottom of Pandora’s Box

By Bryan Acha and Mika Borromeo

It was the last day of summer but the first day of her life. Leila caught herself staring blankly at her bag. She looked around the shanti she considered as home and was overcome by a burst of emotion. A flash of her past played through her brain as if as a movie that was on replay.

It was the first day of elementary and Leila walked into her home sobbing. There she stood at the doorstep looking at her mother, who was caring for her 5 other siblings.

Mud covered her white blouse and her blue and white plaid skirt. “Anong nagyari anak?

Pumunta ka dito,” her mother said. Leila walked towards her mama and said not a single word but her face said it all. A couple of her schoolmates pushed her unto the muddy ground because she knew how to add fractions well. Whilst wiping the tears from Leila’s face her mother lovingly said, “Leila, tandaan mo na ang iniisip ng ibang tao ay hindi panukat sa iyong kagalingan.” Leila sheepishly nodded and walked away.

Leila woke up the next day to the sound of crying and screaming. She ran towards the noise to see her father cradling her mama, who was not moving. Her mother would not wake up from her sleep. Confused and distraught Leila stood there staring while her father screamed to call for help. She could not move a single muscle until her younger sister Carmela pulled on her arm and screamed “Ate!” Leila then realized what she must do. She ran to look for their one cellphone but could not find it. The screams of her father and her infant siblings rattled and confused her, making it difficult to find the phone.

After a few minutes she found it snuck in between the pages of her mother’s spiral

notebook. She quickly dialed the number for the nearest hospital and the first thing she heard was, “You have insufficient funds to make this outgoing call.” Leila fell to the ground, threw the phone against the wall and started to scream and cry. Her father was shocked by what he saw, their only phone and their only way of calling an ambulance, destroyed. He ran out of their home screaming, “SAKLOLO!” Her mother died due to sudden unexpected death syndrome, which is more commonly known as bangungot. During the small funeral Leila did not cry, not once. As her father spoke of her mama’s beautiful heart, as the coffin went six feet underground, not a single tear rolled down her cheeks. Leila stayed, she watched as four men poured dirt all over her mama’s coffin and as they placed fresh grass over the small plot of land.

There was only one thing coursing through her mind the whole day; it was the thought that she failed her mama, the thought that she didn’t fight hard enough for her.

The following day was more difficult than expected. Leila felt this sense of something missing and something was. Her father did not leave his room the whole day and the daily grind was left to the hands of poor Leila. The next months were even worse.

Leila’s father had to work longer hours to be able to earn enough money so she was left with the responsibility of her younger siblings, one she was not ready for.

It was late afternoon and Leila was taking care of her younger siblings. She was going to help Carmela with her homework but needed a pen. She went looking through their home but had no luck. After a thorough search Leila finally found it in between the pages of her mother’s spiral notebook. When she took the pen she saw something written on the page. There was one line scribbled on the top, it went, “Hindi sumusuko ang pagmamahal.” Then it hit her; she realized that she was slowly giving up. Her grades in

school have gone down since she no longer focused on her studies but instead on her siblings. Leila thought she was doing the right thing but she realized that maybe she should listen to her mama for one last time.

For the coming months and even years Leila committed to excellence in everything she did. She started focusing more in class, submitted requirements ahead of time and managed to get perfect in every exam that came her way. She realized that the only way she can fight for her mother is by achieving greatness and dedicating her hard work for her mama.

From elementary valedictorian to high school valedictorian and to being awarded a merit scholarship in the Ateneo, Leila has fulfilled her promise to her mama, who in life and in death never gave up on her.

Leila caught herself staring at her bag again. In the midst of her getting ready for her first day in university she learned something new. Despite the Pandora’s Box of hell that was unleashed unto her family she has finally found the hope that was there all along, the hope that was always with her mother and the hope that she would share to others.