A Chill in the Wind

Weight CARL HASON GERALE

SCRIBES AND SCRIBBLERS

Illustrations by Alexandra Bachoco Angela Coronel Christian Dominic Ledesma Jaziel Ann Seballos Mikey Vincent Vicente

Words by Carl Hason Gerale Hana Patricia Raj Hautea Immalie Rose Cafifge Kristine Rodriguez Bayadog Krizzia Ricci Nepomuceno Lance Christian Juarez Paula Mae Villarosa

1. Kristine Rodriguez Bayadog (Trapeze)

A trapeze hangs boldly at the center of a tent—seemingly judging in its idle state. Locals say it was once owned by a Filipina warrior who invented a fighting style of mid-air swinging and physical combat.

Passed down through generations, this legendary tool never once swung for any man it deems unworthy despite the number of scars on its surface, engraved by time. Now, it poses a great challenge to performers and audiences alike to try and bear the weight of its flight.

2. Jaziel Ann Seballos (Unicyclist)

Looking down from a penrose path of a single wheel makes the race more perilous with every cycle—she knows this by heart. So without a glance at the huddling audience below, focus on the labyrinthine tightrope, she takes one deep breath. And with years of mastery grappled with all her might, she pedals like no one ever could. Like no one ever did.

3. Paula Mae Villarosa (Tightrope Walker)

An abrupt hush falls over the circus goers as the famed wirewalker takes her stance. Poised and precise, she toes the precarious rope one meticulous step at a time, reaching the other end with a deceivingly natural ease. Her body trembling, she breathes a heavy sigh of relief— not for her safe travels, but for yet another successful act.

4. Ferry Lyra Fronda (Escape Artist)

“I doubt you’ll escape from that!” a man yells before the air erupts with the buzzing of doubt. As she swings upside-down from a 30-foot drop, everything looks different—the audience, the sky, the boldness she exudes, and the distance to the ground from where she hangs.

And in one fell swoop, the sleeves of her straitjacket dangle beside her head as the chains on her legs screech with the crowd’s applause.

5. Joshua Martin Guanco (Marionette)

A wooden, meek-faced boy sits cross-legged on center stage.

With the curtains drawn, he waits for his cue as he does every night: without choice. Strings tug, curtains draw, and he waltzes gracefully, but with a facade bleeding of grimace. Though no matter the scowl and disgust, the audience always applauds his dazzling performance. And after a show, he bows begrudgingly and he gets raised above for all to see—crucified, hung, but still alive.

6. Edward Timothy Nubla (Human Cannonball)

A hollow metal cylinder is arced to the heavens, angled just enough to hit the bullseye. A figure grabs hold of the lengthy fuse at the cannon’s rear and nonchalantly lights it with a match. Gasps can be heard as the man walks along the girthy muzzle of the machine and settles himself inside. Locked and loaded. A needle drops as the fuse disappears and—kaboom. He tumbles into the air with ash and dust, flipping and slicing through the smoke, only to land perfectly on the spotlight, arms out. Applause.

7. Trizia Hassim (Magician)

She dazzled the crowds with her tricks and acts—pulling out gigantic rabbits from the smallest hats, levitating bodies without strings, and waving away stones to return them as golden rings.

Everyone said she mastered sorcery, some say she merely perfected smoke and mirrors. But one thing was certain, her illusions could fool just about anyone—even herself.

8. Angela Coronel (Knife Thrower)

The spotlight graces a petite figure with her back to the oversized target. She taps the tip of a knife, waiting for her cue. A steadily incrementing drumbeat matches her chest and a smile creeps out to nibble on a poorly wrapped blindfold. The drums cease and, in a split second, she turns 180 and hurls the blade perfectly into the bullseye. To her, surprise is an insult.

9. Fall Guy 2837 (Ringmaster)

All eyes fall on the madman at center stage. Absorbed by his reality, he wields absurdity with his left hand and orchestrates chaos with his right. In the spontaneous combustion of the show,

Tchaikovsky’s Overture climaxes as pure nihilism becomes the grandiose punchline.

10. Angel Taruballes (Circus Ring of Fire)

I do not breathe fire. I am fire. I do not walk among the crowd,

I am the center of it. I stand naked and ablaze, waiting for an unsuspecting prey to set aflame. I worship no one, but no one dares not honor me. Predators like tigers and lions, and even its tamers are afraid to get through me. Because although I portray beauty—I scream chaos.

11. Rodney Jarder Jr. (Juggler)

Once the moon reaches its peak, the circus scurries towards the red tent at the far end of the carnival to see the great Juggler himself, with nimble grip catching balls, knives, and flaming rings. He turned heads and raised brows from all sides in wonder and dismay. Yet he’d simply bow and say, “No trouble, it’s all part of the job.”

12. Christian Dominic Ledesma (Sword Swallower)

Despite his eyes pointed to the heavens, the carny arranges a meeting with the deity below. His last sight is the hilt of the sword drawing parallels to Christ as a shiny metal blade hovers above the tongue, greets the soft tissue of the epiglottis, and then settles for small talk with the narrow hall of the esophagus. Just the usual near-life experience.

13. Mikey Vincent Vicente (Clown)

The cherry-nosed jester dilly-dallies through the myriad of carnies and commoners. Suddenly, a cherub doll in red approaches and virtuously meets his gaze. Delving into the thick layers of his polka-dot waistcoat, she left him aghast from the words that fell off her innocent lips: “Are you really happy?”

He quivered in response—facade shattering into pieces.

14. Steve Louise (Stilt Walker)

Unbeknownst to the commoners, the lumbering stilt walker wagers his limbs on the daily. People pause to marvel at his towering height; the ease at which he maneuvers the artificial extensions of his legs but not the odd angles of his wrists or the permanent red scarring of his ankles. Whenever his moment of glory slips away, they are quick to amble along—leaving behind a man suspended in the air, cursed to never touch the ground.

15. Bakemono (Plate Spinner)

Crash! Shards of fancy ceramics flew to the ground, facing the broken end for the nth time. Fumbling over the gyroscopic play of turning circles atop sturdy sticks, they breathe in exhaustion.

Their small palms glistened with sweat and red patches, lingering like a tattoo of languor. “Until when?”—a long pause.

Along with their train of thoughts, a melody came about: Janta; dine; an all-time favorite.

16. polaris (Contortionist)

Careless of the risks that might come his way, no one dares stop him (nor bend him) from being the only thing that makes him him—a respected shapeshifter. He blends and breaks and bends with anything. The contortionist is said to have lived shorter because he’s quite Death’s favorite plaything.

17. Krizzia Ricci Nepomuceno (Firebreather)

In her meek silence, her flames boast an inferno as she engulfs the crowd in a tangerine glow. Unbeknownst to some, her fiery role lives post-performance. Behind hanging tarpaulins and under a dim light, she straddles across an opponent, heating up the checkered board amid a sweat-breaking game of chess, rapid calculations sizzling opponents into a corner until—Mate.

18. Drexel John Amit (Ventriloquist)

Deception. It is what he was born for (and what he will die for).

The very thing that he is good at is amusing his audience with make-believe stories and fabricated play of words using a mere puppeteered figure. The facade is not similar to what is behind it.

Illusion, pretense, fraud—the things he mastered from two weeks’ worth of training. And yet, his guests still think he is genuine.

19. Joshua Mahilum (Strongman)

Ferocious screams reverberate like a wrathful behemoth as he readily hoisted the stupendously heavy barbells, resisting gravity.

He’d never lift anything less than a ton, hence smithereens of his untamed heart are too much to carry for his fingers are unused to emptiness. The strongman’s fractured strength frizzed in the shadows set to crash under the black weight of living.

20. Kynah Rhea Fuentes (Rollercoaster)

“It happened again, didn’t it?”

“What do you think, kid?”

The groggy popcorn vendor mustered enough self-control to keep his trap shut as he and the guard stared at the strange situation before them: a rollercoaster cart carrying pretty dolls in its seats, with floors littered with isaw sticks after another night of strange disappearance.