Gloria could never bring her old zest back. We tried "jumping for joy" but it did not last. She has a hurt that she kept inside or perhaps an idea of pursuing something that she thinks will bring her lasting happiness, but could not.
I miss the way she put love in everything she did for me. But lately, her food was no longer as colorful and as surprising as her flower arrangements. She still worked like a maniac till the day I was told that her brother was dying after exploding with the dynamite he used for fishing. She said she had to go to Mindanao to see him. She cried a river telling me all this. On her last day, she wandered in the kitchen looking past me.
There is something not discernible and I felt it from the day she came back from the province to work for me for the nth time. She refused to eat on time. She was happy to have several new sets of dainty uniforms I picked myself, the colors being that of rose, pink, lime and lemon I tried to match with what I remember was her laugh and elfin ways. But the effervescence skipped me. I never heard her laugh with the other maid. She was getting strange every day.
I still wonder why she never got the money I told her I was saving for her. She left (for Mindanao) as she said but actually was just somewhere in Manila. She ran away with all her uniforms except for one set she perhaps was not keen about. It was a bright pink that complemented the old Gloria I knew from the past.
I miss the way she put love in everything she did for me. But lately, her food was no longer as colorful and as surprising as her flower arrangements. She still worked like a maniac till the day I was told that her brother was dying after exploding with the dynamite he used for fishing. She said she had to go to Mindanao to see him. She cried a river telling me all this. On her last day, she wandered in the kitchen looking past me.
There is something not discernible and I felt it from the day she came back from the province to work for me for the nth time. She refused to eat on time. She was happy to have several new sets of dainty uniforms I picked myself, the colors being that of rose, pink, lime and lemon I tried to match with what I remember was her laugh and elfin ways. But the effervescence skipped me. I never heard her laugh with the other maid. She was getting strange every day.
I still wonder why she never got the money I told her I was saving for her. She left (for Mindanao) as she said but actually was just somewhere in Manila. She ran away with all her uniforms except for one set she perhaps was not keen about. It was a bright pink that complemented the old Gloria I knew from the past.
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