Once, I met a man who was a soldier in the World War II. He kept on telling me stories on how people were really oppressed before, how frightening each day could get, how terrified the people were, and how bloody the war was. 

Then, I noticed that whenever I’m inside his small nipa house, he would never get up from his seat. If he needs a glass of water, he would always ask me to get one for him. Sure his old and stuff like that but, he doesn’t look that weak to me. I feel as if, he is stronger than I am. Once, I even saw him buying some groceries, alone, without any crutches supporting him.

Because of me not being able to hold my curiosity any longer, I asked him why he never stands up whenever I’m around. He sighed then laughed. Then he asked:

“Do you really want to know why?”

I just stared at him. He smiled.

“I had a sister once”, he started. He gazed deep into my eyes. “She was very precious to me. She was pretty young, back then. She was very beautiful, as well.” He sighed. He closed his eyes then I noticed that there was a dew of tears forming at the corner of his eyes. “Since she was beautiful, a foreign soldier tried to… take advantage of her.”

I looked at him, more anticipated than before. “What happened… then?”

He opened his eyes and a tear rolled down freely. He looked at me. “Do you really wanna know what happened next?”

I nodded.

He faked a smile. He breathed in, trying to stop the sorrow from overwhelming him. “I loved her very much. I still love her up to now.”

“Is it okay if I know what happens next”, I asked him. I felt guilty for having said that.

He pressed both of his lips. “Fortunately, I was there. I fought the maniac. It also took a while since he has a gun and a dagger with him.” He gulped. Tears started flowing once again. “I told my sister to run, but, I never knew that the maniac has some friends with him.” He closed his eyes, tightly, trying  to stop the tears from flowing. He bit his lip. “Then, they took her. I tried fighting them but I was outnumbered. A part of me was severely injured that I needed to take ‘surgery’. “

I felt tears rolling from my eyes now. I just imagined how sad this man could be. I gulped. “How much do you love her?” That is a question that I regretted, once again.

He looked at me with his blood-shot eyes. He raised his loose pants, revealing a thick strap of metal attached to his right knee instead of flesh.

“This much.”

An old man is walking along a sidewalk under the scorching heat of the sun. He is doing his best keeping his poise on, despite the fact that he is completely sweaty and desperately wants to wipe the rolling perspiration off his face. He tugs on his satin tuxedo, making sure that he’ll not look like those people who seem to have faced a battle of signing papers and stamps. Feeling that the heat of the sun is already scorching through him, he feels fortunate for finding a stand of refreshments just a few steps away from him. He quickly walks towards it, still doing his best to keep his poise on.

“Pssst! Lady! Give me a glass of cold lemonade”, he shouts. 

The old woman looks at him blankly. She looks away then starts preparing the drink the rude man wants. 

It is already two minutes and,the old woman is still preparing the man’s drink. The man in suit is getting irritated. He hates it when people are being so slow.

“Hey, granny! Can’t you be any faster? Does it really need to take an hour just to get my lemonade ready?!”

The woman looks at him then hands him his drink. He hastily takes it and flips a penny at the counter.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” the vendor says as the man starts to walk away. He turns around. He gives her a puzzled look.

“Excuse me?” He faces her and crosses his arms, still holding his glass of lemonade.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full of useless things”, the vendor smiles.

The man glares then leaves, hastily drinking the glass of cold lemonade in his hand.