Novel: Edit/Revision

THE BEGINNINGS OF CONTENTION

A loud wail emanated within the walls of the dilapidated house. It was the cries of Cresencia, born on June 24, 1937 to young parents of the age of 18 and 23. My mother was born with the name of Cresencia Ang Estrella, with her mother being Chinese and her father being Filipino with Spanish descent. She was born in a small and frugal family of five, with her as the eldest of two younger sisters, Editha and Irene. The war abruptly started within Cresencia’s childhood years. The Japanese inundated the island of Luzon, specifically in Bataan where Cresencia was born. She was of the age of eight when the Battle of Bataan started among the Japanese who invaded the island since the US had their airforce base located there and also they wanted to create an Asian imperial empire, just as the Germans wanted to control Europe. The year the battle started was the same year that Cresencia and her sisters became an orphan. The night that the first bombs from the air raid took place, Cresencia’s parents Alma and Edward tried to take refuge with the whole family up on the mountain. There, her mother contracted malaria from the mosquitoes mountain habitat. A few weeks later she died. Although she was eight, she understood the loss of her mother while her younger sisters did not. Her sisters have said when they met up later in life, that their older sister Cresencia had no childhood like the one they had. The battle eventually ended with a 90 day siege and resulting with 75,000 Filipinos surrendered and many were killed during the Bataan Death Match. Their father soon died after the battle after having a fever for three days. The three sisters were now orphans, however it is Cresencia that endured the life of an orphan. The sisters were split up among different sets of relatives. Editha and Irene paired off with a relative of their father’s and Cresencia was off to live with their aunt, the sister of Alma. The first day she came to the house of Aunt Lourdes, it was nothing like the house she was habiting before. It had a tinge of pink and orange hues painted in stucco form, and spanish roofing tiles. When Cresencia came to step foot in her new home, she felt a spark of hope come to her chest. She seemed, at first, very hesitant to open the white- painted steel gates of the entrance of the house. She gazed among the beauty of the house she was about to enter, but suddenly a loud yell interrupted her daydreaming, “Hoy, you, little girl, we serve no beggars here.” It was a woman sweeping the front yard inside the house. She started to try to have Cresencia flee by waving the straw broom in her hand. All of a sudden, the door opened and a woman who looked to be about Chinese started yelling, “Luningning! What is all this commotion going on! I expect you to do your work yet you go on poking about and yelling at everyone you see on the street!” She stood there watching the yelling going on and seemed a bit confused. "Ah, ma’am, it is just there is that girl standing there begging for food.” “Ang gago mo (you have such a stupid mind) Luningning, that is the orphan girl of my dead sister! Have her come in now! She has much to do in the house!” The woman heartily sighed buisit under her breath, which inflicted the emotion of regret of hiring such a stupid woman. Luninging opened the gate, held Cresencia by the arm and dragged her through the front garden and into the house. Then and there, did Cresencia see the beauty that was in the interior of the house, and continued on day dreaming. “Child, what is your name,” the woman said in a stern voice. With a meekly response she stated, “Cr-cr-cresencia.” “Pahh! For such a pretty name, your looks do not achieve that. But then again, my sister did not inherit my mother’s beauty. Anyway, though you will be staying here you are just another burden to all the things I have to accomplish in the house and for my husband’s business. You will help Luninging with her duties in cleaning up the house and cooking. I expect you to listen to her, if I hear any wrongdoing under her command you will not be getting any food to eat.” Cresencia was quite shocked with the way she was greeted by her aunt. Well, it did make sense to her, for when she first looked upon her aunt who she still didn’t know the name of, she looked as if to have a very stern face. So much for her spark of hope, however, she was used to the disappointment always barging in her life. Even though she was only eight years old, she experienced so much emotional hardship. Though she had two sisters, they were also out of her life along with her parents. After splitting up and leaving her with the stern aunt, she felt that somehow she might never regain happiness. She tried to instill a small fragment of hope, when she roamed around the house she spotted two young girls of her sisters’ ages that were probably the children of the household. She could try and gain some friendship and she started to think of actually having a place to stay during such hard times among the population of the Philippines, especially since now the Americans took over, and she guessed that was something to be grateful about. "Daydreamer! Stop staring into space, ma'am has just said that you are under my command and most obey and help with my duties." She rummaged through the closet and started to gather supplies for Cresencia that consisted of rags, a broom, a bucket, a mop and feather duster. She lengthily described the arduous chores she was going to do till the end of the day. And she was supposed to get everything finished before dinner, otherwise, just as her aunt said, she would not receive one bite to eat. Her stomach itself started to rumble as she picked up all the supplies that was shoved into her hands. Sweep the floor, mop the floor, dry it with rags, and dust the counter tops. Sweep the floor, mop the floor, dry it with rags, and dust the counter tops... She recited this on and on again in her head as she was doing her chores, trying hard not to forget. It seemed to work for time began to pass by faster, and she was able to get it done a bit earlier than she anticipated to be finished.