LOGINEarly morning, Teacher Maria woke up early and had her preparations before going to St. Mary's Academy. She is so excited to meet her cute pupils once again. She knows that they will enjoy their topic for today. She took a bus already.
She arrived at the school early as well giving her ample time to set up everything in her classroom. She will be having a Coco melon theme inside her room so that her students will have a playful mood while learning her lessons for today.
When the students arrived, "Wow ! Teacher our classroom looks so cool," one of her students shouted as loud as her eyes widened upon entering the room.
"Yey! I love our room Teacher Maria," the other one exclaimed.
"I'm so excited about our learnings for today," said the little boy coming in.
Teacher Maria smiled and felt so happy upon hearing her students' compliments.
"I'm so glad you all like and appreciate our room today. I make sure to give you more themes in the future my dear students," she said to her students while giving out their folders one by one for their workshop for today.
Her teaching skills were different from the traditional way of teaching execution. She always ensures that her students will always remember what they have learned and that they do enjoy it a lot. She calls her teaching method "Learning is Fun."
Before she ended the session, she divided her class into two groups. Group A will be boys and Group B will be girls.,
"Okay class, for Group A, you will be assigned to sing with action, Johny, Johny while for Group B, you will be assigned to sing with action as well Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat. I will play the song from our MP4 Speaker and you will all sing okay. The most active and energetic group will receive triple stars," she excitedly announced to the mechanics while the students are giggling to do the activity already.
"Yey," almost all the children get ready already. It's really fun and Teacher Maria was so overwhelmed seeing how her students enjoy her way of teaching. Other school teachers are simply watching them from their glass door as they are performing the task inside the room. It looks like they were having s great show or stage play inside. They also enjoyed watching them inside.
'Okay, Ready Group A," Teacher Maria played the music of Johny, Johny, is one of the most popular Nursery Rhymes on the list.
The little boys already did their best performance actively
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Very good children," Teacher Maria clapped her hands for a well-performed task by Group A. "Now let's all hear from Group B," she looked at the second team who are well prepared and very competitive as well.
the little girls love to compete as well. They did the best performance too and almost everybody applauded.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Wow, very good Group B," Teacher Maria applauded Group B as well. "Now all together, Group A to sing Johny, Johny, and Group B to sing Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat," she said while combining the two groups. Her students were so engaged and enjoying their activity.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Great performance everyone. Because of that, I will give each one of you 3 stars upon exiting the room. Now sort out your things and get ready to line up," she said to them. The students are all going home with smiles on their faces. They truly enjoyed their class with Teacher Maria.
"See you tomorrow Teacher Maria," all the students bid goodbye to her.
"Bye class, See you tomorrow. Keep safe," she said while waving her hand to them.
Her unique teaching skills were already spreading in their academy as the majority of her co-teachers and faculty were so amazed at how she contained her students. The previous preschool teacher was dismissed due to her bad behavior toward her students. It's their first time having a preschool teacher in St. Mary's Academy who seemed to be so passionate in her teachings and getting positive feedback both from her students and their parents. It's a nice review of Teacher Maria's initial assessment.
"Congratulations Teacher Maria. You nailed it. How did you do it?" her co-faculty Teacher Roland asked her. He is a Grade 1 advisory class Teacher.
"Thank you. I do what I wanted to experience as well. I'm just sharing with my students the things I wanted to know. I want to see creativity and I do it with them.
It is as if I'm doing it with pleasure as well," she humbly said to Teacher Roland while smiling.
She is now sorting her things and getting ready to go home. She's a bit tired yet so satisfied with the result.
As she was walking along with the Bus terminal, suddenly she bumps into a hard wall with a masculine scent that lingers in her nostrils. She was captivated by the scent, making her lean more on the wall, and ignored her things which are already scattered on the floor.
"Hey, what are you doing?" a gorgeous handsome man is now pushing Teacher Maria who bumps him and yet still leaning on his wide chest. Teacher Maria is at a loss and almost sniffing his chest. He feels loathe with this dumb woman on his chest who's still pinning herself to him.
Teacher Maria came to her senses when she felt the hard grip of two big hands on her shoulders making her pain.
"Ouch!" she murmurs. She slowly raised her head to look at the one who was in front of her. She was about to give a sharp look at him, but suddenly when her eyes met his, she almost drops her jaw.
"Oh, my God. Thank you for sending me this Good-looking man in front of me," her lips were slightly opened as she continue to stare at Mr. del Fuego's handsome face. He is Mr. Jericho del Fuego, the owner of del Fuego Brokerage and Realty Firm in Batangas City. He was going to meet his client at Starbucks Caffe and Resto near the Bus Station when this dumb woman who doesn't look her way suddenly bumped him. He is in a hurry and a bit annoyed already when he stared at this woman and saw her parted lips, he slowly put his hand under his chin while staring at her eyes and closed his lips. He was already annoyed with this woman's presence and it seemed that she doesn't want to let go of him the way she stared at him.
"Hey, aren't you satisfied already with my looks?" he told her while having a smirking face.
Teacher Maria then blinked her eyes and said apologetically said to him, "Oops, I am sorry. My fault."
Mr. del Fuego then said, " Alright, next time please look at your way to avoid bumping into someone else." He left her when he felt that the woman will protest.
Teacher Maria just looked at Mr. del Fuego's back while he is leaving. He is wearing a black suit and he looked so decent. He seemed to be in a hurry based on how he walks.
"Hmmph. I just thought God sent me a man already, he's so annoying," she murmurs while picking up her things on the floor.
" I had a great day the whole day and he just ruined it. I wish him bad luck. Hmmph!" she was so furious.
A bus came already and she took her trip already.
When she came to her apartment, she just put all her things on her computer table and started to make dinner for herself.
She is thinking of the man she bumped into a while ago. Even if she is furious about him, she can't deny the fact that he owns a very striking feature, hunky, sexy, and magnanimous... She almost dropped her jaw when she stared at him and how she wished him to hold her waist and hugged her tight at that moment. She smiled upon having these thoughts.
Meanwhile, Mr. del Fuego is also thinking about that dumb woman too. Even though he felt so annoyed with her, he remembered how soft her body was when he bumped him and how his member reacted when he stared at her parted lips, it looks so soft and sweet that he wanted to taste them at that moment. "There's something in her," he thought so. She's not that attractive and pleasant in his eyes but then he finds her different from other girls who used to bump him and flirt with him easily.
"Hey, what's in your mind Mr. del Fuego," his client Carlito Montreal, a realtor, asked him when he saw him not listening.
Mr. del Fuego collected himself and said politely," Oh nothing. I just thought of someone who made me annoyed a while ago. Let's proceed with our collaboration then."
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Hmmm, will Teacher Maria and Mr. del Fuego meet again?
The Coalition of Flames had been born in triumph, but coalitions are tested not in moments of celebration, but in storms. The Phoenix Pact had spread across continents, igniting voices in Jakarta, Nairobi, Toronto, São Paulo, and Geneva. Each flame burned differently, but together they glowed with promise. Yet promise attracts pressure. And fire attracts wind.The first signs of crisis came from Manila itself. A coalition partner from Europe published a story in the Archive of Fire—an essay about migration, displacement, and systemic neglect. It was powerful, raw, and unflinching. But it is named institutions. It named governments. It is named failures. Within days, the essay was picked up by international media. Headlines blared. Politicians bristled. Critics accused the coalition of “globalizing dissent.” Supporters praised it as “truth without borders.” The firestorm began.Maria sat in the vineyard library, her journal open, her pen hovering. She had always believed in the power o
The vineyard had always been the heart of the Del Fuego legacy, but now its fire was reaching farther than Maria or Celeste had ever imagined. What began as a pact in Mindoro had become a movement across the Philippines, then a flame across continents. Yet the fire was not uniform. It burned differently in Jakarta, in Nairobi, in Toronto, in São Paulo. It danced in crosswinds, shaped by culture, history, and context. And now, it was time to gather those flames into something larger—something that could endure.Celeste was the first to propose it. She stood in the library of the estate, her notes spread across the table, her voice steady. “We need a coalition,” she said. “Not just partnerships. Not just alliances. A coalition of flames.”Maria looked up from her journal, her eyes weary but alive. “A coalition?”Celeste nodded. “A network of movements. Each with its own fire. Each with its own truth. But united under the Phoenix Pact.”Leah sat nearby, her notebook open, her pen poised.
The Phoenix Pact had crossed oceans, but fire does not burn the same way everywhere. What had begun as a movement rooted in the soil of the Philippines now flickered in languages Maria could not speak, in traditions Celeste could not fully understand, in contexts Leah had never imagined. The flame was alive, but the winds were shifting. And with new winds came crosscurrents—clashes, misunderstandings, complications.The first clash came in Jakarta. The foundation had partnered with a local school to host workshops, but the facilitators quickly discovered that the concept of “truth-telling” carried a different weight. Some students were eager to write about their families, their struggles, and their dreams. Others hesitated, fearing dishonor, fearing shame. A teacher pulled Celeste aside, his voice firm.“You must understand,” he said. “Here, family is sacred. To speak against it is dangerous.”Celeste listened, her mind racing. She had built the Phoenix Pact on transparency, on courag
The vineyard had always been the heart of the Del Fuego legacy, but now its flame was reaching farther than Maria or Celeste had ever imagined. Letters arrived daily from across the seas—requests from educators in Indonesia, activists in Kenya, poets in Brazil, librarians in Canada. They had heard of the Phoenix Pact, of the Archive of Fire, of Leah Santiago’s books. They wanted to join. They wanted to learn. They wanted to rise.Maria sat at her desk, reading a letter from a women’s collective in Nairobi. They had started a storytelling circle inspired by Leah’s Classroom Without Walls. They called it Voices of the River. They wanted to partner with the foundation to share stories across continents. Maria felt her chest tighten with awe. The fire was spreading.Celeste entered, carrying a stack of proposals. “We’ve been invited to Geneva,” she said. “A global summit on education and empowerment. They want us to present the Phoenix Pact.”Maria blinked. “Geneva?”Celeste nodded. “It’s
The vineyard was quiet again, but the silence was not the same. It was not the silence of fear, nor the silence of fracture. It was the silence of waiting—like soil before rain, like embers before flame. Maria sat beneath the fig tree, her journal open, her pen hovering. She had written so many words these past months—words of defense, words of apology, words of resilience. But now, she wanted to write something else. Something new.Celeste joined her, carrying a folder thick with proposals. She set it down gently, as if it were fragile. “We need to rebuild,” she said. “Not just patch the cracks. Not just survive. We need to rise.”Maria looked at her. “Rise from what?”Celeste’s eyes were steady. “From fire. From fracture. From everything we’ve lost.”Maria closed her journal. “Then we need a pact.”Celeste tilted her head. “A pact?”Maria nodded. “Something that binds us. Something that reminds us why we began.”They called it The Phoenix Pact.It was not a program, nor a campaign.
The firestorm had not passed. It had only shifted, burning in new directions, consuming not just the public’s attention but the foundation’s unity. The Archive of Fire had become a symbol of courage, but also of controversy. And symbols, Maria realized, were fragile things. They could inspire. They could divide. They could be broken.The first fracture appeared in the Circle of Flame itself. The council had been created to review submissions, to balance truth with safety, but now its members were at odds. Some argued that the archive should publish everything, unredacted, unfiltered. Others insisted on stricter protocols, fearing lawsuits, retaliation, and harm to contributors. Meetings grew tense. Voices rose. Trust thinned.Maria sat at the head of the table, listening as two council members clashed.“We cannot censor survivors,” one said. “Their voices are sacred.”“We cannot endanger them,” another countered. “Their lives are sacred.”Maria closed her eyes. Both were right. Both w







