197xJOHNNY STAYED IN Pitong Gatang for that whole summer. The only family member left for him was his grandmother. He spent most of his time taking care of her and visiting and helping Valen on the farm which greatly surprised the woman when she saw him approaching one morning. He was dressed like their usual clothes for farming — a long sleeves polo, comfortable pants, a pair of humble footwear, and a straw hat.“What are you doing here…” she asked him in disbelief as she kept staring at his smiling face.“Let me help you.”“What do you know about farming?”“I studied horticulture and agriculture for four years because I always remember you.”Valen had to look away after hearing that. She felt overwhelmed that he did not really forget about her within those years that they were apart, but she was also kind of jealous. She knew that Johnn

197xTHE SUN KISSED the hills as the skies turned bleak, hinting the end of that specific day for the people of the Pitong Gatang. Valentina was busy finishing their farm work for that day when she noticed through her peripherals that Nenita and Johnny were talking in whispers in a corner. It had been weeks since the guy began helping them in the farm. She overheard her cousin asking Johnny once why he was doing it and if he had no other work in the city. He just said that he was still on a vacation, so he figured that it would be nice and best to spend it by helping them.Valen finished whatever she was doing when she heard Nenita laugh as she pushed Johnny in her direction. She carried the basket full of eggplants they harvested for the day and began walking, but even before she can get away, Johnny already stood in front of her and smiled at her warmly.“Let me carry it.”“I can handle it,&rd

197xTHE DAWN WAS just breaking but Valentina was already all set for the day. She will be joining her Uncle Juan in bringing the vegetables, pineapples, and flowers they harvested to the public market down the town. She was already inside their pickup truck when she spotted Nenita half-walking and half-running towards her and her father Fernando. Her Uncle Juan was not with Nenita when she neared them.“Uncle, tatay cannot come today. His back was still hurting so bad he couldn’t get up,” Nenita informed her Uncle Fernando about her father’s condition.Valen immediately got out of the shotgun seat of the pickup truck because she knew that there was no one else who knew how to drive the vehicle except her Uncle Juan. They have no substitute for him or had not yet found the right one to proxy him for this job. Frida, Fernando’s wife, and Valentina’s mother smiled and caressed the worri