Buckets of tears ran down my face. They came in such force I hadn't felt before. Hurt, shame, anger and disgust tumbled within me. Whatever had I done to deserve this? I'd taken a while to reflect. Was there a time I'd gone astray? Had I maybe done something terrible without knowing? My reflection turned up zero answers. That meant that I was either blameless(which was impossible) or I'd unknowingly erred. The latter looked to be a better explanation. I sniffed. We strayed ever-so-often. We did things that angered the moon goddess and gave her a reason to unleash her wrath. However, according to Mammà, she was a considerate being. All she needed from us was a repentant heart. Once, we turned away from our wrongdoings and sought her forgiveness, she would have mercy. Yes, one could call me crazy for all these mental ramblings. But could I be blamed? I wanted to get something straight. I wanted to know why my luck was this bad, this ugly. Yes, for heaven's sake, I had done bad. I ha

RINAI missed two of my afternoon classes. Half of the time was spent roaming about in search of my bag and the reclaim section the guy had talked about. The other half was me in the bathroom, spilling the entire contents of my tear duct. It was official. My bag had disappeared. Stolen, perhaps. The walk to the reclaim section hadn't been a success. As it stood, I'd be walking nothing less than a mile—in every sense of it. Two, I'd go through the rigors of getting my documents again—that was, if I decided to go on with schooling here. The probability of that was quite low. I was hanging around in one of the empty theater balconies, waiting for the clock to strike three. That was when the last class was held.Some minutes later, I left. I was able to locate my classroom thanks to the help of yet another janitor. Not surprisingly, stares were thrown my way. I tried my best to ignore them since it was likely that I wasn't ever going to step my feet here again. I sat in the last ro

"Sei sicuro di non volere che ti lasci cadere al cancello? [Are you sure you don't want me to drop you at the gate?]" Sophia asked.I nodded. "Sí." There was a sense of urgency in my voice. Although embarrassing for me, I couldn't help it. Sophia passed me a knowing look and nodded. She drove some distance, coming to a stop at the spot she'd dropped me the other day. The Y-junction that opened up to the boulevard. "Thanks." I offered a smile. As I turned to open the door, she asked, "Are you alright?"I turned from the door, but didn't look at Sophia. I wasn't sure I was comfortable with this new formed relationship. Sophia and her friends seemed too good, too good to be true. "Rina?"I flashed her a wry smile. "Anything the matter?"I was quiet for a while, not that I contemplated letting her in on my thoughts or not. "No," I finally said, "I'm fine."There was no discernible expression on her. She simply stared—casually as though she was watching a lame movie. Before I could

VINCENZOI stared down at the water—jaw clenched in full concentration. “Siete pronti.” [Ready?]I braced up. Having gathered enough momentum, I signaled to Michele with a thumbs up. "And go!"I plunged headfirst into the freezing pool. The water hit me hard on the face. I pierced down to the bottom of the pool, coming to lie face up. Bubbles left my nostrils. I left my eyes open for a while before shutting them. The serenity of the pool lulled me to sleep. Some time later, I jerked awake and pushed upwards to the surface. With my head out, I sucked in air. Fuck. My chest weighed tons. Ignoring the pressure, I came to realize that the sun had reached its peak. Had I actually stayed that long underwater? And come to think of it, where was Michele? I looked around. The fucker. He'd grown tired of waiting and had left. Good for him. Now, he'd know better than to question my lung agility. I swam to the edge of the pool, groaning and got out of the water. I padded to the awning, the

RINAPressing my books tight against my chest, and with my bag hanging on my shoulder, I marched to my department theater. I kept some distance from my classmates, and by distance, I meant nothing less than five feet. I did so for two reasons;One—because of my famed status as Piccolo Maestro’s wretched maid. And two, my dressing. The extra large T-shirt and the knee length pants left me looking like an overfed pig. In fact, I appeared inflated, and despite this reality, a tiny smile sat on my face. I had even chuckled in the bathroom before leaving for school. I'd laugh, feeling both sad and amused.After what I'd gone through on Friday, I made the strong resolution to change my wardrobe. As fate may have it, my weekly wage dropped on Saturday. I'd wasted no time in hitting the nearest local store to get some appropriate clothing. One that would keep Piccolo Maestro off my case. If looking weird was the price I'd pay to have peace—oh, hell yes. I was willing to pay that price. Takin