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The Lamentation of Ramilla

by Maria Isabel Cecilia Pascual
(Philippines)


With grief stricken heart Ramilla uttered these words repeatedly, as if chanting...

"...Of life and of tears that turns into a gentle mist and dew drops ...
Glistening in the dark as the moonbeam emerges thru the dense clouds...
Such bitter-sweet reminder of the love long gone...
And so here I bare my unbeating heart, to be burried amongst the fallen leaves of the fading season...
Let darkness and obscurity claim it forevermore.
Let the gushing wind claim my breath ...
Let the fiery sun dry my tears...
Let the darkness hide the growing pain in my eyes...
Let the bitter cold numb my senses...
For this cursed and betrayed heart does not wish to linger on..."


Miranda's hardened heart softened at the pitiful sight of her younger sister Ramilla... Her hair had lost its lustre but it's growing longer now... "How long ago was it since that night?" Miranda asked herself...The night father almost died and the shame her sister had brought to their family, after many months of grueling court hearings. Everytime they go to the town hall, their name were dragged to the mud and intriques, but eventually the judge could not indict Ramilla of the crime she was accused of just by mere association with Armando.

Miranda almost teared up when she recalled how she added more misery to Ramilla's predicament when she confronted her...She will always be jealous of her, but this time if only she could take back those hurting words she hurled viciously at her younger sister. For even the sacred gods and saints will be taken aback and roused from their eternal slumber.

"You have no shame! Ramilla... Mama and Papa have welcomed you to our family from your nomad relatives! You think you're so special? You have dearly shamed our name! You don't deserve Mama's love nor Papa's adoration...You are selfish and an ingrate! You don't belong here! You are not one of us! I wished you'd go away and never to return!"

Her younger sister went on with life just like the turning of the wheels...It just rolled forward at every tag and push. If that's considered living? Then Miranda would not wish it to be hers or anyone else.This time the tears that's been welling in her eyes rolled down her face, she could not stop it. It just came pouring ...

On one occasion finally Miranda had mustered her courage to approach and ask Ramilla. Why so much preoccupation with honey? Everything that she eats she drown it with honey...Even spicy dishes like goat curry or her favorite curried cauliflower... "Why Ramilla?" She gently asked.

Ramilla looked at her and smiled wanly...She's lost weight and her eyes look bigger, surrounded by dark long lashes making her face/ skin ghastly pale. Miranda has to admit even at this vulnerable state, Ramilla's beauty still emanate.

"The sweet nectar of the flowers makes life bearable...It's my only way of hiding the bitterness that's holding me captive until now...For everything I put in my mouth taste like poison... How I wished Papa could come up with a pill that would undo all these."

In the adjacent room Anya was busy doing the numbers and recording it in a huge leather bound book...She could not help but ovehear Ramilla's spoken words...Anya clucthed her chest as if in pain, she closed her eyes and murmured sacred prayers. Her youngest daughter's plight did not go unnoticed, but they could not do anything to take away the bitterness and pain that enwrapped her existence. If only she could, then she would gladly carry the heavy burdens and the sufferrings her daughter been struggling to bear all these months.

Yes, her daughter is still breathing, walking and mingles with them but she's like an empty shell, lifeless and dispirited. It's not the same Ramilla she had known since she came to them that night, or the first time she held her in her arms, or the way she had snuggled close to her chest and made those sweet, irresistable soft cooing sound. Her chubby fingers touching her face, or the immeasurable joy she felt, when Ramilla first said the word "mah-mah"... Her infectious smiles and laughter. She was a bundle of sunshine for her, her husband and for those who had known her in the village. Those families who had begged them to let Ramilla grace their home for goodluck and more blessings..."But where are they now? Them, like others have ostracised her daughter, shunned her from their home and lives.''

"Does it matter now?...As long as I am here, Ramilla will have a family and a home." Anya silently vowed to herself. She dearly loves her, and if Ramilla thought she's alone suffering...She's gravely mistaken, for every pain and tears Ramilla felt and shed...It bounces back to her twice and more, like a thousand sharpened dagger stabbing her right thru her heart!

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Jan 23, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		a temporary home for Ramilla
by: isabel

Comment: Oh! it's this way you wish to take it from here! A fresh approach and a new dimension.It's going to be a terrific story now on! Looking forward for more.

Answer: Wanted to write some more but really pressed with time. It's the hazard of residing away from your own native home, have to keep up with the present and current way of living.
I have so many things to share but hard to translate it at once, much more to a foreign language. If it's only possible that all nations speak only of one language then everything including human quests and past history might have been written in a different light. Perhaps things would have been better, easier and ultimately peace will prevail.
Jan 20, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		A NEW DIMENSION
by: Tanuja Chatterjee

Oh! it's this way you wish to take it from here! A fresh approach and a new dimension.It's going to be a terrific story now on! Looking forward for more.

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