FEATURE WRITING

"Broom Vendor"

--Angel May's  Story-- 

TRAGIC-SATIRICAL

CYTHLOVES

On the day Olympus was built, all gods and goddesses rejoiced and feasted. Olympus was filled with dancing and singing and the gods’ and goddesses’ temple were filled with food and offerings. After the long day celebration, Zeus went down to Earth to bathe and cleanse himself. He went looking for perfect water and at the ends of the Earth found the Mycinth river. 

Zeus enjoyed the coldness of the river and wanted it so bad. So, he decided to go down every fifth day to Mycinth. One day while bathing, Zeus eyed a lovely girl who brought her cow to the river for a water to drink. The girl was Cyth, the daughter of Poseidon and the mortal Cynthia. Just like her mother, Cyth was a mortal. She lived alone in a small house near the river since the day her mother passed away. At the first sight, Zeus fell in love with her. He could hardly resist the girl’s beauty for her rosy cheeks, snow-like skin and reddish lips.

Now, Zeus started to go down from Olympus everyday just to see Cyth. At one time when he went to the river, he saw Cyth bathing herself. All the more did Zeus fell the longing for her. So he swam beneath the waters and held Cyth’s feet. In deep fright, Cyth jumped but Zeus held him tight. She started crying for fear but when she looked at him, her tears were dried for he was so handsome and she recognized him.

Zeus confessed to her his feelings and she too, to him. She admitted that she liked him but she was afraid of Hera. Zeus told her to fear no one for he was going to protect her. Cyth was glad to hear that from him and she fell deeply in love with him. So, they spent the night together in the little cottage she had.

The following morning, Zeus went to the river again and spent another night with Cyth and sooner did it everyday. At one day, Hera saw Zeus in a hurry. She noticed him going down to the Earth everyday so she asked him why. Zeus just replied that he badly wanted the waters of the Earth and wanted to spend the whole day in it. Hera nodded with suspicion but let go of him. Hera disguised herself in the figure of a cow. Then, she followed him down to the Earth and to Mycinth. 

Zeus saw the cow and knew that it was his wife’s trick. So, he placed a cave to cover Cyth and upon reaching the water dove into it. Hera saw how he enjoyed the water so she went back to Olympus and left Zeus there. 

When she was gone, he immediately rose from the water and went to Cyth underneath the cave and he apologized for being late but Cyth inquired on what had happened why her love was late. With full honesty, Zeus confessed about Hera’s trick. Cyth went mad and cried. She told him that she was telling him this. So she decided to break up with him but he was deeply in love with her. Zeus would not want to let go of Cyth. He said he will fulfill his promise to protect her. He turned her into a dove and brought her to Olympus.

He brought her into his room and Hera did not recognize her for she was in the form of a dove but at night, the dove turned into Cyth’s human figure so they could spend the night together. By day, she was a dove and by night, she was a woman.

Zeus was rejoicing at the great thing he had done but little did he knew about what would happen next. Athena arrived from her temple in the morning and saw Zeus’ new pet. She wanted it so much so she asked him to have it for herself but Zeus would not give it. She insisted and Zeus was forced to agree but he promised to give it the following day. Zeus was quick enough so he sent Hermes to the Earth and told him to look for a dove that looked like it. Before the sun went down, Hermes was back with the dove he wanted. That night, Hera borrowed Aphrodite’s girdle and asked Zeus to sleep with her but he refused since he would be sleeping with Cyth. Hera insisted that if he would not want to sleep with her in her room, then she would be sleeping in his room. Zeus had a hard time to plan but at last, he came up with a decision. He said he would be sleeping with her but he would be late.

So, he went straight to his room to see his lover who waited him. There, he explained to Cyth that Hera would want to sleep with him and he had to agree so that she would not suspect them. Cyth was sad but she allowed him. Zeus left her a kiss and went straight to Hera’s room with the real dove for she might be wondering why it was not with him. He slept with her.

The following morning, he hurried to see Athena. He gave the dove he promised her but as soon as it landed on her hand, its feathers started to fell off one by one. Zeus’ heart beat faster and he grew frightened for he suspected something. So, he went straight to his room and saw blood flowing over the whole room and Cyth’s body that laid dead. He hugged her human body and felt sorry. He knew that her jealousy brought her to such fate. He cried loudly and Hera heard it. So, she went to his room with Athena and saw blood all over the place but did not see her body. They saw Zeus hugging his beloved dove and they were sorry about it. They too became sad but they did not know it was Zeus’ lover.

Zeus made her grave in his room and everyday he cried for leaving her alone that night. Hera and Athena saw him in his deep grief so they brought him another lovely dove to relieve him. Zeus liked the dove and talked to it like it was his lover. He named it after her, Cyth. That day onwards, all doves owned by Zeus’ people were called Cythloves.

MONOLOGUE

I LOVE YOU

(An original composition)

Hi I’m Lovely and I love you! Yes you! I love love love love you. More than anything else, I love you. Wait! Hehehe. Do you love me? No… No… Nobody loves me. Nobody cares for me. Nobody wanted me. Nobody likes me. 

I was abandoned by my parents in Sto. Nino Church and I grew up alone in the streets. “Mani mo! Mani, init pa ni noy! Cge palit namo.” That’s how I lived! Yes by selling or… “Malooy intawn mo nako! Mangayo ko nimo bisag piso lang maam/sir. Gigutom kaayo ko, mangayo ko’g palit og pan.” I beg because I knew no one to care for me and to give me food and drinks to live. Nobody… nobody… But I did not lose hope. I went to school during the day and sold nuts at night. It was tiring but I really love going to school.

It was during my first year when I met John. He was handsome but he was a brat. I did not have any other friend but him. We play, eat and do things together and sooner I fell in love with him. I was hoping that he too would say he loved me and yes! Yes! Yes! He did! “I love you!” That’s the sweetest thing I ever heard. I felt secured, loved and no woman could equal how I felt that time. We were already six years in a relationship and yesterday, yesterday was our sixth anniversary! I love you John! I really really love you! That I could have told him. But he’s gone. He’s gone! 

Yesterday, I waited for him in Cathedral where we used to meet and while waiting I sold some nuts. “Mani noy! Tag singko ra! Palit namo! Libre’g asin ang mopalit og daghan.” And oh! A tall handsome guy bought P100-worth peanuts. It was John. I thought he’d recognize me but he didn’t. He was so busy calling someone and he went straight in the plaza. I followed him. He waited there. “John must be waiting me here.” I thought. “ This must be a unique date! In the plaza! Oh! Beautiful roses in John’s hands. Red, blue and white roses. How sweet John is to me! But wait…” “Oh, why were you late baby? Ganina ra ko nagpaabot nimo. Anyway, happy sixth anniversary. I love you!” He said this and kissed the flawless woman before him. My heart was pierced a thousand times that moment but I still took courage. I put some lipsticks on and went straight to them. “Tell me John. Who is this woman?” “She is my fiancée. And who are you?” I told him, “John, I am your girlfriend, Evangelista Cruz. Today is our sixth anniversary. Didn’t you tell me you love me?” “Who is she John? You’re your fiancée. This poor gal must be hungry and needing little money. Here, take it. P100. Is it enough to feed your hungry stomach?” In my anger, I pulled her hair and drew things on her face using the lipstick. “Enough! Look Evangelista! Shane is my only fiancée. I love her and not you! Why would I choose a beggar? Let’s just say everything is a game. You were my past time and we are game over! Got it?” He said this while throwing juice into my face. He lied to me. He fooled me. He said he loved me but he loved somebody else. I am a toy whom only kids would say they loved. I am a beggar and nut vendor and nobody would ever love me. I hated men and I curse them my lifetime. Screw the men! I love you is the sweetest poison they give women. I love love love nobody.

FACEBOOKRATURE

Corominas Family Reunion on January 1, 2013

Be happy! The puzzle was solved for different pieces come together to create a full picture. I’m the last piece that completes it.

SONG

Click the button to play the song.

LITERARY CRITICISM

 Moby Dick

Moby-Dick is written by Herman Melville in 1851. It recounts the adventures of the narrator Ishmael as he sails on the whaling ship Pequod under the command of Captain Ahab.

Ishmael believes he has signed onto a routine commission aboard a normal whaling vessel, but he soon learns that Captain Ahab is not guiding the Pequod in the simple pursuit of commerce but is seeking one specific whale, Moby-Dick, a great while whale infamous for his giant proportions and his ability to destroy the whalers that seek him. Captain Ahab's wooden leg is the result of his first encounter with the whale, when he lost both leg and ship. But Captain Ahab is bent on revenge and he intends to get Moby-Dick. Ahab demonstrates erratic behavior from the very beginning and his eccentricities magnify as the voyage progresses. As the novel draws to a conclusion, the Pequod encounters the whaling ship Rachel. The Rachel's captain asks Ahab to help him in a search and rescue effort for his whaling-crew that went missing the day before - and the captain's son is among the missing. But when Ahab learns that the crew disappeared while tangling with Moby-Dick he refuses the call to aid in the rescue so that he may hunt Moby-Dick instead. The encounter with Moby-Dick brings a tragic end to the affair. Ishmael alone survives, using his friend Queequeg's coffin as a flotation device until he is ironically rescued by the Rachel, which has continued to search for its missing crew.

            For me, the novel is really good and I love reading it again and again. I even kept a copy with me. The style and content-wise is perfect. Although it’s long, I still wanted it so bad because the adventures Captain Ahab and Ishmael had were so interesting. Most people find it boring for its length but if you’ve got to read it well, you would appreciate why. Also, this story could inspire those handicapped more through Ahab’s story that no matter what happens, even if a foot or hand was cut, life must go on. It also teaches us different things like never to plant hate to someone and to always listen to the advice of somebody else to keep ourselves from danger. 

I also love this novel because it is based on reality. This novel is based on Melville’s historic acquaintance with a 60-year old man in Nantucket who had captained the Essex, the ship that had been attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in an 1820 incident that had inspired Melville’s novel. Captain George Pollard Jr. was just 29 years old when the Essex went down, and he survived and returned to Nantucket to captain a second whaling ship, Two Brothers. But when that ship wrecked on a coral reef two years later, the captain was marked as unlucky at sea—a “Jonah”—and no owner would trust a ship to him again. Pollard lived out his remaining years on land, as the village night watchman.

If you have to read Melville’s life and his works, there are many great things you would really learn. He’s a genius writer and his works are perfectly created because the words he used are awesomely crafted. The novel is not only a great American classic, but is also heralded as one of greatest novels in the English language.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

OF NOVELLAS THAT HAS BEEN TURNED INTO MOVIES

(at least 5)

A Christmas Carol. In Sparknotes.Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/christmascarol/ context.html on October 2, 2015.

Capote, T. (n.d.). Breakfast at Tiffany’s Summary. Retrieved from http://www.shmoop.com/ breakfast-at-tiffanys/summary.html on October 2, 2015.

Cengage, G. (2002).A Christmas Carol Essay - A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens. In Short Story Criticism. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topics/christmas-carol/critical-essays/ christmas-carol-charles-dickens on October 2, 2015.

Moore,  O.P.L. (2012). This Man's Been Dead All Along, Or Pretty Close To It. In The Popcorn Reel. Retrieved from http://www.popcornreel.com/htm/greyarea.html on October 2, 2015.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. In Wikia. Retrieved from http://stephenking.wikia. com/wiki/Rita_Hayworth_and_Shawshank_Redemption on October 2, 2015.

Tell-Tale-Heart (1843). In Sparknotes. Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/ section6.rhtml on October 2, 2015.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. In Xroads. Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ hyper/Fitzgerald/jazz/benjamin/benjamin1.htm on October 2, 2015.

The Double Novel by Dostoyevsky. In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica .com/ topic/ The-Double on October 2, 2015.

The Grey. In Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13482383-the-grey on October 2, 2015.

We Can Remember It for You Wholesale Summary. In E-notes. Retrieved from http://www. enotes.com /topic