*Note this story is in Hiligaynon
Ginbuka sang gakapakapa nga mga pakpak ang kalinong samtang naglapta ang mga maya gikan sa tuburan nga ila ginhapunan.
Luyag gid ni Alberto maglantaw sa mga pispis nga galupad. Ginatudlo nia ang mga pakpak nila kag magsinggit “Lupad!” sang tuman ka tudo, masami niya nga paagi sa paghambal.
“Neni pwede kadto… mall?”
Kit-anon ang kakapoy sa guya sang babayi, apang nagngirit sia gihapon sa pihak sang tanan.
“Alberto, kinahanglan ta anay mag—“
“Kinanglan mag—“
“Kinahanglan ta mag—“
“Buot, buot. Kinanglan magpakabuot.”
“Maayo, Alberto. Makadto kita karon sa mall kag magkalipay sa park. Ara didto ang mga pispis—“
Kag tungod da, nagkaripas ang bata kag nagsinggit nga daw luyag nia mabatian sia sang bilog nga kalibutan. Indi, indi na sia bata, ayhan indi sa mata sang iban nga ga tulok, padumdum ni Neni sa kaugalingon nia. Ginpaguwa nia ang iya phone agod kuhaan sang pila ka mga laragway si Albero mga ginalagas ang bulbulon nia nga mga abyan.
Masami mangayo sang mga laragway ang iloy nia, pinsar ni Neni, padumdum ini nga may bata sia, apang wala niya ginasapak ang mga paminsaron nga ini. Tais, amuna ang gakadumduman nia nga hitsura sang magsugod obra sa mga ginikanan ni Alberto. Matyag niya, wala siya kinamatarong maghusgar sa ila pagpadako kapin pa kay wala man sia sa ila lugar.
“Neni! Lupad!” Nagkadlaw siya upod ni Alberto samtang ginsabad nila ang mga pispis bilog nga adlaw.
Sang pahalin na sila sa park, may naagyan nila nga bataon nga magnobyohanay. Bag-o pa sia makahambal, nagtikang si Alberto pakadto sa dalagita.
“Hi, ano ngalan mo?”
Damo na naagyan si Neni agod mabal-an nga indi ini malikawan. Ginsuguran nia ang masami nga pagpangayo sang pasensya apang indi gid mapunggan si Alberto.
“Hi, ano ngalan mo?”
Nangayo liwat sang pasensya ni Neni, apang daw naintindihan man sang dalagita. Nagpakilala sia mga si Raina kag nagngirit sang manayanaya sa ila.
“Raina. R-A-I-N-A.”
Nagpakilala ang lalaki nga si Oscar kag ginbugno man sia ni Alberto. Maayo man kay kumpara sa iban, mas naintindihan nila si Alberto. Dali-dali nga nag lisyensya sa ila si Neni kag gingiyahan si Alberto pakadto sa salaklan, indi niya luyag maulihi para sa paniapon.
—————————————————————————————-
Natapos si Alberto manghimos para matulog. Ginakalipay nia nga bahin sang adlaw ang panggabi nga ritwal sang pag-ilis sang bayo kag panipilyo. Sarang nia himuon sang gaisahanon ang mga ini, bagay nga ginakabugal nia.
Sang matapos sia, nanilag sia sa bilog nga kwarto. Kasubong lang ini sang iban nga mga kwarto. Apat ka pader, malapad nga bintana, kama. Kag syempre ara ang kabayo.
Apang indi ini ordinaryo nga kabayo. Matuod, may mga tiil ini, apat ka mga paa kag ang sahi sang guya nga makapaduda sa mga gaagi sa pagkakabayo sini, apang may ara man ini sang mga bulbol nga bisan gansa, mga dabong ang kahisa.
Bal-an ni Albeto nga kabayo ang kabayo eh, siempre. Ang kabayo nga ato, iya kabayo, kag kon magtuhaw ato sa iya kwarto, buot silingon manog sugod nanaman ang iya pagpanglakaton.
Sampat ang ngirit sa guya ni Alberto kag ang sa kabayo, tapos ang ulihi nila nga makahas nga pagpalagyo gikam sa dragon nga nasiod sa mga bituon, ang kakunyag sang pagpasimpalad bag-o gihapon sa kasingkasing nia.
Gintaklas ni Alberto ang likod sang kabayo kag naglupad sila pagwa sang bintana. Wala sang oras nga pwede usikan, kag kinahanglan nia makasiguro nga makabalik sia sa takna bag-o mamahaw.
———————————————————————————————————
“Agay!” sa pinsar ni Neni, nagasagad na sia sa paglikaw sa mga Lego ni Alberto, apang masami may isa gid nga makakibot sang dapadapa nia.
Ginpulot nia ang silot nga piyesa kag ginbutang in isa ingod sa mahipid nga tumpok. Madugay nan ga nadulaan na sang paglaum si Neni nga maplastar sang maayo ang mga Lego, may kaugalingon nga sistema si Alberto nga wala gid gasanto sa iya.
“Neni! Mga apalaap!”
Ginatapos na ni Alberto ang masunod nia nga obra maesta. Indi gid mapaktan ni Neni kon ano ang gina obra nia, sa iya, daw ko nano-ano lang nga mga haligi nga ginpalagpatan ang pagbutang.
“Neni! Lantaw”
Ginakabugal nia ang obra nia, kag nalipay lang si Neni kay nalipay sia.
“Maayo gid, Alberto, anon a?”
“Lupad! Mga alapaap!”
“Maayo gid, Alberto, pero kinahanglan ta maghimos para sa paniaga. Panibin na.”
Sang gadalagan si Alberto pakadto sa kasilyas, nataktak ang kaki nga bulbol gikan sa bulsa nia. Nagpusnga si Neni. Abi nia, natinluan na nia tanan nga lapta halin sa park. “Ahay,” sa pinsar nia, “maayo lang kay isa lang ka bulbol subong.”
=——————————=
English Version
The flutter of wings breaks the stillness as the maya birds scatter from their fountain perch.
Alberto always liked to see the birds fly away. He would point at their wings and shout “Fly!” at the top
of his lungs, which is the way he would usually say things.
“Neni can we go… mall?”
The bleary look on the young woman’s face was apparent, but she smiled through it all the same.
“Alberto first we have to be—“
“Have to be—“
“We have to be—“
“Good, good. Have to be good.”
“Good job Alberto. We can go to the mall later, let’s enjoy the park. The birds are over there—“
And with that the boy raced off and shouted as if he wanted the whole world to hear him. No, not a boy
anymore, at least not to an outward observer, Neni had to remind herself. She took out her phone and
took a few photos of Alberto chasing his feathered friends.
His mom would always ask for pictures, Neni thought it was because she wanted to be reminded that
she had a son, but Neni brushed those sentiments away. Worn, that’s what she remembered from the
faces of Alberto’s parents when they hired her. She didn’t think she had a right to judge their parenting,
especially since she wasn’t in their shoes.
“Neni! Fly!” She laughed with Alberto as they spent the day disturbing the birds.
As they were leaving the park, they passed a young couple. Before she could say anything Alberto
stepped in front of the girl.
“Hi what’s your name?”
Neni had enough practice to know that this was unavoidable. She started with the usual apologies, but
Alberto had a one track mind.
“Hi what’s your name?”
Neni apologized again, but it seemed that the young lady understood. She said her name was Raina and
gave a comforting smile to both of them.
“Raina. R-A-I-N-A.”
The man then introduced himself as Oscar and Alberto gave a warm greeting. To their credit they were
more understanding than most others of Alberto. Neni gave a hurried goodbye as she led Alberto to the
car, she wasn’t about to be late for dinner.
Alberto finished getting ready for bed. The evening ritual of taking a shower, changing his clothes and
brushing his teeth was one of the most enjoyable parts of his day. It was something he could do all by
himself and that made him proud.
After he was done he looked around the room. It was a room just like any other. Four walls, a big
window, a bed. And of course there was the horse.
Now, this was no ordinary horse. True, it had hooves, four legs and the kind of face that would make
passers by undoubtful of its horse-ness, but it also had the kind of feathers that would make a swan
flush with envy.
Alberto knew that the horse was a horse, of course. The horse was his horse, and seeing it in his room
meant that he was about to embark on another journey.
The grin on Alberto’s face matched the horse’s, after their last daring escape from the dragon trapped in
the stars, the rush of adventure was still fresh in his heart.
Alberto climbed up his horse’s back and they flew out the window. There was no time to waste, and he
wanted to make sure he was back in time for breakfast.
“Aray!” Neni thought she was getting good at avoiding Alberto’s Legos, but there was always one that
would sneak under her foot.
She picked the offending piece up and put it next to the others in a neat pile. She gave up on trying to
organize the Legos a long time ago, Alberto had his own system that never coincided with hers.
“Neni! Clouds!”
Alberto was finishing up his next masterpiece. Neni could never figure out what he was building, to her
they all looked like mish mashed columns strung together randomly.
“Neni! Look!”
He was proud of his work, and Neni was just happy he was happy.
“It’s very good Alberto, what is it?”
“Fly! Clouds!”
“Good job Alberto, but we have to get ready for lunch. Go wash up.”
As Alberto ran towards the bathroom, a brown feather dropped from his pocket. Neni sighed. She
thought she cleaned up all the mess from the park. “Oh well,” she thought, “At least it’s only one
feather this time.”
=—————————–=
*The Hiligaynon language, also colloquially referred often by most of its speakers simply as Ilonggo, is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 9.1 million people, mainly in Western Visayas and SOCCSKSARGEN, most of whom belong to the Visayan ethnic group, mainly the Hiligaynons. It is the second-most widely spoken language and a member of the so-named Visayan language family and is more distantly related to other Philippine languages.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Hiligaynon translation by Paul Aries Valera
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Paul Aries Valera
Inspired by the Bentohangin description in ‘The Soul Book’ by Demetrio & Cordero-Fernando 1991.
Bentohangin Illustration by Kurt Prieto
Behance: https://www.behance.net/
Colors by Alexa Garde
Website: Lexa.us
