1.The girl at the market. She didn’t pack the vegetables right.
2.The pregnant woman that took the taxi I was hailing. Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean I have to bow to you.
3.The jeepney driver that almost ran me over. He doesn’t deserve to drive.
4.That woman that cut the line at the train. She thinks that just because she has a Louis Vuitton bag that she can do what she wants.
5.That little boy that wouldn’t stop talking. His incessant yapping gave me a headache.
6.That teenager that coughed beside me. Who knows what kind of diseases he might have. Someone should teach him manners.
7.The security guard at the train station. Just look through my bag and be done with it. Because of him I nearly missed my train.
8.The fishball vendor. His prices were robbery, plain and simple.
9.That girl. Thinking she can own the world because she’s beautiful. Wait and see, one day you’ll get what’s coming to you.
10.Those tourists. Thinking that they can be rude in my town? I will not let that happen. They need to know that respect begets respect.
The old woman put her pen down and sighed. Today was so tiring, there were so many people that tested her patience, and, of course, all of them had failed. She gazed outside her window and imagined all the things that she had to go through just to get back home. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
11.That boy with the dog. He couldn’t keep his animal under control and it slobbered all over me.
12.Those brats that were jumping around at the park. I waited for the moment one of them would crack their skulls but it never came.
13.That jogger that bumped into me. She should look where she’s going.
14.The taxi driver that brought me home. He rolled down the window and catcalled a woman passing by. The nerve of him!
15.The deliveryman. They said my package would arrive at 4pm and I waited until 5. Such shoddy service.
It was getting worse. The list was supposed to be an outlet, one way where she could sublimate her desires and release them without resorting to her magic. But day in and day out there were those that got in her way. Those that thought they knew better even if there wasn’t anything inside their heads, those that thought the world belonged to them.
She hated all of them, of course, even the ones that did nothing to her. Because eventually, they would cross her path and she would have to ball her hand into a fist to make sure she didn’t raise her finger. She had been chased out of many towns when the people found out what she was.
It wouldn’t happen again. That’s what she promised herself. Just keep adding to the list and all the anger would eventually stop. She needed it to stop.
16.That cat that woke me up. Every single morning it’s there.
17.My stupid neighbors. They won’t stop snooping into my life. Can’t they just leave an old woman alone?
18.The taho vendor. He won’t stop shouting in the morning.
Bad enough the cat is there, I have to deal with him too.
19.Those Bible bearing missionaries—————-
Enough. It was enough. She couldn’t even make it though the morning without boiling over in rage. Maybe this was a sign from down below. She needed to be herself again, to let loose and make the humans know their place.
She opened the door and raised her hand, one finger to the sky.
She’d start with the cat and work her way up from there.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Tagalog Hukloban legends
Diwata Illustration by Kristienne Amante
FB: Creatorivm
