Miriam

Background:Miriam began the day I met a girl for a date in the Indeogwon subway in South Korea (I was a teacher there). She was a Filipina of very small stature. Smaller than a dwarf, and thinner too. She could tell I was shocked; probably nothing new to her. And as she held my hand I was worried people in my neighborhood would think I was a perv holding hands with a student. I brushed off the feeling and we conversed. She told me she was small because when she was young in the Philippines her parents went to a big city so they could make better money for the family. Tragically, the money was sent to her aunt whom did not feed or take care of her properly, and so she became malnourished.Synopsis (SPOILERS, but seeing what this entails may intrigue you):Miriam is the story of a girl similar to how my date described herself when she was young. It is clear to the priest visiting their bahay kubo that her aunt is not taking care of her. He lets her know it is no secret.Miriam meets Hernando, a younger boy, though taller than her small frame. He has a bag with fried shrimp and chocolates he snatched from his kitchen he wants to deliver to his dad who has been fighting the Japanese during this time of invasion during World War II. On their way, they run into their three other friends Pablo, Bartlome, and Fabian. While off in chase within the jungle, the “Frisbee bomb” loudmouth Pablo left behind in his backpack exploded.This is where the story takes a psychedelic/fantasy turn and includes many elements of Filipino myth and also things that are completely outlandish. Miriam lives a life of unjust cruelty, and it is manifest in story form as demons and other bizarre creatures under equally unjust and absurd higher powers.As Miriam rises from the moldy, stinking mat she sleeps on, she sees her aunt covered in piles of numerous insects while asleep. Within the jungle she sees demons fall upon the graves of soldiers. She makes her escape to a jeweled tunnel just as the whip-tongued demon Koga speaks to her. It was he who dr