Novel: A Glimpse on Ch. 1

A bugyung (nautilus shell) ensemble suddenly reverberated in the pine-scented air of Malaybalay. Those bugyung blowers must have done their breathing exercise, because it was still 7 in the morning, yet they were able to hold this one-syllabic undulating bass sound for 55 seconds...

"Mom, the Kaamulan Festival parade is about to begin," Laga said as she squeezed the hands of her mother-in-law...

"Thank, goodness! As much as I enjoy sitting on this grass-roofed platform, while entertained with all the excited faces and screams up and down the streets, I worry of all the stares by everybody. Well, I know they're not going to harm me, but goodness, gracious, why do many hit or push each other after waving at us?" ...

The parade assembled in Sumpong, right on top of the hill by Bethel Baptist Hospital. The huge make-shift platform where dignitaries and special guests have been seated is diagonally constructed, where the old Rubio's store was before, slightly facing the hill...

The red-clad men with feathered head gears started coming down the hill with their bugyung held closed to their chest. Probably, after 100 paces, they stopped. Like an army bugle corps, they extended their arms out together in a cadence, before they brought their bugyung onto their lips. Another prolonged blow engulfed the crowd. As the bugyung sounds faded, the blowers strutted around like fighting cocks, synchronous to the music of tagungtung (bamboo slit drum) ensemble. The strut ended with a sudden burst of "hey!" as they hoisted their bugyung over their head just as the one-beat sound of agung from an agung (gong) ensemble was heard...

So unfortunate that the mother-in-law's anxiety escalated to panic after the first group of street dancers passed by... A masked men got on the stage, whisked Laga and Michael and forced them to ride on a black SUV... The governor's wife, who was sitting beside her calmly said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Webb, you will see them safe and sound in a little while."

"Yes, tell me that! Killings and kidnappings in Mindanao have been off and on in California's televisions and newspapers."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Webb," Mercy, the governor's daughter, said, "you will see Laga and Michael in half an hour."

"I only will stop worrying if you'd stop calling me Mrs. Webb!"

John and Mercy embraced Mrs. Webb as tight as before.

And the parade in chapter 1 goes on and so is the story of THE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER'S WIFE: The Novel.



(Synopsis: The Peace Corps Volunteer's Wife is a story about the hurt caused by a polygamous relationship and the joy in interracial marriage. From a Philippine tribal village to the city of Pasadena, CA, Laga etched her way to overcome the harshest chapter of her life. Along the way, she not only helped others gain self-confidence, self-worth, and self-respect; she also supplied the missing pieces of the puzzle in Michael’s life.)