The night before my mother died, a stillness settled over the room that felt heavier than the humid August air. It was August 22nd, exactly a month ago and that night the world outside felt muted, as if the crickets themselves were holding their breath. In her final moments, with a strength that defied her frail body, she looked at me and smiled. “You know,” she whispered, her voice raspy, “you really do have long ears (palóng).” A laugh bubbled up in my chest, and I squeezed her hand. It was a familiar joke, a memory we had shared for a lifetime, yet her words, spoken then, hung in the air like a final, tender blessing. Those perhaps were some of her last intelligible murmurings. The second night of the wake, the house was filled with the soft murmur of grieving relatives, the scent of fresh flowers and burning candles. Old stories were shared, laughter mingling with tears, a testament to a life well-lived. My brothers and nephews, their faces a roadmap of shared history, began remini...
Just about 10 kilometers from our place is a fish farm that has been breeding tropical fish for aquarists and fish fans for a long time already. I had the chance to visit it as I was searching for newer species for my ponds. It was a wonderful trip and I was longing for more foot energy though because I haven't visited everything as it was just plain enormous. It was also incidental since I saw the largest Pleco in the farm. It was about 30 inches and it just costs 50 PP or about one dollar. I wanted a Pleco for my pond but not a monster like this. Anyway, I bought the shorter one though it still costs the same. Romaing around, I saw all types of Cichlid. Cichlids are actually not only very beautiful fishes but they are perhaps easy to breed and are not very demanding fishes. There were peacocks (Oscars), Angelfish, Auratus, Pindani, Ice Blue, Yellow Labs, and Zebras. There were also live-bearers like swordtails, guppies, mollies, and platys. There were also bettas and they're ...