Zeeb the Ox (6)

Raymond and Zeeb ran fast and wildly to Bushwack to tell the king of the violence they witnessed. Both of them could not unsee the boy hanging on the arms of a soldier like trash. Zeeb’s eyes were wide awake but not the excited kind. It was an expression of shock. He still couldn’t believe…

Zeeb the Ox (1)

In a land far away from the destructive minds and actions of men was a kingdom where animals ruled. The animals were divided into families. In the Bovidae family, the bull led. His name was Bushwack. He was very muscular, domineering, and mighty. He was a warrior in deed and in spirit. These were some…

Main Town (2)

The man in the basement of Mrs. Gomez was her husband. There was one time when the husbands were given a chance to leave Main Town or confine themselves in that large prison camp. Mrs. Gomez tried to isolate Mr. Gomez in a well that was fixed firmly in their backyard. It’s soiled, mossed, and…

Main Town (1)

In this town, there was never a front lawn that was not manicured.There was never a house that had cracked paint. There was never a family that seemed broken. Most of the time, if not always, perfect white-teeth smiles from children and adults would beam brightly. They were not robots because they would grieve and…

The Brother (4)

Mark had been spending his time mostly in the book café. There were weekends that he slept there, yet most of the time he stayed in an apartment he rented temporarily. His parents kept calling him, but he never answered it until the day before Keith’s wedding arrived. Mark listened to his parents’ voice message:…

The Brother (3)

Mark was awaken by some clanging of dishes and chatty noise. He went down and saw first the happiest smile of his mother in two years. She looked at him with glowing eyes and an assured smile that everything would be alright. His father was sitting drinking his mug of coffee and enjoying the back-and-forth…

The Brother (2)

“What do you think is the reason?” The mother was sitting staring at the wall and not to her husband. The father lying on his side didn’t want to talk about it, yet he said, “I don’t know. Have we ever missed something?” The mother shook her head which was even invisible to the father’s…

The Brother (1)

There was no lonely corner in Xihuapei. It’s decorated with colored buntings, buildings of shops filled the spaces, and crowds made the district small and large at the same time. Every street was filled with multitudes of people: kids, teens, husbands and wives, grandmothers and grandfathers, shoppers, onlookers, and tourists. In this large crowd, there…