Darkness

Darkness. It is the absence of light. It is manifested in black color. The color spells uncertainty and great fear for most of us. Absolutely, no one likes to live in darkness.

We experienced darkness for twelve hours lately. A widespread   brown-out hit the entire block where we lived due to   the accident,   which claimed the life of the jeepney driver. He wasn’t able to escape the aged-old acacia tree falling down for an unexplainable cause.

Interesting stories about the incident became the hot topic of the curious passers-by and residents. I could hear them talking about the spirits abandoning the tree, transferring to another equally giant tree adjacent to a school. Some people blame the rains, making the tree’s foundation vulnerable.    

The room was dim and dark. A tiny light passes through the small window visible from the rooftop. The lonely candle which I lit at past six in the evening continues to glow. It was comfortably placed on top of the television set.

At first the evening heat was just manageable. But as hours passed and the night goes deep, the warmth inside the room seems unbearable. I was liked cooked in an oven. I was even tempted to undress to compensate the ever growing heat. If anyone does see me, it could only be totally black figure.

I tried to entertain myself just to deviate my attention of the agony. I sometimes go out to breath fresh air from the rooftop. From there, I could hear the grinding of the chain saw, the light illuminating above to clear the debris and the linesmen fixing the electric lines.

The brown-out caused much inconveniences to us. We will miss the early night news. We will miss our favorite primetime drama series. Everything run by electricity are unusable.