The House Of The Unholy

In the morning of Saturday, Teo finds himself trekking the northeastern lands of Pasi, where it's large grazing terrain is located, and is intercepted by the Asisig River; the cattle ranch.

The long stretch of landscape covered in moss and grasses is enclosed in a barricade of wooden fences of molave; while a number of cows are dispersed along the grasslands with some feeding on grasses while others are slothfully perching on the grass-carpeted lands. At the center of the lot there sprawls a log which used to be part of a fallen tree; decaying for years which has served as a seedbed for niches and vegetation to propagate into new shrubberies, adding additional color to the green grasses. It was nature's way of showing its wonders by turning death into its beacon of a new life. The log has also served as a natural bench for the cowhands where they can rest their exhausted bodies while herding the cows at the same time. The log is situated just at the middle of the lot, an effective vantage point to oversee the entire landscape and to supervise the cows.

From the gates, Teo makes his way further into the grassy lot, while fixing his top hat at the center of his head. At a distance, a cowhand is attending the fences, replacing some decayed wooden panels with new ones. Termites must have feasted on these fences as they settled their colonies in some of the panels looking like maggots gobbling on the wooden panels which look like rotten fleshes.

"Segnor," Teo calls on the cowhands, disturbing his silence

The man looks back with his eyes squinting to ward off the sun glares and struggling to distinguish the figure behind him. On his right hand he holds a new wooden panel, on his left hand he holds a mallet;

"Good morning, Segnor!" the man greets back as if he finally overcomes the sun glares and recognizes the young man standing behind him,

He settles the piece of wood on the ground and rises on his feet to formally greet Teo. His sweat-drenched face gives a warm smile as he nods his head in acknowledgment of his Segnor's presence.

"I came to look for Isko." Teo claims as he gently removes his top hat to reciprocate the man's obedience

"He's at the back attending the hays" the man responds

The cowhand rests his hands on his h.i.p.s and stretches his back, his sudden rising from a squat must have taken its toll on his spine. From where he stands he looks far at the landscape and into the barn erected just across the ranch.

Teo fixes his sight at the decayed wood panels of the fences; staring at them so long that the dilating of his eyes cause the movements of the gobbling termites start to blur as if his eyes can look past them. Even beyond the wooden panel's hollow innards and into its backside. Then it starts to get clearer again as if his vision refocuses its attention back at the termites, yet slowly his sight turns away from the decay into the smooth surface of the unaffected panels; pristine and untainted. Until he realizes how these wooden panels may appear fresh on the outside but are rotting on the inside, the decay eating its way out to cause the wooden panels to snap and break. Teo realizes that even woods of the strongest built can still be broken if conquered from within

"Segnor?" the man calls out

Teo slowly gathers back his thought away from the wooden panels and into the old man.

"I will see Isko now," Teo pauses and nods, "remember to replace the decayed wooden panels with new ones before the termites find their way into the rest of the fences"

Teo reaches for the barn nearby, behind it he finds his friend in the middle of filling the hay ring with feeders;

"I thought I would find you here," Teo interrupts

Isko turns around to where the voice is coming from to find his Segnor already standing behind him. The young man halts from dumping hays in the feeder and settles the shovel he has been holding at a corner. With his other hand he grabs the handle of a tin can cup filled with hot coffee;

"It's too early in the morning, Segnor," he pauses as he wipes his sweat with the hem of his shirt, "shouldn't you be at the stone house eating breakfast?"

Isko blows the smoke off his coffee as he eyes the young man standing before him

"I just came by to personally say goodbye," Teo responds calmly

Startled, Isko is caught in the middle of sipping his coffee as he stares at his friend studying the tranquil look in his face

"You really are leaving," he quips before he proceeds in drinking his coffee

After which Isko leads his friend into the dried log in the middle of the ranch and gestures for him to take a seat. The young man obliges as he removes his top hat and searches for a comfortable spot in the dried log to settle. Once he does, Teo sits near the edge of the log and watches Isko settles beside him still holding his tin cup of coffee;

"Why does it have to be so soon?"

"I will be accepting an internship in the Hospital of San Juan de Dios in Manila," Teo pauses, "besides, I have already stayed until the Feast of All Departed for my foster father,"

"There really is nothing to keep your interests in here after all," Isko answers

"There had been incidents of cholera outbreaks in a pueblo, south of Luzon. I feel obligated to be part of a solution that could mitigate these outbreaks," Teo softly responds while looking out into the grasses where the cows are sprawling on

Isko audibly sips from his tin cup of coffee once again, for these are the times he always run out of responses to his Segnor. He just sits there silently as usual until his friend notices the unusual silence to break it again;

"Don't you have plans of moving towns, Isko?"

To this, he responds with a sudden nod to disagree while still sipping from his cup;

Teo stares longer at his friend and catch themselves in mid-laughter as if they both find hilarity at that moment in their awkwardness.

"Just take care of yourself, Isko. Life in the farm and in the ranch can be strenuous. You and Jimena, you would have to look after each other, will you?"

"You really did care for her," Isko teases back

"I have always been concerned of you two," Teo answers with a soft smile

"We will be here when the day comes you feel like going back home again" Isko warmly responds as he reaches his right hand on his Segnor's back to pat it with

Teo reciprocates the gesture as he gently pat his hand on Isko's shoulder in return;

"I shall go now. I still have to pack my things" Teo claims as he rises from the dried log and walks into the grassy lot towards the gate

Isko watches in silence as his friend passes the cowhand fixing the fences. Once at the gates of the ranch, he sees as his Segnor pauses from walking when he comes across a veiled woman, Jimena, holding a basket covered in white cloth. He sees Teo removes his top hat and nods to greet the veiled woman to which she nods in return as her response. Then he watches as Teo proceeds in departing through the terrain; after which he then walks in towards the gates of the ranch to greet Jimena approaching