Menace on the Face of the Red Moon

By Narciso Madera Aguilar

The members of the bereaved family talk to each other and an excerpt of their conversation is as follows:
“What is that Methuselah’s Home the doctor was referring to?” Alex asked his elder brother.
“Methuselah’s Home is actually a funeral house,” Lauro told Alex. “It is owned and operated by Methuselah Guzman. She earned her expertise in mummification from a university in Cairo, Egypt. Of course, Mrs. Guzman is the doctor’s wife.”
“My goodness! Why was he allowed to be father’s physician?”
“He is the hospital’s consultant. All cases similar to that of father are referred to him. He is the best surgeon and internist in town. It’s not his fault being married to an embalmer,” Lauro explained.
“Who are we going to get now as undertaker?” Alex consulted Lauro and Maria.
“Isn’t Methuselah the best in town?” It was Maria who raised the question—which was actually more of an answer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Narciso Madera Aguilar
• Release date: Mar 7, 2011

Narciso Madera Aguilar

The author, 59 years of age, now resides in Iloilo City, Philippines, where he is a member of the Sumakwelan, an organization of vernacular writers from the Western Visayan region and portions of Mindanao Island in the Philippines. His works include several titles in non-fiction and some in fiction and poetry. He has been engaged in vernacular writing in his country since he was a teen-ager. The author taught Remedial Law at Aklan College in Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines prior to 2007 and has since resettled in Iloilo City, Philippines. Likewise,he has been engaged in the advocacy of law in the Philippines.

Book preview

MENACE ON THE FACE OF THE RED MOON

A Novella

By

N. MADERA AGUILAR

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Menace on the Face of the Red Moon

Published by the Author

In E-Book Form

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011

By N. Madera Aguilar

All Rights Reserved

By the Author

*********

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Prologue

BEWARE of the red moon. Don’t gaze at it intently, or better still, don’t look up so you won’t see it at all.

But why, Papa?

"Ah, basta…!"

As a child not yet of school age, Alex had been puzzled of the forebodings and injunctions he got from his father.

On that particular day, dusk was about to set in, and people were beginning to gather in open spaces to look up the sky, intending to watch the emergence of the moon. He had been hearing some of them say that a red moon was due to appear in the firmament.

You really want to know why? Our elders used to tell us that when you look intently at the red moon, you will lose something or you wouldn’t be able to get what you expect, Tio Basilio told his son.

At his young age, Alex found it difficult to comprehend what his father said, but he could still recall later the words he uttered.

There was also a time when he was about to enter school and his father decided to take him along to Roxas City in Capiz after having grown tired of his insistence. Tio Basilio initially wanted him to stay home with his brother and sister under the care of a yaya, but riotous crying made his father reconsider an earlier decision. So, along he tagged.

They waited for the train at the Jaro station. Those were the days when the suburban locomotives majestically sliced through the central portion of Panay Island, streaking along the more than a hundred kilometers of iron tracks between two final destinations. He slipped through a multitude of passengers waiting and ran to the railroad tracks to see for himself how far the iron lines extended. A woman shoved him away warning that the train might arrive anytime. Indeed sharp whistles were soon heard and caused a slight commotion among those who had waited for its arrival. He ran back to where his father was situated and found that Tio Basilio was no longer there! He spotted him at the ticket booth talking to the ticket seller. Papa! Did he hear him?

The train whistled once more and his father walked toward the waiting door of the coach. Alex ran after him. Papa, slow down please….

Just as the train was about to move, his father turned back, grabbed him by the waist and stepped on the platform—and they were on board when the coaches pulled away from the suddenly deserted station. He was still in his father's arms when the latter said, I told you to stay behind. He was pale.

The trains were now gone and wouldn't be back for eternity. The tracks had been plucked from the earth and new highways had since emerged from nowhere, replacing the route traveled by the trains. They did it to the tracks because it was feared that the railway system between the cities of Roxas and Iloilo was