JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Published 10 July 2010

Maynila, 1896—Isang misteryosong sakit ang dumapo sa mga Katipunero. Halos kalahati sa kanila ang isa-isang tinubuan ng nagnanaknak na pigsa sa singit, na nagparalisa sa kanilang pagsagupa sa mga Espanyol. Dinala ang mga maysakit sa tahanan ni Tandang Sora, upang magamot at magpagaling.

“Conching, bunutin mo ang puno ng bayabas sa harap ng bahay,” ang utos ng 84-taong matanda na matamang nakatuon ang pansin sa mga nakabukangkang na Katipunerong namimilipit sa kanyang harapan.

“Ngunit Tandang Sora, nakabaon sa semento ang puno ng bayabas.”

“Nais mo bang tumulong sa Inang Bayan, Conching?”

“Over!” ang tahimik na sabi ni Conching sabay labas ng bahay bitbit ang isang gunting.

Wari’y nagsasagot ng Sudoku ang matanda habang nginunguya ang mga dahon ng bayabas na nasa kanyang harapan. Maya’t maya’y idinudura niya ang mga nginuyang dahon sa isang palanggana. Nang maubos niya ang buong puno, tumayo siya.
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The movie is The Gift, it stars Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Edgerton himself, and it is now showing in cinemas. We haven’t seen it yet, but according to the production notes it’s about a married couple (Bateman and Hall) who run into an old high school acquaintance (Edgerton) of the husband’s, who starts sending them gifts and alluding to something that happened in the past. Critics have compared it to Hitchcock, which works for us because we love movies that mess with your head.

Joel Edgerton—fine, his distributors—sent us three The Gift notebooks, which we will give to three readers who answer this question: Were you nice to everyone in your past? Don’t hesitate to furnish lurid details!

Post your answers in Comments.

* * * * *

Thanks antiquaryanne and leeflailmarch! Send your mailing addresses to saffron.safin@gmail.com so we can send you your notebooks.

There’s one notebook left, if anyone else has a story about having personally mistreated anyone in the past.

Mat wants to give you these books.

The winner of our Outlander LitWit Challenge is clemichka. Congratulations! Please email saffron.safin@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Do you love the time-travel fantasy series Outlander? How much? Enough to flex some writing muscle and produce a Claire Beauchamp-Jamie Fraser-Frank Randall story?

Win a set of the first four books in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series in our LitWit Challenge. Just write a short story of at least 500 words involving any or all of the major characters Claire the time traveller, her 20th century husband Frank, or her 18th century husband Jamie. Post your stories in Comments on or before noon on Sunday, 5 April 2015. We’re giving away two of these sets, each of them just slightly smaller than Jamie Fraser’s bicep.

Questions you may be asking:

What era should the story be set in? Any time period, including the distant future, as long as the characters are recognizably Claire, Jamie and Frank.

Can the story be R-rated? Yes, we will add warnings in case readers have to avert their eyes.

Does it have to be Claire and Jamie or Claire and Frank, or could it be Jamie and Frank? Knock yourself out.

Could it be Frank and Black Jack? If you can solve the grandfather paradox, knock yourself out.

Puedeng kami ni Jamie? Puede.

Lola T will help us judge the entries, so points will be awarded for kileg.

This LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstores.

1. Watch German crime thrillers for free.

Every Wednesday 6pm at the 4th Floor, Room 3 of Goethe-Institut Philippinen, Adamson Center, Leviste St., Salcedo Village, Makati.

April 8: Dreileben – Etwas Besseres als den Tod (Beats being dead). Directed by Christian Petzold (who made Nina).

A sexual offender escapes from a hospital. His escape and the police’s hectic search serve as a background to the love story between Johannes, a boy from a rich home undertaking his civilian service, and Ana, a pretty girl from Bosnia.

April 15: Dreileben – Komm mir nicht nach (Don’t Follow Me Around). Directed by Dominik Graf

A sexual offender is loitering somewhere in the Thuringian forest. Police psychologist Johanna is sent to Dreileben to assist in the case.

April 22: Dreileben – Eine Minute Dunkel (One minute of darkness). Directed by Christoph Hochhäusler

Frank Molesch, convicted of murder, uses an opportunity to escape. He takes refuge in the forest. The awareness that he has become fair game changes him. The police combine all their technology and manpower to capture the fugitive.

For more information, visit their website.

2. Get a free trip to France (if you speak French).

Filipinos aged 18 to 25 are invited to participate in LabCitoyen, an annual program launched by Institut Français that selects French-speaking youth from all over the world to participate in a series of conferences, debates, and workshops on citizenship over the course of a ten-day, all expenses paid visit to France.

Each year, Institut Français opens this contest to Francophone youths to raise discussion and awareness on various issues concerning human rights and citizenship.

This year, interested participants are to create a 5-minute video documentary in the French language on the theme “Human rights in the face of environmental challenges,” in view of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) to be hosted by France in December 2015.

COP 21 is vital as 195 governments will endeavor to sign an ambitious, universal and legally binding agreement to limit global warming to 2°C,
before the effects of climate change become irreversible.

One Filipino shall be chosen by the cultural section of the Embassy of France to the Philippines to participate in the 10-day program in France from July 15 to 25, 2015.

The deadline for submission of videos is on April 20, 2015. For the complete mechanics, visit their website.

3. Tennis lessons

Since our eldest niece was two we have been bugging her mother to let her take tennis lessons. After all Martina Hingis was only two when she picked up the racquet. True, her mom was playing in tournaments during pregnancy, but the point is that we can make like the Djokovic family at tennis matches and jeer at the enemy. Or the Federers and invite fashion editors to sit courtside wearing large sunglasses.

We volunteered to take the kid to her lessons, and then our sister pointed out that her classes are at 10am. Yuccch, sunshine. So we won’t be trundling out our horrible tennis relative impression (Mary Pierce’s dad, Jennifer Capriati’s dad, Steffi Graf’s dad, etc), but who knows.

The niece is expected to balk at physical activity since she’d rather dress as various Disney princesses, so we have recommended a regimen of Maria Sharapova videos (free earplugs for the whole family).

UVDust, who proposes that Wes Anderson make a movie of Helen Oyeyemi’s Mr. Fox. Live-action this time.

Congratulations! Please email saffron.safin@gmail.com to collect your prize.

This contest was brought to you by National Bookstore.

If you won one of our contests from January to November this year and have not collected your prize, please do so before 31 December 2014 at the Customer Service desk of National Bookstore at Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati. Call them to make sure it’s still there, 8974562.

For unclaimed prizes from our 8th anniversary Question at Midnight raffles, please email saffron.safin@gmail.com one week before you intend to claim your prize at the Fuentes Manila office, because the chocolate has to be ordered from Villa del Conte.