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Moro Literature Short Stories Grandma's Death
Moro Literature Short Stories Grandma's Death | Grandma's Death |
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| Written by Vernon B. Puengan | |
| Saturday, 16 August 2003 | |
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The Amir had always been the apple of her eye among all her grandchildren. He arrived late, carrying cup cakes, ripe bananas, milk powder, and chocolate drinks. As he saw his grandma, tears gradually fell from his eyes out of pity, love and his strong desire to see her. He hugged her with full of fervor and they both wept. He asked for forgiveness for not being there when she needed him most. Amir cried still, sobbing on his grandma’s lap. “I didn’t know they brought you here”, he said. “Ting I’ve waited for you. Stop crying, it’s okay. At least you are here now”, said grandma. He has always loved her ever since. He loved his grandma more than anything else… more than his father, mother, and siblings. Amir lived miles away pursuing higher learning, so they rarely saw each other. “Ting, I couldn’t sleep for weeks now”, grandma said, complaining to Amir. “Do you want to take a sleeping pill, grandma? I’ll talk to the doctor”, he asked. “I think that’s a good idea.” He went to the doctor immediately and told him of his grandma’s problem. Luckily, the doctor agreed with him and got him a sleeping tablet, divided it into two and handed the other half to Amir. After taking the pill, she advised him before she retired. “Amir…Ting, be good always and love your cousins and siblings”, she said in a mellow sad tone. He could have almost cried. “Grandma, don’t worry I’ll do what you want”, said Amir. This happened sometime during the first week of January 2000. It was Thursday afternoon where a mixture of crimson sky and rainy atmosphere sent a strange sign of premonitions. There were four beds inside the wide dusty ward of remote Aurora General Hospital in Zamboanga del Sur. Two beds were vacant. Some parts of the floor were broken and hollowed. The entire room was unpolished and miry. A Christian patient was occupying one bed with a lady watching over her, while grandma occupied the other one. By the windows, the morgue could be seen from a distance giving out an unclear gloomy scene. He preferred to stay outside, approximately a pentameter away from the ward’s door. He glanced at his grandma once in a while who had been sleeping soundly. Sitting beside her sleeping form is almost like torture for him, he thought. He couldn’t endure and tolerate seeing her struggling for life. Every time he saw her breathing rapidly, as if exhausted by an hour of running, he suddenly feels a mental and emotional distress all over him. A while later when some relatives came in to visit, he took the chance to go outside for a few minutes. He began to reflect on his life so far. He began to recollect everything. Alay was his grandma’s name. She looked like a child despite the wrinkles on her face. He was afraid to glance at his grandma reclining with a soft pillow on her back. He could almost feel the painful dextrose that was injected on her right arm. She used to have very beautiful features-- flawless skin, a slender body, and bright long hair like that of a regal queen. She was a queen really in her own way. She was married twice to men who possessed royal lineage as a rajamuda. She was diagnosed with lung cancer more likely as a result of smoking tobacco. A vice she developed to fight off solitude. Suddenly, Amir was startled by his Auntie Bai’s voice. She was yelling at him, “Call the doctor! Hurry!” “What is happening to grandma?”, he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he rushed off towards the hospital counter. “Where’s the doctor?”, he immediately asked. “He needs to check on grandma!” was all he could blurt out. “He’ll be there right away”, the male nurse automatically responded. Amir swiftly ran to his grandma’s bed. Everybody was crying hysterically. He was speechless! The male doctor had come in late. He pumped grandma’s chest to revive any heartbeat but there was no effect. She was already not breathing and had passed away a few minutes earlier. Amir eventually realized she was gone completely. He cried as loud as he can, grabbed a chair and forcefully threw it away against the wall. He cursed the doctor for not being on time, and himself for giving her the sleeping pill. It could have been the cause of her death! There was nothing they could do but cry. Finally after the anguish and denial, he understood and accepted the will of Allah. Death is inevitable. All living things face death, Allah revealed. Amir could only say thank you, for Allah had made grandma’s passing easier for her. She died in her sleep, without having to painfully suffer the process of her spirit seperating from her body.
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Comments (1)
  written by andreo punzalan, August 28, 2008
I THINK THERE IS ONE THING SIMILAR TO OUR RELIGIONS,,IT'S OUR BELIEF IN THE HIGHEST BEING,,ALLAH FOR YOU, jESUS FOR CHRISTIANS,,
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