- Hi! my name is Aiko. In this blog are poetry, and pastel, and pink cute things.
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Friday, March 13, 2020 | March 13, 2020 |
Eyes
“I’ve seen evil, alright.” The blind old man said with a glimmer of forlorn reminiscing in his cataract-infested eyes. “It ain’t pretty, no sir.” He continued.
His name is Macario Bartolome. As a young man, he served as a guerrilla in the second world-war; fighting against the Japanese who invaded the country back then. After the war he settled down with his childhood sweetheart in spite of the fact that Neneng was raped and abused by Japanese soldiers during the war. She bore him three children, all of them growing up to be fine people. Now, in his early nineties, Apung Macario is an image of sagely constitution, an elderly statesman who serves to remind us of a heroic past in a nation still coming to terms with its identity.
“How do you define evil in the first place?” the young man asked, briefly taking his eyes off the laptop.
“Evil is the absence of good. That’s how most people define evil. But for me, it has a form- both flesh and not. Evil is an absence felt in the form of transgression. I’ve seen evil penetrate the hearts of ordinary men and they went on to commit crimes their nature would otherwise not permit.”
The young man smirked. Apung Macario was waxing philosophical and it was exactly what he needed for his Metaphysics paper.
He went on to ask the old man another question. “So by evil taking a form, you mean the devil?”
The old man stared straight at him. He knew the old man could barely see because of his cataracts but the intensity of the look nonetheless sent a chill up his spine.
“Yes. And the devil is a shape-shifter. He may take the form of the animal that rips a child’s throat, or the money men lust after, but during my time, the devil took the form of war.”
“Go on.” The young man said in a half-whisper.
“Soldiers, that class of men made to obey orders, were blindfolded with ideology and often against their better judgement, mandated to commit atrocities in the name of politics.”
“The Japanese I encountered during my time as a guerrilla were merely obeying orders- I know that- but in the process I’ve seen evil invade them to the point that it seemed to them like they were enjoying the crimes they performed.”
“However, I forgive them, all of them, including the group of soldiers that raped Neneng. May her soul rest in peace.”
“I am an old man. Too old, in fact. And I can’t wait to close my eyes for the last time. The amount of evil I’ve seen in my lifetime would make the bravest of men tremble and,”
Apung Macario beckoned the young man to come closer.
“These eyes allowed evil to happen.”
“What do you mean?” The young man asked.
“Neneng would not have been abused if I didn't allow it. I hid behind a tree and watched it all happen. Later on I married her to ease off the guilt I felt but it only grew stronger through the years. My dreams are all nightmares anymore. Nightmares of Neneng being raped and of myself burning in hell.”
The old man pointed to his eyes. “This is the price I have to pay for allowing evil to happen. We have vision to be used for good deeds and I did the exact opposite of that. Was it cowardice? Or was it evil that penetrated my sight? Whatever it is, the repercussion is I had to lose my vision because I misused the purpose of my eyes.”
The young man typed on his laptop. “Based on your account, have you seen this particular evil infiltrate you? I mean, after all, you claim to see evil in physical form invade the hearts of men.”
Apung Macario pursed his thin lips. “Oh yes. It was in the form of a breeze. I’ve felt it within me and though I had the freewill to go against it, I opted to make myself an instrument of evil.”
“Okay, that’s about it. Thank you very much, Apung Macario.” The young man shut his laptop close and got up to shake the old man’s hand.
Outside Apung Macario’s hut, the young man felt the breeze graze over his face. He remembered what the old man said and had the urge to laugh. Instead, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket and lit one.
Tomorrow he would submit his Metaphysics paper and maybe after that have a drink or two with his friends.
Labels: 2020, aiko lactaotao, aiko-lactaotao, eerie, evil, eyes, filipino women writers, flash fiction
