My blood almost boiled because of what I heard from her mouth. But I chose to slice the squash as fast as I could.

"This is your squash, fifty pesos only. I don’t have change yet."

"How could I pay for this?" she irritably asked and even raised her eyebrow at me.

That’s your problem then.

"Come back later if you have 50 pesos already. There's a store nearby."

Why did I even say that there was a store nearby when she already knew that because it was her barrio? I was an idiot, tch.

I was really pissed off because of her.

"Argh! I'll get this squash later. Wait a minute. I'll be back."

I couldn’t draw her face after turned her back on me. I had change. I just got pissed off with what she said that’s why I made her come back. I'm really sensitive when it comes to my child.

"Tsk. If it isn't for mom's order, I really wouldn't be doing this!" she said.

"Mama, I look like you. Don't mind her. Let's just play."

I immediately turned to my daughter after she spoke. She was holding her toys but she was seriously staring into my eyes.
Magdalen was already sweating because her hair wasn’t tied. I forgot to tie it because I was busy arranging some vegetables earlier.

"Of course, darling. Yes, we will play." I smiled in response to her before I approached her and tied her hair.

I only accompanied Magdalen to play for a while. The woman also came back right away. My annoyance already disappeared, so I was able to smile as her.

An old woman suddenly appeared selling bukayo…
"Dear, buy a bukayo for your daughter." Bukayo is made from sweetened coconut strips and it is one of the Filipino desserts.

The back of the ale was bent, probably due to old age. Her skin was not very wrinkled yet, but it was noticeable that her face was dark and with many small moles. Her left eye was almost closed. She had long curly hair up to her hips. It felt Iike I was having a hard time looking at her shiny hair as if it had been oiled. The weight of her hair seemed to be a burden to her.

She was almost bald. Could it be because she’s carrying her long thick hair?

"How much is it?" I immediately asked. I also looked at Magdalen to see what she was currently doing.

My daughter was busy playing and didn’t seem to notice the old woman.

"Five pesos each, dear."

"All right, giv–" I was stunned because when I looked back at her, I caught her smiling while staring at Magdalen. I suddenly felt nervous when I saw her smile. Aling Speranza didn't smile like that at Magdalen.

"Why are you smiling?" I couldn't help but ask her. Fortunately, I got her attention.

"I'm just glad to see your daughter. She looks like an angel. It's like it's nice to take her home and eat–"

"Give me some onions, miss. I'm in a hurry," a boy who was not wearing slippers said. He probably just finished playing and his mother suddenly ordered him to buy. He always wears slippers when he buys at our store.

"Oh, here." He quickly took the onions I was holding and immediately handed over the ten pesos to me. Then, he ran away from us.

"Where are we? What were you saying earlier?" I immediately asked the old woman after the boy went away.

"I said it's nice to take your daughter to my house, dear."

By that time, I had noticed her teeth. They were turning black and there were broken ones as well. She seemed to hide her teeth when she talked and smile earlier that’s why I didn’t notice it immediately.
That was also the first time I saw her.

"It's like you said something else," I said before I smiled at her. "You said it’s nice to take her home. There's really a sequel to that. You wanted to add something earlier."

"Nothing. It's nothing," she all refused and shook her head. "Will you buy bukayo? My husband made them."

She took one bukayo and brought near my face to let me smell it. "This is really delicious, dear. Your daughter will like it for sure."

She also immediately returned it to the small basket she was carrying after she showed and let me smell it. It looked delicious but I was hesitant to buy.

"I just have a question. Why are your teeth black?" I couldn’t help but ask her because I was really curious.

"Maybe because of too much bukayo, dear."

"Oh, yes. Maybe." I pretended to giggle after I heard her answer.

It seemed impossible.

"Mom, I want a bukay!" Magdalen said as she gently shook my right hand.

Not now, darling.

"Bukayo, darling. Not bukay," I corrected her mispronunciation of bukayo.

Because of what my daughter did, the old woman turned her attention back to her. She stared at Magdalen again. That stare was different. It seemed like she wanted to touch Magdalen. It was as if she wanted to do something bad to her.

"Darling, you're not allowed to eat sweets, remember?" I simply winked at Magdalen so she would realize that I had no intention of buying. I knew she could understand what I wanted to convey because she’s smart.

"No sweets. No bukayo for now. I’ll just play again, mama."

Magdalen started playing again. I focused my attention to the old woman because I had an excuse already. I wouldn’t buy because Magdalen must not eat sweets and she already mentioned that she couldn’t eat bukayo.

I took out a hundred pesos from my wallet and handed it to the old woman. "Take this, please.
Magdalen must not eat sweets, so I couldn’t buy your product. You can sell it to others instead. Take this money as my little help," I said with a smile.

"Thank you, dear. But it looks like your daughter really wants to eat bukayo. Give her. One bukayo will do. She’ll like it."

She seemed to be really forcing me to buy, but it just felt that I shouldn’t buy. I couldn’t understand what I felt. It’s weird.
"Sorry. It’s really a no. Just sell it to others." I smiled at her, so that she would stop persuading me to buy.

"Okay, I’m leaving. Take care in your hut."

"Wait. How do you know about our hut–"

"I'll go," she said before walking away and without even letting me continue what I was supposed to say.

How did she know we were living in a hut? Eh, I just saw her for the first a few minutes ago.

I just watched her walk away because I didn't want to ask any more questions. She might come back if I would ask more. She took each step slowly, but I did not take my gaze away from her until I could no longer see her. There were people who were about to buy to our store while I was talking to the old woman, but they didn’t continue when they saw her. Its’ strange.

"Yvo, how are you and Magdalen?" Aling Speranza immediately asked while still panting.

"Oh, I rushed here right away when I heard from Loraine that the old woman who lived at the top of the mountain was here. Loraine is my nephew and she immediately came to me when she saw the old woman talking to you. I couldn’t draw her face when she approached me because she was disturbed in streaming the music video of her idols, a famous boy group in the Philippines. She said she was just walking nearby to look for a strong signal earlier when she saw someone talking to you. Loraine really loves P-pop. She stays awake almost all night because streaming. Even her friends Harvey and Jhen are also streaming for the P-pop group they support. Oh, no. Let's go back to the old woman. Are you and your daughter okay? "

"Sit down first, Aling Speranza. We are fine. Who is the old woman?"

Aling Speranza sat on a long wooden chair inside the store. Magdalen immediately approached and hugged her.

My daughter had actually found a grandmother in her.

"Magdalen, I'm your only grandmother here. Okay? I'm the only one," she said meaningfully to her.

"Yes," Magdalen replied with a smile.

"Yvo, that old woman rarely comes here and you should be careful," Aling Speranza uttered.

"She's selling bukayo. She said those were made by her husband."

"Never believe what she says."

"Why?"

"She doesn't have a husband. Be careful because they say she eats human. She returns to whoever she talks with when the night comes."

That might be the reason why I felt something weird when I was talking to her.