When Back In Time

SHE WAS threw inside a prison cell.

It was noon at that time.

The dress that she's wearing was all covered with blood.

Her face faced the cold, filthy ground of the cell. She tried to open her bruised eyes and saw Agustin. His voice was almost inaudible as he ordered the civil guards to guard her tightly.

She took a shivering breath, which was a painful thing to do. Afterward, her eyes shut down.

When she woke up, it was the same time yesterday. She propped herself up with difficulty and leaned her back on the cold, black wall.

The cell that she was in was not that big nor small. It has iron bars and a filthy floor to sleep on.

She looked up and saw a small window with iron rails on it.

Outside her cell, a guard was watching her, not peeling his eyes on her.

This cell, as Esperanza remembered, is pretty much the same with the prison cell where Pepe once was jailed.

And it hit her.

She remembered him again.

'Pepe,' as she mentioned him, in her heart, she felt a sting on her heart. She wanted to cry but crying made her eyes ached after the black-eyed she gets from that sadistic and machismo Agustin.

She took a ragged breath, 'That man, he does not even apply the moral code in this era. It is wrong to hit a woman who is defenseless. He does not have chivalry on his bone nor on his vocabulary.'

She stopped, 'Why am I making jokes here. I' m doomed. '

The guard, who watched her, took out silvers from his pocket. He started counting it.

Those were coins.

He counted it and piled it up in a ten-silver set. After he piled the first set, he counted 1 up to 10 and piled another set.

Esperanza silently looked at him.

He continued piling and counting.

'He sure did have lots of money,' she commented as she eyed the coins. 'Silver coins. Coins.'

Something bothered her. As she watched him counting his money, something kept knocking on her mind.

'Coins. There is something about the coin. What is it? What is it? The heck, why am I curious about a mere coin? I should ve been thinking about my survival. I need to get out from here if I could even get out from here'

She clicked her tongue in irritation. She closed her eyes.

She could hear the sound of silver piling on another silver. She heard him counting.

Counting and piling.

She touched her aching jaw, which she thinks was dislocated after that punch of his.

'Ouch! Mistake! I shouldn't touch it!'

She clicked her tongue irritation

Sound of counting and piling. Counting and piling.

She opened her eyes in irritation.

She started, "Puwede ba, tumigil ka sa ginagawa mo. Ang ingay ingay mo eh." (If possible, could you stop doing what you' re doing. You're too noisy)

The guard looked at her in annoyance. He stated that she has no right to complain.

She looked at him in disbelief.

He continued on counting and piling.

She closed her eyes in annoyance. She flexed her head trying to contain her temper.

The guard noticed this and started counting louder.

'Wow,' she opened her eyes and glared at him, 'He is really testing my patience.'

She stood up in pain and slowly inched closer towards the bars.

She said, "Bingi ka ba?" (Are you deaf?)

He didn't bother to look at her but instead, continued this routine of counting and piling. And after all the silvers were piled, he destroyed his work and start over again.

She grasped the bars. She yelled at him.

The guard looked at her with a trace of irk on his face. He uttered, "Ano bang problema mo?" (What's your problem?)

As he stood up, Esperanza's eyes laid on the silver coins. Silver coins... Coins...

'Wait,' she thought to herself. Her eyes widen in recognition. 'That-that' s it. Silver coins... That's right. That's why Pepe 2's face was bothering me because he was so familiar. I've always seen his face everywhere, whether in the statue, in books or coins. That's right. Coins. The peso coin we have in the year 2019. The face embedded on that coin was Jose Rizal. Jose Rizal.'

She shouted in excitement which shocked the guard.

' Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines,' she thought to herself.

The guard said, "Sira ulo ka ba?" (Are you crazy?)

But she didn't mind him, 'That's it. He is a doctor. As I remember, an ophthalmologist. A doctor for the eye. A well-known womanizer at his time. A writer and also a revolutionist. His penname in his novel was Pepe. Oh my! Why I'm such a fool of not recognizing him.'

She let out a short laughed, "He' s Dr. Jose Rizal."

"Ano?" the guard asked. (What?)

The guard was about to retort but stop when the door of the entrance flew open.

A woman came in followed by Agustin in tow.

Agustin said, "Mahal ko, hindi mo na kinakailangan pa-----" (My love, you don't need to-----)

His wife said with strong determination, "Hindi. Kinakailangan kong makita ang pagmumukha ng taong gumawa niyan sa iyo." (No. I need to see the face of rhe the one who did this to you.)

The woman went infornt of Esperanza'sin front

Esperanza looked at the woman. She was beuatiful. She has slight dark skin, a beautiful round eyes, beautiful luxurious black hair and tall in stature. She is a beauty.

A tear started to stream down on Esperanza's face.

She knew this woman.

"A-ate Clara?" she stuttered (Cl-clara?)

The woman named Clara looked at her with frowned eyebrows. She was about to ask Esperanza of how did she knew her name when suddenly Clara recognized the girl in front of her.

Clara drew closer to the bars and she started to cry. She tried to recah Esperanza. reach latter drew closer and let Clara touched softly her bruised face.

Clara started, "Anong ginawa nila sa iyo?" (What have they done to you?)