The Soothing

"He's not dead," the albularyo said, taking the almost-finished cigarette away from his mouth. "The body in the coffin is not him. It's a banana trunk." His eyes flashed through the smoke wafting across the young woman's face. "You are having a vigil for a banana trunk, not for a dead body." He glanced at the window and smirked. "His sister came to me last week asking to cure him." He puffed one last time, flicked the cigarette butt outside the window, and struck her with a sharp stare. "Look, miss, the vigil is nonsense. You bury it tomorrow."

A pool of tears streamed out from the woman's eyes and made it hard to discern her frown. "Why do we see his body in the coffin if it's a banana trunk?" asked her.