bella

no, it's not bella the vampire. it's ate bella (pronounced a la bella flores, belya). she was our trusted kasambahay in the early 80s. she was a petite, fair-skinned woman. her hair was short and wavy. she was probably in her 20s then.

she was hyper! she cleaned the house like a mad girl. mommy and lola would scold her just so she would stop cleaning at the wee hours of the night (and day too). she even waxed and polished the stairs with a bunot! very dangerous! madulas! i remember one time she fell down the stairs - last few steps lang naman! i think she stopped polishing the floor after that makalaglag-pangang incident.

she was very popular because she called folk arts theater "prok eye" hehehe. that was so cute. we would ask her, "ate bella sama ka?" she would answer, "saan, sa prok eye?"

i remembered her this morning because i saw the scrub on the bathroom and i had an urge to scrub the floor. i didn't. i was late for work.

asan ka na kaya, ate bella?