I send my mother 1.5 million pesos monthly for my postpartum wife. Coming home early, I found my wife eating spoiled rice with fish heads. Furious, I confronted my mom, who sneered, “She doesn’t deserve better.” Then, I checked the family safe and found…

bag of fresh bread and oranges on the entryway console. I kept the glass bottle of milk gripped firmly in my left hand, a cold anchor against my escalating panic.

No one answered. The television was off. The fans were still.

Then, my ears caught it.

It was a pathetic, microscopic sound. At first, it registered as nothing more than a faint scratching. continue reading …