WE PLAYED UNDER THE MOONLIGHT

‘Turubigan’ was our game when we were still very young.  I remember, I was not in school yet.  There was still no electric service in our town.  Our light came from a bottle of gin (a kind of wine) with a wick.  Our nose became dirty because of this.

       ‘Turubigan’ or water game was played at night by two groups of young people in our neighborhood.  My playmates were Leon, Emma, Manay Mating, Manay Erming , Manay  Nana, Saling, Mario, Juan and my brothers Avelino and Virgilio.

       We poured water on the road to make four squares least five feet square).  We have no chalk before.  Chalks were for teachers only.  Sometimes we made use of broken plates and cups to line the square..  Our road was not yet concreted like now.  The road was asphalted.  Water was very visible under the moonlight.  It made the lines dark.  And we did it along the road from 7:00 PM until midnight.  Cars were still few so we had so much time for our games.

          One group acted as ‘taon’ or guard of the square.  The other group tried to ‘escape’ from being caught or touched by the former until he or she reached the last square and the finish line.

       At 11:00 PM, my mother would call us to return home and sleep.  She, herself could not sleep without us at her side.  Our mosquito net was wide.  It was made of abaca.  We were eight in the family (six sons and our parents). We were lined up inside the mosquito net.

       The young today do not play our game any more.  Roads today are cemented and water splashed to make a square cannot be as dark and shiny as before.  Today, more and more cars various sizes pass by and to play along the road will be dangerous.

       I missed those days.