A Stitch in Time

My mom wove me into the week and made sure my future children would have no holes on their behinds.

I finished the exams for Humanities I at around 2pm and got around to ablutions. I planned to catch the bus for Los Banos as early as possible so I can jog there by the afternoon. After the dressing and the packing, I went downstairs. Ma was making arrangements with a seamstress about Ate's clothes. I joined the conversation. Ma noticed a hole in the seam of my shirt's shoulder. I didn't mind especially since I was just going to travel, jog, and sweat on it. So I said I can live with it.

She wouldn't have it though. The seamstress produced a needle from her bag. It already had a span of thread on it, as if always ready in case of emergency.

Ma took it and I asked her if she could operate on the hole without me removing my shirt. She said there were the future kids to worry about. The elders said that if an article of clothing was mended while worn, the children of the wearer would be born without holes on their rear. In the same breath, she waved off the warning by invoking God and her being a science teacher. And that her responsibilities covered the entire district. She finished the stitch in fifteen seconds.

A kiss goodbye and I went out with a mended shoulder and maybe a close-ended future.