This story by Vicente Rivera Jr. is set in Intramuros, the walled city within Manilla, shortly before the Japanese invasion of World War 2. It deals with an often-overlooked aspect of forced evacuation during war: the severing of personal relationships as families flee a conflict. A budding friendship between a protective young man and lonely eleven-year-old girl is put on hold as they go their separate ways. The friendship is clearly important to both, and their parting is especially bitter as neither has a chance to say goodbye. Themes include loneliness, friendship, war, displacement, regret.
In interpreting any story, it is important to have regard to its title. Rivera is not only describing the impact of the war as it affected those in the Philippines. As the girl Maria says when commenting on the special darkness of their first air-raid practice, It’s all over the world. Sadly, conflict and human displacement still takes place… all over the world.
Original Text / PDF (2,700 words)