The Great Mage is a Good Liar

By Fernando, Abegail D.

I don’t know where I will get that three hundred thousand peso bill. I don’t know
where to go, to whom I would ask but one thing that comes into my mind is that, I badly
need to have money for her operation. My name is Elias, an unemployed citizen. Life hits
very hard most especially during this pandemic. I live in Tondo Manila and I used to do
terrible things to provide good needs for our living. We are the ones who are on the
fringes. Who would accept an uneducated person like me? So even though it was
dangerous I continued to do my work like this.
It was Friday, one rainy night, the thunder roars incessantly. I was smoking my
cigarette to fade away the cold and nervousness inside me. Bingo! I got one. After I
stepped on my cigar I hurriedly put on my mask and walk after this old man in a very
dark bridge in Ayala Street. While following him, we came here in a very dark and
seemed to be a forgotten place. He was carrying an umbrella and a bag. I gazed on both
sides to watch if there were people around but seeing this place it really looks like as an
abandoned place for years. The thunder continues to roar incessantly; out of nowhere the
old man speaks

“I knew why you’re here”

I was shocked and I aimed to get his bag when suddenly he uttered and it stops me from
where I am standing.

“Do not mess with me poor little boy! The table is waiting come join me on dinner, its
bad to make the food wait”

He calmly said those words; my whole senses cannot accept everything because I
can’t even sense the fear around him. It feels like he knew me for a long time. From there
I’m surprised that we are facing an old house out of nowhere, also it’s weird that he
actually has no neighbors. I felt the tranquility inside this house. This is a kind of place
that anyone would want to go if he wants to escape the problematic world of human
beings in the crowded city.
As we entered the house, it was really archaic. There was a little sooty fireplace
that paved away the coldness we’ve got from the rain. It was old but gold. I sat on a
dusty, faded but expensive antique chair near the table. The Living room was huge, but it
was neglected and dirty. The way to it is incomprehensible, even geographers will get
lost if they bother to roam around this place.
My heart almost jumped surprisingly when the fire faced me and talked;
“A new friend My Lord!”
The old man came with foods on his hands saying
“Yes my dear Flameousa”.
She was a girl; the fire. The old man handed me a plate. I was about to say that I’m not
hungry but my stomach shouted as if it didn’t taste food for days.
“How was your journey my lord?”
I was about to spit out my food when the soup talked. Holy Moly! Am I dreaming? He
offered me a cup and without hesitation I sip everything from it, thinking that I was just
dreaming when suddenly I felt my tongue was burning because it was too hot.

“This is real, h-how could it be? The soup! The fire! and whatever damn things here are
talking!”

“Relax, little man you should be taking these lovely dinner peacefully, just don’t mind
those things around you, treat and talk to them as a friend, it rained a bit more than usual,
here you should take a hot cup though”

“Beautiful weather we’re having my lord”

The fire were stating during a thunderstorm,

“Who are you? Why am I here with you and with y-your s-stuffs!?”

“I am your Karma little boy. This is your only choice, the right time has come.”

I'm confused, thinking why did I come here, first I need money for my mother and second
I need to go home safely to take care of her and be with her because I have no other
wealth but only my mother.

“I knew that you are financially unfortunate”.

The old man said, lending me a piece of paper where he needed my signature on it. As I
scanned it, it was an agreement.
“I’ll give you what you want just sign the contract”

I don’t understand why I felt that I am forced or, maybe I have no choice but to sign it for
the eternal life of my mother.

“By any chance your loving mother will die; four twenty three this morning, it is your
choice if you will sign this or not”

“You still have lot of time friend” said the fire

“Or maybe she will helplessly die without even seeing your lovely face my dear” said the
soup with a very sad voice
In exchange I will let the soul inside that laptop have my body for 23 months. It was
Odette, his loving wife.

I saw everything when Flameousa showed me the whole story, Odette was cursed by a
very powerful wizard to live inside the old man’s favorite thing. The old man used to
bring his laptop everyday on his job; it became his companion whenever no one is talking
to him because of being weird and creepy most of the time. It was happened the past
nineteen hundreds. This archaic house is a mage’s house at all cost, my mother used to
tell me this kind of stories but never in my whole life had I expected that I would
experience these crap. It’s a very tough decision but I’d rather give myself for my mother
than seeing her suffer. So I signed the contract.

“It’s just twenty-three months” whispering to myself

“Fine, just make sure that she will live her life better than before”

I said while dedicatedly signing the contract.

“His answer was hardly a whisper” said Odette

Let me see first if you really granted my wish for my mother.

“Nesperus Protatius dicipulus co hesta! En Terisita iternal de la luna para siempre!”

The wind blew heavily but Flameousa kept her fire burning. A very wild sudden howl,
shrill cries frightened. It was a little creepy echo until Flameousa show those golden
times when I am with my mother. We were playing together, her smile was so precious.
While reminiscing those old times of us I wipe my eyes from crying. I can’t help myself
seeing her happy and active again.

“Make like a tree and leave”

“Nesperus Protatius dicipulus co hesta! En Elias! Reemplazar mi esposa! De la luna

para siempre!”

“Adios Para Siempre! Elias”

There, I can’t even feel my whole body, I tried to walk but I can’t I’m just a thin air. This
made me regret my decision, I should not trust him, and he’s a good liar, a tricky wizard,
a greedy mage!

I felt I was being absorbed by the laptop there; Odette hurriedly closed it while laughing
with an evil tone..
“I love you mother, with all my heart”

I whispered silently while catching my breath then everything just turned dark, here that
ends.

Fernado, Abegail D.
III BSED English

1. PERSONIFICATION
a. The thunder roars incessantly.
b. The thunder continues to roar incessantly; out of nowhere the old man
speaks “I knew why you’re here”.
-These two examples were showing an action that is basically done by a
man or even animals. Only tiger can do roar as it was described to be done
by a thunder in the story.
c. My heart almost jumped surprisingly when the fire faced me and talked; “A
new friend, My Lord!”
-Who would literally think of a heart jumping out from a man’s body?
There we can also see that human attributes were performed by the
character’s heart.
2. METAPHOR
a. Life hits very hard
-it talks about poverty and crisis for today’s phenomena people here in the
Philippines are experiencing it. This describes an object or action in a way
that isn’t literally true.
 b. We are the ones who are on the fringes.
-it means that ‘we are those people being left” poor as rat. It helps explain
an idea. This is also about poverty that slums are experiencing.

3. HYPERBOLE
a. The thunder roars incessantly.
-It was exaggerated when we think of it in real life, like literally thunders
will roar continuously? It shows exaggeration.
b. My heart almost jumped surprisingly when the fire faced me and talked; “A
new friend, My Lord!”
-Also this one, it was over exaggerated because let’s say you’ve just seen a
fire talking then eventually your heart will escape inside you. It is also an
exaggeration.
4. ONOMATOPOEIA
a. The thunder roars incessantly.
b. The thunder continues to roar incessantly; out of nowhere the old man
speaks “I knew why you’re here”.
--The description of the sound of the thunder was present and we can
definitely imagine to hear in our mind the sound it has.

5. IRONY

a. Stating during a thunderstorm, “beautiful weather we’re having”

-Verbal Irony, here saying things like this shows contradictory things, how
can we say that the weather is beautiful when there is a thunderstorm? That
was the point.
b. I used to do terrible things to provide good needs for our living.
-Situational Irony, doing bad things to provide good needs is a
contradictory situation.
c. I sat on a dusty, faded but expensive antique chair near the table.
-Situational Irony, the table was described as old but it was expensive.
d. The way to it is incomprehensible, even geographers will get lost if they
bother to roam around this place.
- Situational Irony, it is ironic that even geographers cannot find where the
said place where placed exactly.

6. OXYMORON
a. Only choice
 -It obviously shows a pairing of two words together that are opposing and/or
contradictory. Actually the word “choice” means you have a lot to be chosen but
then the word “only” shows that you have only one choice.

7. LITOTES
a. His answer was hardly a whisper.
-This means that he uttered it softly and without using a harsh tone.

8. UNDERSTATEMENT
a. “It rained a bit more than usual.” 
-This only means that an area was being flooded by heavy rainfall.

9. EUPHEMISM
a. “I knew that you are financially unfortunate”
-In simple words, the old man knew that Elias has no money at all. This
statement was designed to replace phrasing that would be considered
unpleasant. 

10. METONYMY
a. He offered me a cup.
-A cup actually means a tea or a coffee.

11. SYNECHDOCHE
a. The old man handed me a plate.
-Plate means food this is allowed for a smaller component of something to
stand in for the larger whole. Plate is just a component of a food.

12. CLICHÉ
a. It was old but gold.
-Obviously this word was overused.

13. PUN
a. Make like a tree and leave.
- Here the word “leave” pertains to “leaf” and also stands as the predicate in
the statement.