#Yatiz is a story focusing on the lives of young people in a small seaside municipality called Carmen in the southern part of the Philippines. The name is based on a cuss word here, "Yati/Yatis" that has no English equivalent but is closest to WTF.
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FEBRUARY 27, 2023・MONDAY・20:09
Maya is in her bed, wrapped up in blankets, and lost in thought. Her lips are dry and chapped. She's on her phone and looking through her photos with Noel. She checks her messages but still hasn't received a reply from him. She starts typing a message.
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She hesitates, her hand hovering over the 'send' the button.
Suddenly, her phone rings. It's her mama calling.
Her eyes widen a little as she realizes what's waiting for her once she answers it. She bites her lip and just lets the ringing continue, waiting for the call to end to avoid talking to her. She lowers the phone's volume a little and puts it down her bed, to avoid looking at it.
It goes on for another minute.
And then it ends.
Maya sighs and clenches her jaw. She picks her phone up.
The message to Noel is still waiting to be sent.
She takes a deep breath, trying to think of what to do next.
A notification pops up on her phone, saying she has 10% battery left.
She looks for her charger and finds it on the floor. She picks it up and plugs it into the extension wire. Before charging her phone, she stares at her message for a while. Eventually, she decides to erase it. Instead, she goes to Spotify and plays a song.
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The phone makes a sound as she charges it.
The music faintly echoes through her room as she stares at the yellow lights faintly illuminated through her white curtains.
Someone knocks on her door.
Maya rolls her eyes and turns around to look at the door. She waits and doesn't get up yet, hoping whoever's knocking walks away.
Another knock.
And another.
"Ate! Open ate!" May-may says from the other side of the door.
Maya begrudgingly gets up from her bed and walks over to the door. She opens it. "Unsa man 'by?" She says, clearly annoyed.
"WHAT AS IT, MAY-MAY?"
May-may shows her her coloring book and her box of crayons. "Mag-color ta te!"
"WANT TO COLOR WITH ME, ATE?"
"Ayaw lang sa karon, May-may be. Daghan pa kaayo ko'g ginabuhat."
"NOT NOW, MAY-MAY PLEASE. I HAVE A LOT OF STUFF I'M DOING."
"Nag-unsa diay ka te?"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ATE?"
"Basta!" she snaps. "Sige'g pangutana, May-may."
"MAY-MAY!"
"STOP ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS."
May-may's shoulders sink a little. "Sorry te," she says as she walks away.
Maya immediately feels a hint of guilt and momentarily considers apologizing, but instead she stops herself and closes the door. She walks back towards the bed and picks up her phone. She sees that she 6 messages from her mama. She taps the notification and reads the messages.
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MAMA: MAYA! WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING MY CALLS?
MAYA LISELLE, WHAT IS THIS MESSAGE YOUR TEACHER SENT TO ME?
I HEARD YOU WERE BEAT UP?
WHY ARE YOU GOING AROUND FIGHTING PEOPLE, MAYA?
PLEASE FOCUS. YOU KNOW IT'S SO DIFFICULT WORKING ABROAD, MY DARLING.
MAYA HONEY PLEASE REPLY
Maya sets her phone to Do Not Disturb and locks it. She slams it on her bedside table. She suddenly feels overwhelming anger building in her chest. Quickly, she grabs her pillow and covers her face. She screams.
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