wattys 2020 winner • mystery/thriller
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Everyone thinks she is dead. Even I thought so, too.
While the town spoke of her dead name, Amethyst Cambray is actually alive, and she is asking for my help.
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01
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S E P T E M B E R 2019
EVERYONE FROM ASHMORE was surprised to hear the news that rang loud noises around the town for weeks. Rumors and lies swarmed around ears and mouths of everyone that lived in Ashmore that, honestly, know nothing, not anywhere near the truth. Well, I know what I'm talking about because I know the truth.
The Cambray family's house was swallowed by fire, so big and hot one Saturday evening, bringing panic to the neighbors. Mula sa bahay, kitang-kita 'yong malalaking usok na nanggagaling sa sunog. The fire was so strong nobody could get in, and after a few hours of trying to kill the monstrous flames, almost nothing remained in the house.
The next day, it was assumed that everybody that lived in the house is dead.
Their names, including Amethyst's, were printed on Ashmore Newspapers. They were given sad prayers at school. I didn't care that much, until I saw her.
With my own two eyes.
At first, I thought that doesn't make any sense. At all.
How can a dead girl be able to live, anyway? Makikita mo pang umiiyak sa tabing dagat. Ha. You'd probably think I'm insane, but I'm okay with that. Everybody thinks I am.
Thinking back to that Saturday night, I feel as if it is like a thousand years ago, because many things had actually happened. Things I wasn't prepared for.
And it all began when I discovered that Amethyst Cambray, who everybody thought was gone . . . isn't actually dead.
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J U N E 2 0 1 9
HERE IN ASHMORE, almost everybody knows everybody, because there is only one school, one church, and a couple of supermarkets. Maybe you'll stumble upon someone you don't recognize, but that someone was probably that someone you've seated on a bus with, or a classmate from high school. Minsanan lang magkaroon ng mga bagong lipat dahil sa sobrang layo ng town na 'to sa lugar sa bansa, kaya naman kapag may bagong lipat, expected nang sobrang OP ka.
When my parents died when I was 14, my only aunt (my mother's sister) didn't want to take me in. It was okay though, I didn't want to live with her too. Hinanapan niya ako ng bahay, binigyan ng pangsimulang pera, saka hindi na ako kinontak pa kahit kailan. I understand that my mother and her weren't in good terms because of some conflicts I won't bother tell, but I just didn't know that her anger was so extreme she'd send me miles and miles away. But as I said, it was okay.
She looked for a small town very far from where she lives. Binigyan niya ako ng bahay dito sa Ashmore, small enough for me. She informed me that it wasn't fully paid yet, so I must work my ass off if I don't want to live in the streets. As a 14 year old kid I was scared, I felt lost, but Ashmore was a kind town, and it felt like home. The crime rate is low, the neighborhood is kind, no riots ever happen. It is an ideal town.
