Small People: The Cemetery Keeper
Storyboard Text
- SMALL PEOPLE: THE CEMETERY KEEPER
- HI! My name is Jake, nice to meet ya!
- By: Derrel Jeack C. Agdon
- HAHA! Steve the "Pockmarked Face"!!
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- You are not cut for here!
- I'm sorry. But, i changed my mind about you.
- Steve's real name is Esteban. Younger townspeople call him Steve while the elders use his full name. Steve lived through his teenage years and adult years enduring humiliation with a pitted face and a vernacular nickname for the English equivalent of "Pockmarked Steve"
- Before the 1950s, the Philippines lacked adequate primary health care services, and very few private doctors outside of the major cities. Many communities have experienced disease outbreaks that could have been prevented by vaccination. Scary smallpox has hit Steve's town of Danao, leaving many residents including Steve in pain. He was a teenager when smallpox disfigured his face with pitting marks.
- How are you Lad? How's life?
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- Steve's dire circumstances made it difficult for him to find and find a job, let alone find a life partner. However, he lived a decent and colorful life.Behind his pockmarked face, he maintained a steely resolve to find himself a respectable slot in the social structure of the community. Steve managed to get by decently by doing sundry jobs that had few takers, by doing voluntary services and by honestly adhering to his Christian faith.
- I returned home to Danao when Aunt Margarita passed away. This time I noticed a small house near the cemetery with children running around in the yard and candles and flowers for sale at the foot of the house. Then I saw Steve come out. He shook my hand, mumbled "How are you," offered his condolences, and led me to my aunt's funeral grave. Unlike before, the cemetery is now very well maintained and overgrown with trees. I later learned that Father Alcoseba had previously hired Steve to look after the Catholic cemetery and that he had found a loving companion, built a small house on land overlooking the cemetery, and had children. Steve finally found his calling and changed his humiliating nickname. I left Danao believing that the peace of my ancestors' resting place was guarded by "Steve the Graveyard Keeper".
- THE END.
- My friends and I have met and talked to Steve a few times and have found him to be a very friendly and decent person. He spoke to us in the vernacular of "Lads", in Danao, an expression of respect for the youngest. He always asked us how far we had to finish our studies. A few years after graduation, I moved to work in Manila, which at that time was like moving from the Philippines to another country. When Crispina died, I went back to Danao to attend her funeral and see Steve while she woke up. “How are you Lad? How`s life?”, he inquired. I smiled and mumbled some greetings to him. WhenBMO grandmother was interred, I saw Steve help lift and lower her coffin to the concrete tomb.
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