Ants and Parades

Jack said I should be at the curb exactly after the first afternoon TV soap was over. That  is about as interesting as watching soldier ants scout for food at the kitchen counter. I couldn't sit through the entire program, so I decided to lie on our bamboo couch to pass the time.


Then, I heard it- the beating of the drums. I must have fallen asleep and forgot about what Jack said. It's a talent to stay awake in front of a Sunday soap. But it was either that  or the equally exciting radio drama. Nothing much happened on a Sunday back at my hometown when I was a kid. After hearing mass with the entire family, I would sit at a makeshift bench under the tree and wait for friends to finish their morning chores and errands. Most of them did not come till around 10, making the wait feel so long I'd wish it were Monday. Sometimes I got lucky my mother would let me tag along with her to the wet market, which happened very rarely. She said she'd rather use my fare to buy puto for everyone. So that, when Jack said some school was celebrating foundation day and the road's closed for their parade, I almost couldn't eat lunch out of excitement. Everyone must never  be late for the spectacle! That would mean drums, trumpets, xylophones, girls wearing their short, fluffy, golden costumes while twirling batons, and maybe mascots.

I ran out as fast as I could almost teary out of fear they have already passed. When I got out, the whole neighborhood was already at the roadside, enjoying the familiar melody and gasping at how the twirlers twirled their new flags in perfect synchrony. More than the music, I would forever remember the colors and the synchonized march of that parade. "You missed the float", Jack yelled from behind. "They had...", He trailed off, whatever he said was drowned by the bass drums, which signaled the tail end of the parade.

I had missed half of it, but I was sure I'd hear about the other half from Jack and friends later who would talk non-stop about it for the rest of the afternoon. Since then, I have appreciated ants and how they could lift stuff 50 times their weight.