Blema's life was coming apart! Why did all this have to happen to her, especially now? The rain from the typhoon was falling heavily in the warm black night and as the sheets of water cascaded off the corrugated metal portico of the Sari Sari, she could think of only one thing -- she had to get home to her grandmother Lola. Her job, her boss, her so-called step mother, her apartment in Pasig City -- everything seemed to be caving in on her. Emotion piled upon emotion until she fought back a sob in her throat and felt the hot tears pushing up into her eyes. The bus was late headed for Olangapo? Lola would be worried as usual. Ever since her mother died and her father remarried, she had chosen to live with Lola, her mother's mother. Like any grandmother she was over-protective of her only grand-daughter even though she had passed her twenty-second birthday. The traffic headed into Manila from out on the Bataan Peninsula is unusually light. It isn't until she has an encounter with an American who is obviously out of his element that she decides to take a Jeepney. Her fateful discovery, -- that the entire town of Mabalacat, Pampanga, where her semi-invalid grandmother lives, has just been inundated in Lahar -- causes her to vent her wrath and frustration on the nearest individual. It happens to be the American tourist, Alan Fairbanks. He listens compassionately as her life unfolds before him. Her complaints to God about her condition, her plight, the mounting problems that are drowning her in self-pity are each attentively turned to moments of exhortation and love from another Christian who, Blema learns, has himself suffered even greater loss. She learns that his visit to Luzon at this inopportune time is a pilgrimage of sorts, fulfilling a promise to his father to visit the site of his uncle's ultimate sacrifice on Bataan during the Second World War. Alan's own parents have both gone on to glory and a recent violent earthquake in Los Angeles took the life of his own grandmother. The coincidences astound them both. Through this unlikely friendship, Blema manages to emerge at peace with herself and with those around her who have suffered under her self-righteousness. Blema and Alan part as good friends, each having helped the other.
About the Author: Louis H. Campbell, classical theatre director and author, married Laura Lynn (Williams) his college sweetheart in 1965. He has visited 56 different countries consulting, teaching, directing and performing. He conceived and directed the First International Mime Institute & Festival in 1974. He has consulted globally on well over a hundred theaters and convention centers. Protege of Tyrone Guthrie, Etienne Decroux and Jean-Louis Barrault, "Dr Lou" focuses his theatre training philosophy on a thorough and organic approach to knowledge of the body as an instrument of expression. Regarding on literacy, his publications are a diverse collection of training materials and creative fiction. His initial novel, Wind of Destiny sold out quickly and is in its second printing. The sequel called Aunt Ida's Niece wraps the story line into a complete experience covering many places in the world in the process. A wonderful historical tale set in New England in 1898 unfolds a trilogy of work emulating Victorian letter writing. The Echo of Silence is the first, followed by The Symphony of Silence and completed by the soon to be released A Doxology to Life. The release of the allegory Peregrina and her Beloved, along with Ransom's Fire, a touching story set in the Philippines, and a contemporary Incident Without Honor is complemented by a collection of Short Stories about North Texas called the Trinity River Watershed, a recently released serialized book called Red Suspenders, and the latest release of a pulp romance called Someplace Close to Paradise provides a variety of genres and types of reading. Additional titles are forthcoming in the coming months. As artistic director of the Enclave Conservatory, the organization is initiating work in Southlake, Texas with many opportunities and possibilities there.