Para Kay B [exclusive] (2026)

Ester R. Mercado. 1991–(indefinite). Cause of death: She wasn’t. She just kept living. And that was the most terrifying thing B had ever seen.

“No,” B said. “I mean it. Every time I see you, something inside me stops. My lungs. My brain. My ability to write a simple sentence. You are a signal number 5, Ester. And I don’t have a warning system for that.” para kay b

He approached the girl. “You’ll get sick,” he said, holding out his umbrella. It was a flimsy thing, black and broken on one spoke. Ester R

“It’s benign,” she whispered. “It’s just a shadow.” Cause of death: She wasn’t

“You write about death for a living,” she said one night, sharing a cigarette on her fire escape. The city below them was a constellation of jeepney headlights. “But you’ve never touched a dead person, have you?”

B reached out. His hand hovered over hers. Huwag mong hawakan ang kamay ng hindi ka pa handang pakawalan.