Philippine Speculative Fiction Volume 1

by Dean Francis Alfar

  It is hard to know Hermes Uy’s activities during the period between January 28, 1952, and October 29 of that same year, when the Athena Drug Store reopened. Rumors were common among the curious. It was said that he was involved in some shady deals during those months. Others even hinted of dealings with the occult. However, in truth, no one was sure of anything.

  On October 29, 1952, Athena Drug Store reopened. Although the sidewalk vendors were still there, people saw that the store was much different from the one that tried to be the people’s bazaar.

  Spanning three floors, the new Athena Drug Store was much bigger, as if it were a whole world compressed into an area only three stories high. Aside from the vendors of yesteryears, there were also a lot of new employees. It almost seemed that Hermes went around the whole world, looking for new employees and goods. There were Khmer silversmiths, Chinese contortionists, British tailors who churned out bundles of tweed, and even Japanese who lacquered pieces of driftwood. There was even a Greek merchant selling antiques, with rumors circulating of Athena’s mirrored Bronze shield and helmet of invisibility, as well as the tapestry woven by Arachne as being hidden among his trunks. As the first floor still looked like the grand drug store bazaar of old, with its bilaos of kakanin and red-coated British tin soldiers, the second floor seemed to belong to a different world.

  Here, there was a theatre where porcelain-faced dolls sat up, danced and talked, not just among themselves, but with perspective buyers too. They would tell melancholic stories that were not just untrue, but also painful and almost credible as well. They would talk of separations from old loved-ones and the possibilities of new love stories. They would dance their nimble beats, their glass eyes somehow reflecting the pain that the listeners felt with every syllable said by the doll. It was a weird sight, really, with grown men loving and crying over dolls, which were controlled by a puppet master in the background.

  The second floor also contained a small, darkened bar, where the soft strains of jazz fluidly moved with the soft murmurs of people. The trombone player was a Negro, and just like the others downstairs, no one knew where he was from. Although the bar served the usual drinks and cocktails, there was one drink that brought attention. Called Bacchus’ delight, it was a gold-hued concoction that was said to contain ambrosia and nectar. With this drink, rumors ran rife that Hermes had found the secret to happiness.

  Although people moved around the first two floors of the new Athena Drug Store, there was a big, thick chain that wound around the banisters of the staircase that led to the top floor. In time, people began to whisper about what was on that floor. Those who still believed that Hermes Uy had demonic connections said that this was where the black Sabbath was held. Others thought it to be a calamansi-soaked depository for the corpses of immigration officials who had threatened to have Hermes deported. Some even speculated that the third floor was a gateway to a realm that had everything but was nothing in itself, a place of nil where one could procure anything out of the void.

  The third floor was actually the store’s stock room, a dusty place with bales and crates labeled in scripts both familiar and indecipherable. For his part, although Hermes Uy was somewhat aware of the rumors that went around about him and his store, he paid little attention to quashing them. It didn’t do him any real harm, and was even good for business in a way.

  During those times, business was truly good, and Hermes found himself reaping rising profits. Yet, money didn’t change Hermes, who remained in control of the subtleties involved in running the drug store. During the lean hours, Hermes would remain behind the green-hued glass counter, filling prescriptions. However, as soon as the crowd thickened, Hermes would leave his spot behind the counter and go around the store to supervise his realm. He would make his rounds round the grand bazaar, looking over the quality of his merchandise and questioning the vendors about the day’s details. It seemed as if his sharp eyes were many, such things as loose threads and mild discolorations not escaping the web of his all-encompassing glance. After going around the bazaar, he would then head to the theatre of the dolls, where in the shadows, he would talk to the puppet master. When the whispers in the backdrop of the theatrical laughter and tears had finally fallen silent, he would then usually head towards the bar. In the bar, Hermes would have a glass of Black Jade liquor and with that done, would walk back to his spot behind the counter. He would then wait for closing time, watching as each person left. After the last customer left and the last employee gone home, Hermes would start going about the receipts for the day.

  Yet people rarely talked about the work ethic of Hermes Uy. Aside from the different rumors that periodically circulated about Hermes’ evil dealings, people also put their sights on looking for flaws in the store, things that they considered telltale signs of an inevitable collapse. These people would point out that the store’s partial nature as a bazaar made it a potential haven for pickpockets. The same ilk would also sneer that the theatre of dolls was a sham that played on people’s love for archaic melodrama, and that the presence of the jazz bar drew people away from church. Even though the presence of these flaws were argued eloquently, there were things that were obviously overlooked. First, these people were not aware that ever since part of it became an unofficial bazaar, there have been no incidents of theft in the drug store. Unknown to most, Hermes Uy employed quite a large number of plainclothes security men, who silently whisked people away at the slightest movement towards trouble. Moreover, almost no one knew that Hermes had a huge computer installed in a bunker beneath the store. A vacuum tube-loaded monstrosity that filled the whole room, this computer was designed to monitor and record all the activities happening within the store at all times, which it stored as encoded data. The store’s detractors also overlooked that the appeal of the theater was the raw emotion the dolls brought forth to people who considered themselves immune to emotions. In fact, some of the people who scorned the theatre covertly owned a few talking dolls in their homes. The comedy behind the jazz bar comment was heightened by the fact that Hermes Uy was a non-practicing Buddhist.

  As time passed, the store’s profits grew, and accordingly, Hermes turned to philanthropy, donating sizable amounts to the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, The Sun Yet Sen Society and The Hua Chi volunteer’s fund. Though life was good, Hermes knew that things would not always go smoothly.

  In November of 1953, Hermes’ mother died. Hermes closed the store for a week. The wake was at the old La Funeraria Paz in Recto. Through Hermes’ philanthropy and sheer number of loyal customers, there were a lot of guests offering both flowers and condolences. While the servants rolled the fake money and listed the real kind, Hermes sat in the front pew. He received guests cordially, shook their hands, exchanged a few curt words, then slunk back into his pew.

  On July 24, 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay signed the Trade Nationalization Act into law, which made it illegal for foreigners to take part in the rice, rubber and retail industries. A lot of foreign-owned businesses were affected. Athena Drug Store was no exception, especially since rice, rubber and retail goods formed an integral part of the bazaar. And so, despite rising profits, Athena Drug Store was once again shut down on August 11, 1954. For one whole year, the store remained closed, yet during this time Hermes tried to drum up excitement for the latest incarnation of his shop.

  In the months preceding the opening of the newest version of the drug store, people began seeing interesting posters around Manila. In the early months, the posters depicted the Greek gods in different states of repose. There was the splendor of Zeus and Poseidon in the majesty of their realms. The twins Apollo and Artemis were shown contemplating their lyre and bow. There was even the misshapen Hephaestos working the bellows. Yet the poster that was by far the most popular was the one of a bare-breasted Aphrodite smiling seductively from her crib of foam. However, in the weeks leading to the actual opening of the store, a different series of posters began circulating.

  While the Greek
gods were once again put into focus, the new posters seemed to attempt to reach a wider audience. It was apparent that Hermes Uy had managed to crack some sort of deal with the Vera family, who owned Sampaguita Pictures. In her usual place as the lead role, Gloria Romero posed as different incarnations of Athena. Ranging from parodies of Uncle Sam’s I want you posters to more original posters showing Athena as a pinay everywoman, the posters appealed to everyday Filipinos. There were also posters that included Marlene Dauden as Aphrodite, Susan Roces as Artemis, Mario Montenegro as Zeus and Eddie Arenas as a sinister-looking Hades. Like Gloria Romeros Athena, the latter posters of the other gods were mostly caricatures. There was Zeus in his philandering mode, surrounding himself with lithe maidens. There was Hades proclaiming to the world that Athena Drug Store was the path towards an exciting life. There was even a poster of Pan, half of his face human and handsome where he had applied Athena Drug face cream.

  And so, when Athena Drug Store finally opened again on August 11, 1955, hundreds of people eagerly turned up. They were not disappointed. While the world bazaar was greatly cramped by the trade nationalization law, the new store made sure that people would not miss the vendors and their goods.

  Outside the store was a huge bronze statue of Athena with one of her hands outstretched towards an olive tree. On the first floor, where half of the bazaar once stood, there was now a mini theatre that not only showed the latest films of James Dean, but also the most exciting 3D movies as well. The scaled-down bazaar sold the trendiest goods such as stateside wiffle balls, phonographs and hair grease. Perhaps the most notable addition was a Belgian who would create caricatures of clients on small tapestries in half an hour. There were no more stairs in the whole store. Instead, Hermes Uy installed the first escalators in the country. How the excitement burned on people’s faces as they rode the escalators, terror and pleasure melding into one as they saw the ground shrink right in front of their very eyes. Women shrieked. Children squealed. Men gasped.

  While the escalators proved to be popular and amazing to the crowds, nothing could prepare people for what lay on the second floor. The theatre of the dolls was gone, the only things that hinted of its existence being a sense of melancholia and a faint smell of tears that lingered in the air. In its place was a row of glass boxes, each filled with muddy water and framed by layers of polished brass. While the dolls were appealing because they touched and released each person’s inner melancholia, the brass-trimmed boxes bored into the recesses of each person’s soul, satisfying lifelong hungers in a few rented minutes. Through looking at what was reflected through the opaque muddiness, people began to satisfy dreams that were once implausible and unreachable. Some chose to blend into the darkness, twisting their beings into shadowed abstractions until they returned to nothingness. Others saw the need to transform themselves into beings of superhuman power. There were even those who tried to reconstruct their features towards what they considered as the perfect human.

  The bar remained where it was, with the same drinks and the same band, which oddly enough, still played the same songs.

  Perhaps the biggest addition to the Drug Store was the opening of the third floor, which was now the Hallway of Clear Minds. There, the distraught walked around in circles. The rejected and the heartbroken remained autistic to others. The bankrupt sat in the corner, silently reminiscing better times. Even those without problems roamed the hall, as most found the soft lighting relaxing. When these people would leave, they always felt much better, as if they were able to sort their minds.

  As Athena Drug Store changed, so did Hermes Uy. No longer was he seen behind the green glass counter in the middle of the store. It is said that he enjoyed roaming around the drug store in different disguises in order to find out what people wanted to be improved and expanded. One day he was an old, bespectacled lady laden with jewels. The next day he was one of the few vendors that were left in the old bazaar, a Zulu. And the day after he was a disheartened youth wandering around the Hallway of Clear Minds. However, Hermes still gave increasing amounts of money to charity. And even in disguise, Hermes Uy still insisted on being the last one to leave the store, only leaving after going over all the receipts for the day.

  It is apparent that all the disguise-filled days of Hermes were not wasted in vain. For, in the next few years, while a few new branches of Athena Drug Store opened, the original store also grew bigger and more intricate.

  In December of 1955 and without closing the store, Hermes started the first of his new improvements. He redecorated and revamped the first floor. In a move similar to his pre-reopening posters, he had workmen paint murals of the Greek gods on the walls. Now, customers could go around the shop under the watchful eyes of Poseidon quenching his thirst on an Athena Drug tonic or Helios applying suntan lotion. The bazaar, now a fraction of its former size, was now divided into different themes. There was an Arab souk and a Chinese medicine corner; the different smells of frankincense, cloves and rose water intoxicating customers. Under the projector at the back of the theatre, a strange box etched with indecipherable inscriptions was placed. Upon receiving their 3D glasses, each moviegoer was hooked to the box via a special apparatus that was strapped to their torsos. As the movie started, and things started jumping off the screen, people had an experience of the 4th dimension, the sensations they felt being a flurry of something beyond description in the limits of the three dimensions.

  From this point until April 14, 1957, Athena Drug Store underwent a series of changes. New annexes and extensions were built. Some proved man’s mastery over the tools that allowed him to move above his normal capabilities. These included a machine that allowed one to understand all the subtleties involved in each word and a room that allowed people to actually experience their dreams. Other rooms, such as the one-way portal to unknown places, failed to generate any income. The huge Athena statue also changed a few times as well, with a depiction of Athena’s birth from Zeus’ split head erected one day, then replaced by Athena receiving Medusa’s head from Perseus the next week. Towards the end of 1956, Hermes installed a chorus of automated mud dolls. On all floors, they sang, moved and played among themselves, letting their bird-like voices resonate through all the rooms in the horizontally growing building. It is said that the songs of the singing mud dolls were reflective of Hermes Uy’s mood. Yet, for all the sad and happy, bitter and lovesick songs of the dolls, nobody knew much of what Hermes had become. So, it was to the shock of most on Christmas day, 1956, when the dolls began to sing Christian hymns.

  While no one is sure if Hermes really did convert to Christianity, it still remains an interesting possibility. Around this time, the newer additions to Athena Drug Store were mostly empty rooms of gold carpet and white paint. And so people naturally figured that Hermes might have been spending more time in Church than his drug store. The empty rooms continued to sprout up, and not a word was ever heard of Hermes until the middle of the next year, when he died.

  Although no exact records exist, the account of the death of Hermes Uy presented here is judged by most to be the most accurate, since it is based on data supposedly found in Hermes’ underground computer.

  The humid air of that April 14 night was as always, a bother for Hermes Uy, who had just completed the day dressed as a police officer. He had just finished the last of the 79 rooms that made up what was once a simple drug store. Making his way to the green-hued counter in the middle of the store, he switched on the electric fan. It had been wise of him to make the little mud dolls sing Christian hymns, he thought as he twirled the scapular around his neck. He took out thick ledgers from underneath the table and went through the receipts for the day.

  While he was going over the figures for the day, something caught the corner of his eye. Though the movie stars that graced the Athena Drug Store calendar that hung in one corner were all still there, the image of the goddess was not. Hermes put down his pen and moved closer.

  It was definitely gone, the paper intact but blank.
The smiling Athena was really gone. Perplexed, Hermes looked around.

  All the images of Athena were gone. There was no trace of her on the posters, murals and calendars that were scattered all over the room. He realized that they were all gone, all missing from the different items in the 79 rooms and three floors of the drug store. It was then that he saw them. Two-dimensional bodies of plastic, paint and paper translucent in the fluorescent glow, flanked the latest version of Athena’s bronze statue, an Athena in full battle gear.

  Though clunky-looking, the statue moved so swiftly that Hermes Uy had no time to move before he was slapped by the statue. The slap was so strong that Hermes was flung to the floor, his head crushed, the bronze Athena walking away as the multitude of smaller Athenas rushed towards his body, the plastic ones swaying more fluidly than the ones made of paper.

  Quickly they fell upon him, flat bodies worming their way up his legs, then up his torso, to his neck and face.

  Athena Drug Store failed to open the next day. People thought that it was another of Hermes Uy’s renovations and paid it little attention. Months, then years passed, with most unaware that not only was Hermes Uy gone from this world, but the doors of Athena Drug store were never to open again, cobwebs and dust collecting where a goddess once roamed.

  Copyright © Dean Francis Alfar 2012

  Cover art by Lester Banzuelo

  Cover design by Adam David

  ePub design and production by Flipside team