Death in a Sawmill

Death in a Sawmill is a story written by Rony V. Diaz. It is a perceptive story of jealousy and how it results in tragedy.

Characters

• Eddie - son of Mang Pepe. Strongly believes Rey's death was no accident but murder done by Rustico. Leads us to a quagmire of hate and jealousy as he recounts the events that took place that summer.

• Rey Olbes - an assistant sawyer. Tasked to guide Eddie in his hunts. He was having an affair with Dida and was in bad terms with Rustico. He met his end in the sawmill that was said to be an accident.

• Rustico - an impotent man. Extremely hostile towards Rey after having found out that Dida was pregnant.

• Dida - a lady with fair skin, feverishly red lips, and curly hair. Wife of Rustico but pregnant with Rey's child.

• Mang Pepe - father of Eddie and the owner of the sawmill.

Summary

Rey, a sawyer, died in what was believed to be an accident in the sawmill. But Eddie strongly believes that it was no accident, but a murder. A murder that could only be done by the man called Rustico. Eddie, son of Mang Pepe, decided to spend his summer down at their sawmill to hunt. Rey was the one whom his father asked to guide him. During his stay, he witnessed a heated confrontation between Dida, Rey, and Rustico. In the course of his hunt with Rey, Rey spoke of a shocking revelation about his illicit affair with another man's wife. Rey told Eddie that Rustico suffers from impotency, however his wife Dida got pregnant. And now Rustico, having been consumed with anger and jealousy was having constant fits. This drove Dida to ran away. Rustico planned to go after her but was denied of permission by Mang Pepe due to business reasons because turns out Rey already left for town early in the morning. Eddie was tasked to relay the message to Rustico, Rustico then yanked down the carriage's lever in anger causing the chain to lash out and fall rattling to the floor. He picked it up and did it again musing on the way the chain lashed out like a crocodile's tail.

References

A Survey of Filipino Literature in English by Josephine Bass Serrano and Trinidad M. Ames

Citation

Original content from WikiPilipinas. under GNU Free Documentation License. See full disclaimer.