Dark on the Inside

AFTER THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK, THE PHILIPPINE SKY WAS SUDDENLY RIPPED APART BY THE SCREAM OF JAPANESE BOMBS. I DID NOT KNOW THAT IN TIME I TOO, WOULD BE SCREAMING.“My name is Ligaya. Our parish priest compared me to a shepherdess who tended flocks of children; the elderly, polite businessmen; and persons of a spiritual ilk. I guess that made me the “good girl.” My darling big sister, Glory, was considered the “naughty one.” She is feisty and flirtatious and planning a forbidden tryst with her man.Until now, my life was satisfactory and predictable, governed by strict customs and mores, the Filipino way. Raul and I were inseparable playmates and confidantes, betrothed to each other as children. We grew to love each other over time. “Luscious Liling” he called me in his tender baritone. We are “saving ourselves” for our wedding night. The entire village is looking forward to our upcoming nuptials, sure to break the monotony of rice and tobacco farming.Then I saw a flash of red in the banana grove. I heard foreign whisperings carried within an envelope of darkness. I felt the pain of a brutal …something so agonizingly heinous, I cannot even speak of it.World War II. Where are the Japanese enemy? What else in my life will be ripped apart?***“Altogether, Dark on the Inside is a novel about strong people who have to overcome tragedy to create better lives for themselves. It is a book to put on the shelf beside modern classics like The Color Purple and The Joy Luck Club that also show people dealing with issues of war, racial prejudice, domestic violence, and ultimately, the hope that can spring from times of trauma.”— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of When Teddy Came to Town