Underneath the Lamplight

***

Lamplight

That night I am riding in a jeepney with my mother, returning to the base from the Grandfather's house. When the jeepney stalls in a snarl of traffic, I glance out the window. There are two women underneath a flickering streetlamp. They are jabbing their hands into the glow of light, wrapping their fingers around something, and then quickly stuffing that same something into green-tinted Coca-Cola bottles.

I nudge my mother. "What are they doing?"

She follows my gaze and replies, "They are catching crickets drawn to the light."

"But why?"

"Anak, ko," my mother says, meaning 'My child'. "Of course it is because they are very poor."

***

Possible Edits

We reached MacArthur Boulevard, brightly lit and teeming with traffic.

***

Original version published in elimae: http://www.elimae.com/2009/09/Lamplight.html