FROM THE DIARY OF THE WORLD'S LONELIEST BACHELOR 1

A snailmail from miles away reached a sleepy barangay in the Philippines. Bagong Silang, the farthest barangay in Del Gallego is home to many stories of solitude. Some folks believe that a certain Maria Clara inhabited a small hut below the cliff and in the river that divides this place from another sleepy barangay Tabion, a farmer found her lifeless. There were only fifteen families who occupied the vast lands of timber and tiny hills: the chieftain, and the families of his thirteen children. The only non-member of his family, Josefa, came one day as a missionary of an American church. She loved the place, found her love, and became a childless widow just after a year. Not long enough, a stranger that looked like Josefa arrived. She was thin but prayerful and on her stomach would be an indication of another offspring that would add up to the 91 people in that place. Josefa in the young woman whom she introduced as a missionary just like her, looked pale but hopeful. They started to preach about their religion, but since the people there had found theirs many years back, there seemed no point in having them converted for whatever reason. When the message did not reach people's hearts, the women found a place very far from the chieftain's and there lived unnoticed and unheard of. One day, a message reached the chieftain.