The Guest
written by: Zairheen Marie Nuñal
Her evening guest arrives in quiet sadness and it feasts on the crumbs of bygones and “what ifs.”
It presses on her chest with concrete boots, forcing honey-coated daggers down her throat.
She offers it a seat to loosen its grip but the shadow pounds in her head a half-dead beat.
The mockery of a dance, the wistful cry, the bloodied battlefield; the guest now rests its head between her broken ribs.
Zairheen Marie N. Nuñal is a public school teacher from Iloilo, Philippines. She is currently teaching 21st Century Literature and Practical Research to Grade 11 learners. A graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Literature at the University of the Philippines Visayas, she began writing literature later in life. She enjoys reading gothic literature and stories with the element of magic realism, especially those by Edgar Allan Poe and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She also writes in her native language and is greatly interested in film-making.
Latest posts by Zairheen Marie Nuñal (see all)
- The Guest - August 20, 2026
- A Morning in Spring - March 20, 2026
- The Burning of the Forest - September 8, 2025
