Lirio (story)

The short story narrates the life of Lirio the Mute from her difficult birth to her magical transformation into a flower. Born to Rosa and Manuel, a couple who were granted a child only in their old age, Lirio was also strange in addition to being mute. She was fair-skinned “like a white lily” and was always followed by a swarm of butterflies. She was unschooled and only enjoyed gardening as her hobby. She fell in love with Noli, but he also left for a job in Japan. Soon after, she married Itik, a police sergeant who was also a jealous and terrible drunk who continually raped her throughout their marriage until one night when, pushed to her limit, Lirio fervently prayed to be turned into a lily.

Lirio has been published in Fantasia: The Palanca Award-winning Stories of Peter Solis Nery (DreamWings Publishing: 2000), and Stories in a Mellifluous Language: Hiligaynon Short Stories (CreateSpace: 2012).^[3] It was translated into English by Celia F. Parcon,^[4] and in the Filipino language by the author himself, among other translators. The English translation appears in the book Nothing’s Lost (KDP: 2020).^[5] It is also included in the first and second editions of the DIWA Senior High School Series: Creative Writing textbook (DIWA Learning Systems, Inc.: 2017, and 2019).^[6]