Nathaniel Turingan

A girl searching for meaning in her dreams meets someone who promises to be her beginning and end, only to realize that being loved by her means becoming part of something grotesquely incomplete.

Bathala, the supreme deity, entrusted a guardian diwata with a critical mission: to protect and watch over the Pasig River. Isolated from her own people, the diwata must now negotiate the lively yet corrupting landscape of Manila. As the busy metropolis encroaches on her sacred river, she is divided between her spiritual mission and the attraction of earthly pleasures. Can the diwata withstand the city's temptations and keep her ancient pledge, or will Manila's glittering veneer be too powerful for her to overcome? Will she safeguard the river, or will it transform her?

Although still a child, Melmel, a young Palaw’an, was arranged to be married to a tribesman of her late father in order to preserve their tradition. Her lover, Felix — a boy from the lowlands — opposed the decision but was powerless to do anything. In the days leading up to the arranged wedding, Melmel began to think of ways to change the path laid out for her. But in the end, she must face the hardest question of all: how far is she willing to go to fight for her own freedom, and who is she willing to leave behind for it?