The town Captain asked Ines to come to his house at least once a month for a new order - a polo barong, slacks, semi-casual ensemble, and sometimes even handkerchiefs given to the devotees of their Parish.
It was an open secret among townspeople that the Captain and Ines were having an affair. Every time Ines walked out of the Captain's house, people stared at her with judgement.
This affair went on for more than a year. It stopped - or it had to stop - when Ines revealed to the Captain that she was pregnant.
The Captain, anxious of a potential scandal and its grave effects on his reelection bid, forcefully convinced Ines to discontinue the pregnancy.
Helpless Ines was assisted by the Captain's men to the 'clinic' where the 'medical check-up' was done - or so what her family and neighbors believed it to be.
A week after, Ines went back to her house in a debilitated state. She did not have the energy to greet, much so socialize, with her closest kin.
Ines locked herself in the sewing room and no one could talk to her for months. Her isolation forced customers to place orders in lesser known seamstresses in and around town.
Election time has come and the votes have been tallied. The Captain was reelected as the town leader for another three years, an announcement which only a few considered news.
Ines found out about it through the tarpaulins on electrical posts which were hanged as prelude to a free-for-all party.
That moment, Ines figured she had to share in the celebration but in her own special way - in a way that will capture the Captain's attention.
Feeling so much energy she never thought she could regain, Ines turned on her sewing machine, sat on her three-generation chair, and held a needle and a thread.
It took a while before Ines familiarized herself again with the process. She stitched a huge amount of rags and ended up with a doll akin to a bunny. The difference was that this bunny had a sinister smile and plenty of loose stitches in its arms, legs, and mouth.
There was no room for improvements, Ines thought. The bunny was as perfect as any memorable present should be.
On a night when everyone gathered in the town hall for the Captain's oath-taking, Ines walked straight to the Captain's house hugging the bunny on her chest.
She hung the bunny at the gate and tied it with a sash that said: "Congratulations, Captain." It easily overshadowed election posters bearing the Captain's face, name and slogan "Tapat Dapat."
Ines walked back to her house without an effort to conceal her identity from passersby who saw her climbing the gate.
She did not care whether people found out about what she did. She raised her head, angled it properly to see the Captain through the cheering crowd and smiled.
"I knew the Captain would love it," she thought as she walked away.
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