Friends come and go and so are visitors. For the pas days, I was so busy doing this huge commissioned painting at home. As early as five in the morning, I have to wake up, take a bath, and off to the canvas. This is my routine now. Paint. Eat. Sleep. Take a bath. And paint again-from sun up to sun down. Every three in the afternoon, I have to take a short break for snacks. Though I already have something to consume inside the house, I always buy a turon (Banana Lumpia) from those two little kids who keep on coming every three in the afternoon. The girls aged six and five would drop by in the house to sell their crunchy and delicious turon. Then they would stare into my canvas and ask a lot of questions.
“It’s beautiful but I don’t understand it.”
“It’s a flower but it looks… I don’t know.”
“When can you finish that?”
“Would you mind if I’ll give this painting to you as my payment for your turon?” I asked them.
“NO!” they firmly answered.
“Why?”
“Lugi mi (It’s our loss).”
“What we need is money.”
“Your painting is so big and we can’t carry that.”
“Our parents will get mad at us”.
Every day at 3 p.m., they never fail to drop buy and sell their banana lumpia. And every day, I keep on telling them about my proposal- a 48” x 69” painting in exchange for two pieces of turon. Believe me; it was easier for me to close a fifty thousand deal to some of my clients than to these two little kids. 
They thought it wasn’t a fair deal and they were on a losing end. Anyway, my persistence came to an end when one warm afternoon, at 3 p.m., the two kids bid farewell.
“This is our last chance to sell these delicious turon to you…”
“Why?” I was surprised.
“Adto mi bukid ugma (tomorrow we’ll go to the province).”
I didn’t know what hit me, but I felt down hearing those words. For two weeks, these kids had become a part of my daily routine. I was all alone in the house, and these little angels became my company at 3 p.m. As they waved their hands, I also gave them my best wishes and prayers.
A day after the kids bid goodbye, a group of young ladies dropped by and introduced themselves as Lorna, Aida, and Fe (of course these are not their real names 
). From their looks I could tell that they belonged to a certain church and they wanted to proclaim their beliefs. We had different perspective when it comes to Christian faith but as courtesy, I didn’t object to whatever they said. It was better to avoid argument and finish my work rather than staging a debate about salvation. After all, only heaven knows, and nobody holds the ultimate truth. In few minutes, they thanked me for sharing my time and bid farewell.
Yesterday, another unexpected visitor came while I was busy polishing my work. A filthy woman in her fifties dropped by and mumbled words that I didn’t understand. She was carrying a lot of useless items in her big plastic bag. She then stared at me and shouted, “Gago man diay kang buanga ka! (You crazy idiot!).” I was a bit shocked but continued to work on my canvas. She stayed for half an hour talking to herself and from time to time she would shout at me. Then she left without bidding goodbye.
One big painting.
Three types of visitors: the cheerful-innocent-profit-oriented kids, the three ladies who shared their views of salvation, and a mentally challenged old woman who didn’t say goodbye. How about you? Who is your visitor today?
