It was a one-pager high school literature homework. The objective of Mr. Arsciwals’ take-home exercise was for his students to write their own fiction narrative, which made use of all the basic elements of a story – setting, characters, conflict, climax and resolution. My cousin’s problem was not what to write about. Kei Flores’ problem then was how to fit a universe and an entire lifetime in a single sheet of school paper.

H : What prompted you to write this novel and what is it about?

K : From high school homework, to casual pastime, to engaging hobby. One day, I decided to add it to my bucket list, along with learning how to play the violin. At a certain point, it turned into such a consuming passion that it simply was too difficult to ignore. So I started diligently writing it down. It was meant to be a journal. Something by which I can remember my friends and our high school activities by. The Banshees: Tales of Destiny is the fictionalized version of that high school memoir, which celebrates the real-life friendship of my barkada. The story happens in the fictional Devonshire College – a school run by nuns, based on a real Dominican Institution in Taytay, Rizal (our very own high school, Siena College, now made famous by its prominent appearances in several ABS-CBN shows). The novel follows the lives of five junior high school students, Rachel, Gail, Mhionee, Sam and Zeth, all in the face of stringent academic pressure, the predicament of choosing a university for college, along with a suitable course; and, the universal dilemma of each and every person in this world: deciding what to do with the rest of their lives.

H : But the book starts with the coronation of a new goddess. How does that fit into your high school memoir?

K : While the book is meant to document our teenage lives, it is also an exploration of a philosophical discourse that I’ve always found engaging – the question of existence. The dilemma of choosing a college course during our high school years is akin to asking ourselves, “What should I be doing with my life?” To answer that question is equivalent to exploring the fundamental question of Being – Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?

In itself, the Question of Being is already a difficult one to answer. Which, I surmise, is why most people don’t even bother with it.

Some people live their entire lives without concerning themselves with the question of meaning, because it proves to be too taxing to think about. The Banshees’ story presents the value of concerning ourselves with that question. That is why on top of their academic pursuits, our five protagonists also find themselves inadvertently traversing another realm – that of the mystical world of Cythera. In that world, they (along with the readers) meet this young woman – a goddess – whose search for lasting meaning is made more difficult by the fact that she has an eternal life and nothing in the universe can outlive, much less, keep up with her permanence. This storyline borrows heavily from Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time – a philosophical discourse on the ego-self’s journey from realizing that it is nothing without the trappings of everydayness, through the experience of nihilation (existential crisis) until the eventual rise into anticipatory resoluteness – the serenity of existing as being one with the universe.

Some people, on the other hand, do not concern themselves with the question of meaning, because they do not think they have to – they are already thrown into a pre-defined state of life, so much that they automatically and unconsciously derive their life’s purpose from how they are situated. For example, a lot of children born to a family of doctors dream of becoming doctors, themselves. Those born into a family business, whether by choice or by force, tend to end up managing the family business once they grow into the rightful age. Some go by affinity – those who pursue the life of a Dominican, lead a life of preaching; Zen Buddhists dedicate theirs to meditation; politicians, to the cause they have chosen to champion. There is no need for them to ask, “What should I do with my life?” Because they are already given an answer. But the question of individual meaning and purpose is never that easy – even when we are already given a predefined answer, prior to our asking. And the quest becomes much more complicated when one finds one’s self displaced, as in the case of our main protagonist. Here, we find 15-year old Rachel Blonde, straddling two worlds – in one, as a high school student living by the expectations set upon by her image as the Star Student of Devonshire College, but who feels a desperate urge to break out of the monotony of her Earthly existence; and, in another, as an obscure foreigner in the world of Cythera, who has no place whatsoever in the magical universe that she so thoroughly enjoys to explore.

H : So what ties the two storylines together? Your high school memoir and the philosophical discourse on meaning?

K : This quest for meaning and purpose will be the major conflict towards the latter part of the novel. During a school camping trip in Devonshire College, Rachel gets abducted by an anito, a guardian spirit in the world of Cythera, which aims to re-awaken an ancient entity called The Karimlan. In Cythera’s world, the void in every being, the experience of existential crisis, is not just an individual dilemma, but an embodied essence (The Karimlan), a physical threat, that will endanger the very existence of the universe.

The story of The Banshees’ friendship depicts that the resolution to this void, The Karimlan, the “dark night of the soul”, is not so much an arduous battle of brute strength or exertion of severe willpower, but a journey of genuine compassion. Life acquires its meaning, not from what we accomplish or what we overcome, but from what we, ourselves, become, in relation to others. In the end, it is another person’s intimate knowledge of who we are; and, their devotion to us, whoever we might turn out to be, which truly help us rise out of the nothingness of existence, to lead a meaningful, worthwhile kind of life. It is another person’s friendship, which saves us from the darkness of existence, from the hollowness of being, from our own personal Karimlan.

And this is why, this story of friendship means the world to me. So much, that I have promised to immortalize it as a novel to share for everyone else to appreciate and to draw inspiration from. I wrote this to celebrate how much my friends mean to me. And I can only hope that this story can help others appreciate their own friends even more.

2014

Unless otherwise stated, this interview was conducted at the time the book was first published, and is reproduced with permission of the publisher. This interview may not be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

To my dear readers, if you are interested to get a copy, you can get in touch via this page: https://www.facebook.com/SoulFinderWeebly

Hugs,

Heidi

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