4
Chapter
1
Long ago, a young girl named Malaya lived with her father
on an island in the Philippines in an old hut. They did not
own any furniture and slept in rough blankets on the floor.
Malaya kept a bamboo flute hidden in the cupboard, even
though she did not play. She kept the flute because it
reminded her of her mother, who had died.
Malaya woke early to collect water from the river. She made
a pot of weak tea after her father built a fire. Then her father
worked in the fields, and Malaya wove baskets out of the
dry grasses that grew nearby.
Malaya wished for something sweet to eat, but she knew
her father could not afford to buy fruit. They needed all the
money her father made to pay the rent. The money Malaya
made selling baskets was used to buy vegetables and wheat
to make bread. She often dreamt of sweet fruits such as
mangos
and bananas.
