Aling Biang and Aling Sebia once grew two rows of vegetables between their houses—the only houses in the area. Their gardens eventually deteriorated from leafy plots on fertile soil to parched dirt when they stopped watering them in order to prevent the other woman’s garden from being watered as well. Their animosity towards each other began when Aling Biang’s husband cheated on her with Aling Sebia. Aling Biang then began erecting a bamboo fence between the houses, and Aling Sebia started building her row of bamboo as well. Later, Aling Biang’s husband left her and her son, vanishing from their lives. The fence blocked the two women from ever seeing one another, but one day, Aling Biang heard Aling Sebia wailing. The woman yelled that she was giving birth and needed a midwife, and because Aling Biang knew the baby would be her husband’s child born to his mistress, she hesitated retrieving help. However, she went anyway, and Aling Sebia gave birth to a girl who would grow up to be healthy, albeit unattractive. Now, the fence is rotting and leaning to one side, and similarly, Aling Biang’s child, Iking, has grown to be sickly and emaciated. Iking is not allowed to see or play with the girl on the fence’s other side, but sometimes he catches glimpses of her through the gaps in the fence. He becomes fascinated by her health and how she could relieve his loneliness, but Aling Biang chastises him every time she catches him spying through the bamboo. At night, he can hear the girl playing guitar and wishes he was strong enough to break the rotting fence down. Unfortunately, when Aling Biang reinforces the fence with new bamboo, the girl stops her nightly playing.             On Christmas Eve, Iking is too sick to pray with his mother. Leaving her in the house, he weakly jogs to the fence and finds the girl behind it. He begs for her to play for him, then makes his way inside, lying down in his blanket and waiting for her music. He waits and waits, midnight passing into Christmas, but there is still no music. At two in the morning, Aling Biang realizes her son’s heart has stopped and weeps for his death. Three minutes later, she hears the strings of a guitar. Enraged, she looks outside to catch who is mocking her son’s death, but only sees the fence barring the other home.