Sublimity in print.
Chapter 1: Lola of the Manzanitas Tree
My Lolo was a live-stock vendor. He goes around every town to buy live chickens, pigs, cows and carabaos then sell them to the big markets. This was how he and his family got by.
One normal Thursday afternoon, he was approached by his old neighbor, Manang Sita, an elderly woman with long, black hair. She approached him and told him that she and her husband wanted to sell him a dozen chickens.
“Go to your Manong later to buy the chickens,” she told him.
“Sure Mana, I’ll come by your house early in the morning.”
It was around four in the morning when the sun had yet to rise. Lolo took a twenty-minute walk towards his neighbors’ house. Upon his journey he was walking up a hill until he saw a particular landmark right before the end of his destination. A Manzanitas Tree that towered over him, located on a cliff just above the road. As he looked up, he noticed something. A few feet away, a figure was there, standing on one of the great tree’s branches. Taken aback, he looked intently at the strange sight before him. It felt familiar. He moved forward, just a few and a couple of steps until he is directly right under the cliff of where the grand tree is rooted. He took a closer look, then recognized the figure above. It was Manang Sita, looking at him from the top of the branch. Except, something was different. She seemed different. Her eyes were looking at him, but it was as if she was not looking at him at all. Her eyes were wide and glaring; As if she was in some sort of trance, her eyes were not looking at him as she would to a neighbor, they looked no different from a dangerous wild animal, fixed on its first kill of the day — him.
The thought was terrifying. And yet, he dared not to move. Lolo mustered what little courage he had, and called out to her: “Manang Sita, what are you doing on top of the tree? And how did you even get up there?” She did not respond. Her front was now pressed on two branches, her black hair was down, covering her forehead as she continued to glare down on him like a predator getting ready to pounce on a frozen prey. He knew; it was utterly impossible for an old woman to climb up that tree; he knew that something was wrong. And something was really, really wrong.
As terrifying as this was, he made no sudden movements, fearing that he would not be able to escape if she took it as a sign to chase him down. It was then that he recalled something that his father had taught him. He remembered: If you ever identify an ungo and call them out by their human name, they will lose power.
Putting it to the test, he continued to call out her name, “Mana Sita! Mana Sita! What are you doing there, Mana?”
Despite his efforts, Manang Sita remained unresponsive to his calls. Seeing no movement from her, he proceeded to pick up a rock. He remembered another thing that his father taught him: A ritual to deliver a deathly blow. He placed saliva on his ring finger, then weaved out a cross onto the rock. He readied his aim.
Just as he was about to throw the rock, the old woman finally spoke, “This kid turned crazy. Trying to stone an old lady.” She quickly jumped down from the Manazitas tree and started walking down the path to her home. She then told him to follow her, as her husband was waiting for him at the house.
After a moment of shock from the sudden turn of events, he decided to follow her back and simply did what he came to do in the first place. Their transaction finished up smoothly, with all of them choosing to ignore what happened at the hill.
Chapter 2: Courting
Dating was way different in the past. When my Lolo was younger, he and his friends would go together after dinner to a woman’s house to woo them. They would bring gifts, sing songs, and try to impress them through flirting or skill in romantic talks. There was this one couple who had many girls at their household. Just like any other night, Lolo and his friends visited their home and were wooing the girls. In their backyard, there were two long lantay (bamboo couches), one by each corner of the house. As he was talking to one of the girls, he noticed that the parents were not around. There was not anyone else but them and the girls that night. And so, Lolo asked, “Where are your Mama and Papa?” The girl answered, “They had something to do somewhere else.” Although her answer was vague, Lolo paid no mind and continued wooing.
As time passed, the sudden burst of storm-like winds flung their windows open, startling them. It was a very random gust, he figured. Lolo had always been good at predicting the weather, a skill he developed from living near nature for most of his life perhaps. What he knew from then was that there was not any indication of rain or storms passing by. The stars were out and it had not even rained in days.
“Oh no, it’s going to rain,” he said in alarm as the trek back home might become difficult in the dark. “Oh no, that’s probably nothing. Our parents must’ve arrived,” one of the girls responded offhandedly. After a moment, she gasped to herself. Seemingly realizing what she blurted out might have been something she should have kept to herself.
Lolo looked up; his gaze directed towards the windows of their tall house. Through those windows, he saw their parents looking at them from above. Concerned, and little freaked out, his friend suggested that they should run away, as quickly as possible, but Lolo calmly said to his friend, “Why should we? We were just sitting here while talking to them. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
And so, the night passed by as they continued to woo the ladies until it was time for them to go home.
Chapter 3: Great Lolo and The Agta
My Lolo’s Father, My Great Lolo, was many things. He was a cobbler then a shoemaker, a vendor, and a fisherman. He was also said to have the “gift,” so people would sometimes go to him and ask for a healing.
One day, when Lolo was very young, he and Great Lolo went on a fishing trip. It was already seven pm by the beach, a full moon shines brightly reflecting on the seawater (as it used to) and they were grilling fish to eat for supper before they went out into the water.
While Lolo waits by the fire, he watches his father who was sitting opposite to him as he takes out one skewered fish. Great Lolo looked up and said, “Let’s have dinner.” Lolo looked in the direction of where his father’s gaze was pointed to, only to find that no one was there. He looked back to his father who continued to talk as if he was having a conversation with the air. Before he could ponder who or what his father was talking to, he suddenly noticed the moonlight getting dim. It was as if something was blocking the light, and yet, the light still passed through. Like an ever so faint shadow formed from a dusty glass window. Lolo looked at the skies, the stars were out and bright and yet there were not a lot of clouds to cause the change. Then he turned to his back, but yet again, nothing was there. Nothing was there, and yet it felt like something, or someone, was towering over him.
Lolo slowly crept into his father’s lap as he felt the chills running down to his spine. When he did, however, what was revealed to him at that moment was the appearance of the man whom his father seemed to be talking to. This new companion was as big as a tree. Although their figure looked human, Lolo could only barely see its features. The figure was as black as the night, and yet the young boy could see through his body. It camouflages with the dimly lit trees, the stars above them, the sea, and the moonlight. That night, what they were given was the largest catch that Lolo ever had in his life. The figure gifted them with fishes that amounted to more than what two men could carry.
Great Lolo, as it turned out, was someone supernatural things happened to. He was someone who somehow attracts and gets involved with various beings and entities as naturally as they come. And because of that, he has had a lot of dealings with someone no one normally sees.
After that night, Lolo got used to his father having conversations with entities he cannot see as he would often see his father encountering them.
It was said that the figure Lolo saw that time was a being called an Agta. He said that Agtas give gifts to people for a rightful price.
However, that was not the end to this story.
Lolo said that my Great Lolo had to cut ties with his Agta friend. The being had apparently demanded the life of Great Lolo’s grandchild for all the gifts he had been given. After that, Great Lolo started avoiding and stopped talking to the Agta altogether.
A few years ago, I heard from my mother that she had siblings who were not able to make it to adulthood. It was said that when my grandmother was pregnant with my uncle, Jr., the firstborn male, a bat kept on visiting them during the night. When she was about to deliver him, Lolo had caught it. But what Lolo caught was not what he had expected. It was a bat, but it was large, larger than what you would find from where they lived. And it apparently had twelve ears, six on each side of its head. Whether it was a coincidence or not, my uncle had passed away when he was just 2 years old. It makes a lot of people who have heard of the tale wondered, if what happened to Jr. was simply a mere consequence of natural causes, or it might truly have been the doing of an Agta that demanded a human’s life to complete Great Lolo’s end of the bargain.
Moral of the Story: Be Careful When Making Deals
May 6, 2024
- visuals byAbigail Barredo