*Note this story is in Cebuano
5 Adlaw
Wala ko kahibalo kung unsa ang nahitabo. Ingon nila pwede ra kuno ko nga muhawa bisan kanus-a nako gusto, pero inig subway nako ug gawas sa pultahan, dili ko makalihok. Mura ug naay gatukmod nako palayo. Gisuwayan nako ug hangyo ang mga hosts nga buhian na ko, nga isip sayop ra ning nahitabo. Nga aduna ko’y pamilya ug ganahan ko nga makita na sila ug utro, pero pamati nako wala sila’y pagpangga kanako. Ilaha ko giingnan nga ug kaunon nako ang itom nga bugas ug pagtuman sa ilang “balaod” nga mulupyo kauban kanila. Hangtod sa kahangturan.
14 Adlaw
Karon kahibalo nako kung giunsa ug tukod kining mansyon. Dili ra ako ang tawo nga ilang gibutang nganhi, ang uban, sa akong pamati, mas dugay pa nako dinhi. Sama sa mata sa patay ug dili makatabi gawas sa pagsunod sa sugo sa ilang mga amo. Akong gipangutana ang usa kanila kung unsa na sila kadugay nganhi ug ang tubag lang niya kay ‘tuig’ bago siya misugod ug hilak. Apan wala ko makasabot niini, pareho ra mi ug edad tanan.
25 Adlaw
Nagdala sila ug bago nga piniriso, karon kay gamay nga bata. Gatuo ko nga usa ang bata kanila, aduna’y puting panit ug puting buhok nga mura siya’g gasidlak, apan gitaboy siya ngadot sa gahong ug gipa-alsa ug mga bato sama kanamong tanan dinhi. Ako siyang isturyahon kung papahuwayon na mi sa among mga amo.
26 Adlaw
Wala ko kabalo giunsa nako ug pag-ihap ang mga adlaw. Wala gyu’y adlaw nganhi, tanang hayag kay gumikan lang sa mga kayo sa mansyon. Ingon si Cirilo nga tungod kini sa pagkaanad sa mga dili maayo nga mga enkanto nga mamuyo sa ngit-ngit, malipayon ilang mga binuhi nga Aswang. Mao na ang pangalan sa bata, Cirilo, ingon siya nga maong ingun ana iyang hulagway kay tungod sa iyang amahan nga engkanto, usa sa mga maayo, matod pa sa iyang sulti. Ingon siya kanako nga gikuha sila sa iyang inahan aron mupuyo uban sa ilang amahan bago siya mamatay, misulong paagi ngadto sa kahoy sa Balete, dili parehas sa ubang tawo.
??? Adlaw
Ania gihapon mi ni Cirilo nganhi, natanggong sa pagpalapad sa mansyon sa mga amo. Wala ko kahibalo kung pila na ko ka-adlaw nganhi, mura ug buwan na, basin tuig na. Basta kauban nako si Cirilo kay mapugngan ko nga maparehas sa uban, tungod siguro kay aduna ko’y katabi. Himsog siya nga bata, wala pa nako siya nakita nga nagkurog atubangan sa mga amo, mao siguro nga gidumotan sila ug maayo. Pirme siya nga nagtutok sa ngit-ngit. Basin aduna’y gihuwat nga unsa.
=—————–=
English Version
Day 5
I still don’t know what’s happening. They say I can leave any time I want, but whenever I try and go out the door, I can’t move. It’s like I’m being pushed away by some force. I tried begging my hosts to let me go, that this is some sort of mistake. That I have a family and I want to see them again, but I don’t think they care. They told me that I ate the black rice and by the “rules” I have to stay with them. Forever.
Day 14
Now I know how they built this mansion. I’m not the only human they have here, but the others, I think they’ve been here longer than I have. Their eyes seem dead and they barely talk except to acknowledge orders from the masters. I asked one of them how long she’d been here and she said ‘years’ before she started crying. But that doesn’t make sense, they’re all still my age.
Day 25
They brought in a new prisoner, this time it’s a small child. I thought that the child might be one of them, he had white skin and white hair and he seemed to glow, but the masters kicked him to the pit and made him lift rocks like the rest of us. I’ll go talk to him when the masters let us rest.
Day 26
I don’t even know how I’m counting the days. There’s no sun here at all, the only lights are from the fires inside the mansion. Cirilo says it’s because it’s because the bad engkanto are used to living in the dark, it keeps their Aswang pets happy. That’s the kid’s name, Cirilo, he says that he looks the way he does because his father was an engkanto, one of the good ones, or so he says. He tells me that his mother took them to live with his father before she died, she willingly took the trip through the Balete tree, unlike most humans.
Day ???
Cirilo and I are still here, still stuck building a new wing of the mansion for the masters. I don’t know how many days I’ve been here, it may be months, even years. I think being around Cirilo stops me from ending up like the others, maybe it’s because I have someone to talk to. The kid’s strong though, he’s never once flinched at the masters, maybe it’s why they hate them so much. He’s always looking out into the dark. Maybe he’s waiting for something.
=——————-=
*The Cebuano language, alternatively called Cebuan and also often colloquially albeit informally referred to by most of its speakers simply as Bisaya (“Visayan”, not to be confused with other Visayan languages nor Brunei Bisaya language), is an Austronesian regional language spoken in the Philippines by about 21 million people, mostly in Central Visayas, western parts of Eastern Visayas and most parts of Mindanao, most of whom belong to various Visayan ethnolingusitic groups, mainly the Cebuanos. It is the by far the most widely spoken of the Visayan languages, which are in turn part of wider the Philippine languages. The reference to the language as Bisaya is not encouraged anymore by linguists due to the many languages within the Visayan language group that may be confused with the term.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Cebuano Translation by Kyle Gabriel Ranis
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Kyle Gabriel Ranis
Story inspired by Albino description in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao. 2010.
Albino Illustration and Watercolor by Sam Despi
Website: http://samdespi.com/
IG: @samdespi
