*Note this story is in Cuyonon
Mangalok nga Aligpotagan (Cuyonon)
Beken maraet nga nars si Clarissa, sa kamatodan ngani tana pa ang mas agaprosigir sa ospital nga dia, apang indi enged madora ang mga aniani. Moro’ na, ang tanang pasyinti nga ingeepetan na agakarapatay obos. Kaleba, beken da dato anang kasalanan, piro mi maibara lamang baya nga natatabo.
Alimbawa ren lamang si Mr Pasamba. Ordinariong appendicitis da lamang dato. Maayad ang ingboat nga opirasion poira lamang sa maiteng impiksion nga maririmidioan pa andan i’ antibayotiks. Sa mga agdarasong dominggo, indi na ren nasarangan ang mga komplikasion nga risolta i’ ang impiksion, nga mamang agbogto sa anang kaboi.
Nababati ni Clarissa ang mga aniani sa anang likod. “Wi, tana ang agboat i’ dan.” “Ingtawagan nandang lagi ang morgue datong masapoan nanda nga tana ang magaawid sa pasyinti.” “Bagong bikitima ni Clarissa nga ingsompa.” Piro ara naiwan si Clarissa. Naelaman na nga basta akakeb tana lamang ig boboaten na’ mayad anang obra ara tana ren i’ problima.
Mas pang agrake ang aniani sa natabo ki Mrs Bengzon. Karwa tana ren nadiagnose ig maroya ren tenged sa mga ara polos nga mga treatment. Isarang timprano, nakita tanang patay den sa anang katri sa ospital. Si Clarissa ang akadiskobri sa natabo.
Ara enged ibidinsia i’ foul play, ara makita ang autopsy. Ara ra ibasola si Clarissa tenged sa pagkamatay i’ anang mga pasyinti, ayamo manda? Akaton da lamang nga doto tana sa maling logar ig sa maling oras.
Animan agpadayon den lamang obra si Clarissa, ingpabayan na ren ang mga aniani tenged kanana. Basta boboaten na anang obra, ara tana’ problima.
Lamang, mi natabong insidinti ki Ms Villamor. Ara iaamblig si Clarissa animan nadakep tana i’ ang isarang nars sa anang matod nga porma, nga akasampaw sa anang tagomatayen deng pasyinti. Akaignek si Clarissa ig ingsopil na ang nars.
Indi na maelaman kong marasano iiksplikar kong ayamo mi darwang biktima, apang mi golping agsot nga idiya sa anang barot.
Agboat-boat i’ iksina si Clarissa, “Aroy, agbegat ingan ang leba i’ ang nars datong i-euthanise na si Ms Villamor. Ang nars ana, agpaneget.” Ingpametang na ang tanang imo-imo nga mga ibidinsia sa logar, ig ingparetan tana ra i’ ang ospital.
Clarissa nga Ingsompa den ang anang bansag. Mi mistirio pa rang agakapolit sa kamatayen i’ anang mga pasyinti piro kamalasan da lamang sigoro dato.
Maayad tana nga klasi’ nars. Ingboboat na’ mayad anang obra. Dato lamang ang dapat nga maelaman i’ ang ospital.
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English Back Translation
Clarissa wasn’t a bad nurse, in fact she tried harder than anyone in the hospital, but whispers won’t fade away. You see, every patient under her care eventually expired. Maybe it’s not entirely her fault, but there was always just something that went wrong.
Clarissa could hear the whispering behind her back. “She’s the one that did it.” “They called the morgue once they knew it was her.” “Another victim of Clarissa the cursed.” Yet Clarissa was unscathed. She knew that as long as she kept her head down and did her job correctly she wouldn’t have a problem.
The whispering multiplied when something happened to Mrs Bengzon. She had been misdiagnosed twice and was weak from all the unnecessary treatments. She was found dead one morning in her hospital bed. Clarissa was the one who found her.
There was never any evidence of foul play, at least none that an autopsy could find. Clarissa was never held liable for any of the deaths of the patients under her care, and why should she? She was just always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So Clarissa went on with her work, ignoring all the whispers. As long as she did her job, she wouldn’t have a problem.
That is, until the small incident with Ms. Villamor. Clarissa wasn’t careful and another nurse caught her in her true form, over the soon to be deceased form of her patient. Clarisse panicked and subdued the other nurse.
She didn’t know how she was going to be able to explain two victims, but then she had an idea.
Clarissa put on a show, “How terrible, the nurse felt so guilty euthanizing Ms. Villamor that she took her own life.” She had put all the necessary evidence in its place, and it didn’t take too long before the hospital believed her story.
So Clarissa the cursed followed through on her name, the patients she had still had mysterious circumstances attached to their deaths but that was just bad luck.
She was a good nurse. She did her job well. That’s all the hospital needed to know.
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*Cuyonon is a regional Visayan language spoken on the coast of Palawan, and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.
Written by Karl Gaverza
Cuyonon Translation provided by Ryan D. Ibañez and Elyn Grace Bagalay
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Translation Copyright © Ryan D. Ibañez and Elyn Grace Bagalay
Inspired by the Aswang na Gala legends from Eastern Visayas
Aswang na Gala illustration by Lou Pineda
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