I haven’t been in this part of the forest in years.
Not since what happened with…
The ground moves as the servant builds its body. I was told that many engkanto use these elemental creatures as guards and every time I chance upon one, I take my rosary close and heed the warning.
This part of the province holds so many dear memories for me.
I think back at the time I first met him, he was too beautiful, as his kind always was.
He took me to his world and I had never had such pleasure before, or since.
I was no mere youth though, I knew the stories, about how eating black rice in their domain would trap me there forever or how praying to the one God would dissipate their magic.
I knew too much, and also too little.
Then I fell in love.
Such a childish mistake.
When an engkanto falls in love with a human, it will start to show physically. The human victim (or should I say lover?) will fall ill. When an engkanto courts, the human’s body becomes progressively weaker, up to the point of the human becoming unconscious.
It is said that if the subject of the engkanto’s love dies then that means he has crossed over to the engkanto’s world.
I would have welcomed death had he been by my side.
Only us, together.
But I was scared. I didn’t know what to do so by instinct I prayed.
And thus, the magic of their realm disappeared.
The only remnant of his world, the bato-bato, looked at me. Its unmoving face etched with what looked to be a twinge of sadness.
It seems crazy to leave a flower on a memory, yet here I am.
It was him, it was always him. I could never be with anyone after spending the days of love and danger with the engkanto.
My failed relationships are a testament to that love.
Michael, Jaime, Simon, James…
The list goes on.
They could never come close to giving me what I had with him.
And so, I tossed my rosary, wore my best clothes and ventured into the forest.
The Bato-bato was there, a silent witness to my lost cause.
I take the first steps into the cave. I didn’t know what to expect. I shouted his name.
And then, nothing.
I spent hours trying to look for an entrance o his world. My throat was sore, my knuckles bloody, all for the chance to see a glimpse of the lover I lost.
I had never felt so alone.
After a few hours the sun painted the forest red and I knew it was time to go.
I still wonder:
Does he think of me?
Is the fact that I’m healthy means that he stopped loving me?
Why won’t he give me another chance?
I know the portal to his world is still there by the cave.
If it wasn’t why was the bato-bato there?
I will return, by the light of the full moon.
With incantations and agimats.
I will never surrender my love.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Story inspired by the Engkanto Myths
Tanggae Illustration by Michael Sean B. Talavera
IG: @maykelshan
Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/isaneleach13