“Linti!” Jomar looked across the river and saw his old nemesis. He could see its face beneath the long hair and he had to remind himself that, no matter what it looked like, it was still a demon.
Jomar fished his net out of the river onto his boat. Selling ueang* was has only source of income and every time he would let his guard down one of these demons would steal his catch and leave him with nothing. He wished his lolo was still alive to tell him how to deal with these creatures, but time took its toll on the people that he loved and he was left alone with his problems as always.
He sat in his boat and wondered what he would do this time. There was no chance of outrunning the demon, not while he was carrying this heavy a load. Jomar knew that the demon couldn’t follow you through a river, and he had to make a choice: Going through the river could be dangerous, the current ran fast and there was a chance that he would end up dashed against the rocks, on the other hand he could take his chances distracting the demon and then making a break for it. Neither of those choices seemed appealing to him.
I had been an hour since Jomar had first seen the demon and his skin was cooked from the heat of the sun. The demon hadn’t moved a single inch and its impassive features sent shivers down Jomar’s spine. It was time to decide, and Jomar knew that the river would be his best bet at surviving and keeping his catch.
He steered the boat down the river and held on for his life. The rapids were violent and it took all his strength to guide his craft through the winding stones and dangerous waters. It didn’t take long to reach his destination, but the relief he felt didn’t last long.
A figure was waiting along the riverbank.
Another demon.
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*Ueang is freshwater shrimp
Story inspired by the Bawa description in ‘The Myths of the Philippines’. Gaverza. 2015.
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Bawa Illustration by Nica Mapeso
