Don Antoy

I was told this story by my lolo who had said he met the king long ago.

My lolo was a stranger to these lands. having just met my lola, he wanted to see where her family was from.

On a nondescript morning, he awoke to a letter placed by his side.
He asked my lola’s family if it came from any of them, a negative answer was all they could give.

The letter said: “I invite you to my abode. Follow the Saiton river and I will welcome you.”

My lolo asked about this and people reassured him.
“Oh it’s just the king playing again.”
“You need not worry.”
“He likes his surprises.”
Later that day, while my lola was out, my lolo decided to follow what the letter had said.

He followed the river, waiting to see the king’s place in the distance, but all he saw was the hill.

He came back dejected. All my mother’s cousins chided him for a bit, but they were not malicious.

“The king likes to make games out of foreigners.”

Seeing all the sights around Panliguiran Hill, he said the conversation was still crisp in his mind.

“You’ve lived here most of your life?” He asked my lola.

“That I have.” She answered.
“Who is this king you all speak of?”
“He is a spirit of these parts.”
“Is he a ghost?”
“Maybe? We don’t know.”
“How long has he been here?”
“He was king before we settled in these lands.”
“What does he do?”
“He is just a creature of mischief.”

“Nothing to be afraid of?”
“Nothing at all.”

With this the conversation ended, but my lolo still thought of the king.
He could not sleep, he tossed and turned in his bed, wracked with curiousity.
Then he dreamed.
In this dream he saw the king.

He imagined the king would be a more imposing figure.

But all he saw was a man with a moustache.

“Hello stranger.” The king spoke.

“Hello king,” my lolo replied.

He stood there with a mixture of fear and wonder. “I was told you rule this hill.”
“What does it mean to rule? No, I am not that kind of king.”

“Then what are you?”

“Just a ghost that has never known what it is to live.”
“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, really, what do you want to know? It has been too long since I have talked to a mortal not of this land.”
“Why this place? What makes it so special?”

“Ah so you wish to see the full extent of my kingdom?”
“Yes.”
“Then tomorrow follow my letter and I shall show you.”
The next day my lolo went to the Siaton river towards Panliguiran hill

The closer he got to the hill, the more he felt a strange sensation tickling his skin.

He let it wash over him, trysting in what the king had said.

And in a moment, he was there.
A giant castle appeared out of nowhere as if it had always been there. It grew naturally around the hill, wrapping the foliage.

“What is this?” my lolo asked.

“This is my kingdom, and you are welcome here.” The king, appearing suddenly before him.
My lolo could not contain his astonishment, words failed him.

“Your reaction is normal for mortals. This place is what is called a bridge to our world.”
“Our?” My lolo was barely able to articulate.
“Engkanto, tamawo, fairies, spirits. As your kind calls us.”
“So Panliguiran hill is…. This?”

“Not many mortals get to see it in all its splendor.”
“Why me? Why did you invite me here?”

“Simply because…”

“Because?”
“I am bored.”
“What?”
“All the humans here know of my kingdom. It amuses me to see the reactions of the uninitiated.”

“So… now what?”

“If there is nothing else then I bid you return to your world.”
“But—-”

In a flash my lolo found himself facing the hill, the castle fading away into memory.”
My lolo ended the story there and would always say:
“A bored king will play his games.”

=—————————=

Dawinde illustration by Marko Mikhal Gomez Deposoy

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