There was once a man that looked like a goat, or a goat that looked like a man. It spent its days trying to scare the people of Bicol through its frightening face. This creature was called the Laqui.
One day, a young girl happened to come across the laqui. It tried to scare her away with its ugly face, but the girl just laughed.
“I am not afraid of you!” said the girl. “I think your face looks funny!”
The laqui didn’t know what to do, it had never come across a human that was not afraid of its face. The laqui tried as hard as he could to scare the little girl but only got her words as a reply.
“Your face is so funny!” the little girl squealed.
The laqui still didn’t know what to do. It started to think about what it could to scare the little girl.
SCREEEEEEEE! SCREEEEEEEEE!
The laqui let out a high pitched scream. Its shrill sound echoed throughout the forest. The laqui turned to the little girl, but was disappointed to find that she was still there.
“Your voice isn’t very nice.” The little girl stared at the laqui.
The laqui grunted, surely there must be a way to scare off the little girl. So it hatched a plan.
There was a small songbird chirping in a tree nearby, the laqui grabbed the creature and showed it to the girl.
“What a cute little bird!” The girl smiled.
Without warning the laqui crushed the tiny bird in its hooves, blood from the creature splattered all over the little girl’s face.
AAAAHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHH!
The screams of the girl ricocheted amongst the trees and the laqui let out a sigh of relief. The girl ran away, screaming as she went.
The laqui rubbed his bloody hooves against the bark of a tree and smiled.
There was more than one way to scare a human.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Laqui description in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao 2010.
Laqui Illustration by Sofia Marie Cuarto
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