It was the middle of the rainy season, when the raindrops were tossed by the winds, that two brothers sat quietly in their house – wondering how they would get out of their predicament. You see, the brothers had lost something very important to their father, a precious ginunting sword that he received from his father as a gift.
“It’s your fault we lost it!” The older brother yelled. He didn’t want to face his father because of this. He thought to himself “I’m the older one I’m supposed to be in charge, surely papa will put all the blame on me.”
“Don’t worry we can find it.” The little brother replied. The small boy always tried to see the bright side of things. “We just have to go back to where we were playing. I think it was by the part near the swamp. We can find it before papa comes home and it will be like nothing ever happened.”
“That’s a stupid idea!” The older brother looked out the window. The rain was getting stronger by the minute and he knew it would be dangerous to go to that part of the forest.”
“Do you want to be the one to tell papa then?” The little brother smiled.
And so the two brothers braved the storm and went out into the forest.
“Over here!” The younger brother dashed towards a fallen tree. “I think I see something.”
“Be careful! You’re going to hurt yourself!” The older brother followed swiftly behind. He had also seen something that looked like a glint of steel from behind the tree, but he had heard stories about the things that dwelt in this part of the forest. He wasn’t eager to meet them.
His wish did not come true.
The older brother stood under the log and saw his little brother face to face with a monster. It had long black hair over most of its body, pointed ears and sharp claws on its hands and feet. The most terrible part was its face, the angry features reminded the older brother of a gorilla, but much more monstrous.
To his horror, the older brother saw that the monster was holding the sword.
“Please give it back to us. It’s very important to our father.” The younger brother thought that the monster would understand. Surely it would have a father as well and it would know that they would be sad if something they cared about was lost.
The older brother stared at the monster. He didn’t know what to do. He had heard that these things would attack any human that would go near their homes, but he wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
The monster gave the sword to the little brother and pointed away.
“Thank you!” The little brother said with a grateful smile. “Hurry up! We can get home before papa comes back.”
So the two brothers ran towards their home, leaving the monster behind. They took turns carrying the heavy sword so they could get home faster.
But before they could get to their house, something terrible happened.
You see, the sword was now covered with small, black hairs that came from the monster. What the brothers didn’t know was that these hairs were very harmful to humans.
The brothers ran through the rain, but they felt a very painful itch as they got closer to their home. They itched and they itched until they had to stop running.
“Brother what is happening?!” The little brother was crying. He couldn’t stop scratching. His arms and legs were covered with bright red spots.
“I don’t know!” The older brother was scratching just as furiously. All he could think about was scratching until he could find relief. He didn’t even realize that they were next to the river and the rain was getting stronger.
That night their father came home and frantically searched their house, wondering where his two boys had gone.
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Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Inspired by the Onglo description in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao 2010.
Onglo Illustration by Leandro Geniston
FB: That Guy With A Pen
Color by Yanna Gemora
FB: Yannami