"Anthony, can you please lend me a hand? Stop sleeping!"
Lola Aurora was already noisy even without the sun fully rising yet. That's how life in the province works.
Get up at 4 am, prepare firewood and fetch some water from a nearby well.
"I'm already awake Lola." I grunted. Being the only grandson she's with, I get to work around most of the time.
Do this... Do that... A cycle of constantly being called.
"ANTHONY!"
"ANTHONY!!!"
"ANTHONY FERNANDEZ MAGSAYSAY!!"
Oh no...
Oh no no no....
A complete name? That's the last straw.
I was basically throwing myself out of our traditional sleeping mat. Marks still on my arm and cheek from my deep sleep last night.
"Lola I'm here. I'm here!" I was running downstairs towards the dirty kitchen outside the house.
Still disheveled from sleep but doesn't matter. Her slippers were more terrifying than any weapons I've seen in my life.
Add the *walis tingting* and it's your judgement day.
"I've been calling you for ages. Why are you always taking time to respond huh?" She was already cooking rice and steaming sweet potatoes.
"But I'm awake now, Lola."
"Go fetch me some water. I told you to fill the containers last night but you didn't listen again."
"It's dark. The well's quite the distance. I'll fill it up when the sun rises."
My lola just glared at me. One hand with the firewood, while the other reaching for her ultimate weapon. The broom of doom.
I looked around. And scratched my head. 4 am. It's still dark. Our dirty kitchen is outside the house. Even this distance makes me tremble in fear. What more a 500 meter walk from here to the well?
Not gonna happen. Is what I'm supposed to say. But, my Lola's eyes were already shooting daggers at me.
"Don't make me count Antonio!"
"Lola...." Now she's even using my nickname. Which for me was humiliating.
I grabbed the pail and walked. One step at a time. I don't care if my friends tease me a lot for fearing the dark.
Who won't be?
Lola Aurora always tell me stories of how a mananangal was seen on the rooftop of her old house when she was pregnant with my papa.
How she saw an *Agta* on the big tamarind tree, smoking tobacco. She even described how it looked. A big burly man, messy long hair, beard that's thicker than all my hairs combined, just wearing a fabric wrapped around his waist. Eyes glowing red as it smoke his giant tobacco.
She said, Agta was known for liking beautiful women. And taking them into their own world.
I was walking and looking around the path we always took going to the main road.
Surrounded by trees, and filled with the sounds of crickets and birds. Adding to the fear that has been growing inside me.
There was also one time she told me when I was a kid. That, children needs to be inside their homes before six. Since, once the sky turns dark, those creatures will start going out.
At 19, those stories were still fully ingrained inside my head. Which made me a laughingstock among my friends. Calling me gay for fearing what they called myths.
"Tang ina. Why is the well always this far. Don't let anything show up. I'm not scared. I'm not sca-...Pisteng yawaaaaaa!"
My heart jumped put my ribs when I frog....Yes a damn frog jumped in front of me. Why is it even that big? With bulging eyes!
I calmed myself down, taking time to catch my breath.
"I should start walking." But my feet weren't. I was running.
The pails in each of my hand were swinging. When I reached the well, there were already people who lined up to fetch some water.
"O Anthony, what happened to you? Seen some ghost?" Our neighbor Fredo called out to me.
"I was just doing some exercises. Running makes me sweat." I lied.
But everyone in the neighborhood knows it already. Just looking at me with those knowing smiles of theirs.
"We believe you, Anthony. We really do." Ate Martha added. Already shaking her head.
I just scratched the back of my head and lined up next to her.
In our province here in Cebu, our neighbors were meters away. And I'm not even lying. The closest would probably be 300 meters away from our own house. But everyone knows who.
When it was my turn to fetch some water, I threw the small pail tied to a rope into the well, and adjusted it. Then lift it up when it was filled.
I repeated the process till both pails i brought were full. And started my wall back towards Lola's house.
It was still dark, my eyes were already used to it.
But at the same corner where my gaze always drift whenever I passed by it. Something was different.
A ball of light was coming my way. Flying in such speed that caught me off guard. My eyed widened and I was panicking. The pail in both my hands filled with water was now on the ground empty as I stumbled sideways. I was out of balance and the world tilted.
The *Santilmo* struck me and I fell down unconscious.
[DING]
[HOST HAS BEEN CHOSEN. WELCOME TO MYTHICAL CREATURE LOG 101.]
[OPENING HOST'S THIRD EYE. INITIATING SEQUENCE....]
[COMPLETE]
The chiming was all I heard. Constant and... Very annoying.
I grunted and my hands flying upwards trying to swat whatever was making the noise.
When I opened my eyes.... Everything has changed.