PART B

The orphan girl always saw it in her dreams. Sometimes its looking right at her.
Other times, its at a fair distance seemingly talking with the wind, the trees, the animals.
On those times, the girl felt like a voyeur looking over, but the being seems to be so
omniscient. Surely it knew about the girls presence, even in dreams.
The setting of her encounters with the spirit always varied, but one thing
remained the same. It never talked to her. The spirit looked, communicated with its
eyes, but never one word was uttered and directed to the orphan girl. The girl didnt
mind. The spirit is such an intimidating being anyway, like a person who dont talk to
kids. Thats why its such a great surprise when in one dream, the spirit addressed her
face-to-face.
Dear child, a great challenge is upon you. The manamat that killed your parents
is at the moment on its way here. This time, its not alone. You have to be quick and flee
to save yourself that you do not share the fate of your mother and father.
The girl was frightened. The manamat invaded their home and murdered her
parents when she was twelve. The situation forced her deeper into the forest. Shes
been living alone on this part for years. Despite her fear, the girl steeled herself.
I know this part of the forest more than any stranger does. She reasoned, It
might be stronger than I am, but Ive got the advantage of knowing every crook and
cranny of this place. I cant just give my home up and let that creature chase me around
forever.

The spirit gave nothing from its expression, Do as you will, little one, but the
manamat is only three days away.
The dream began to dissolve into reality and the girl found herself lying under a
mango tree. Right away, she started laying down traps on the ground and ensuring safe
branches she could swing on when the manamat arrived below. She took out her
dagger that was only meant to cut herbs from their roots to help her healer father in
gathering ingredients for his concoctions. She looked at its now sharpened blade, a little
sad that something once just very utilitarian would be her only defense against
something so powerful.
The monster arrived at dusk.
The girl watched from above the trees as it stepped on the net covered under the
weeds. Immediately, the trap activated and tangled the manamat into a tight cocoon.
The growl it created shook the whole forest. Unfortunately, the second manamat was
not walking near the first one, so it wasnt captured in the net. It tried to claw through the
fiber to free the other, growling and screaming as it did so. The second manamat was
smaller, only a few inches taller than the girl. Thinking she could defeat a monster that
size, the girl jumped from above into the creatures back and dragged her dagger from
its shoulder blades and downward.
The trapped monsters growling got louder. It thrashed and thrashed from its net
but to no avail. The sound it was making turned more frequent until it sounded like a
hiccup, like a sob.

The creature whose blood stained her hands moved underneath her and the girl
jumped back. The sun has fully set and the only thing that aided her eyes to see the
scene before her was the beginning of the moons first beams.
The girl tuned to the sound that echoed from the trapped creature and realized it
sounded like a garbled no.
Oh heavens, she whispered, unsure of what to do.
She drew her dagger up again and approached it. Speak. Can you talk like the
way I do? Speak, murderer!
The girl had to concentrate really hard to understand the creature. It was hard,
but not impossible. How dare a human bathed in the blood of my son speak to me of
murder. It gave a weak thrash in its bind.
The girl was enraged. You killed my parents! Now youve come for me, too.
Youre a monster!
Oh, you
Yes, do you remember now? All these years I didnt seek out to take revenge.
Did you really have to hunt me?!
The manamats voice was defeated. It was even harder to understand it now. I
am the reason why your parents are dead, but I did it out of self-defense. Now, youve
killed my son. The blood I spilled on the ground is re-watered by one of my own. Please
take my life as well.

The girl looked the young creature by her feet. It was still breathing shallowly.
Your son is not dead.
The parent was suddenly trying to sit up. Please let me free. I vow to you my
service. I know I cant bring back your parents, but I will be yours until your end of days.
Call upon me and I shall never refuse.
The girl didnt know what overcome her. It wasnt the promise, not something so
trivial. She slowly unbounded it, turning over her fate to the keeper of the forest. May
the keeper make sure that her spirit never wander off if shes going to die because of ill
judgment. Once free, the parent started licking the younger creatures wound. For the
second time since sunset, the girl didnt know what to do. It was easier planning the
death of these creatures looking at the parent drawn tight with concern for its child.
Suddenly, the older creature spoke, I was looking for a shelter when I came
upon your house. The sultan took our cave for mining and I needed a shade to be under
because I was going to give birth any day soon. Your parents misunderstood me. No,
they didnt try to listen. I was only protecting the life in my womb. I wish I had your
peoples reasoning, but at that moment driven by danger only to be led to another, I was
more held by natural instinct. Now the sultan has chopped all the trees to make your old
home flat so he could make it into a grand hall. He wanted it finished so his son can
have his nearing marriage there. There are workers all around, with shovels they can hit
me with. I cant take all of them and I would never want to, not after your parents. I can
never forget them, I carry their ghost forever. That night, I told you to run, didnt I?

The girl only remembered being growled at. Youre just saying that so I would
trust you.
If I wanted to kill you, you would be on the ground the moment my hands were
free.
Youre a monster.
The mother licked her sons wound again, slowly.
If I didnt look like this, would I still be a monster to you?
The girl was struck. She looked over the long fur the covered her body. The
misshapen features of her face. Her eyes are red. Are these what construct a monster?
That night, can she picture a mother protecting her young pleading unsuccessfully to
people who didnt try to understand her and based her worth from what she looked like,
or something not human who wanted bodies dead on the forests ground?
The son groaned from his mothers arms.
Your son needs to get checked, hes losing a lot of blood. The girl said urgently.
The mother seemed to relax for the first time. She stood, her height towered over
the little girl. She sat down a fallen log nearby.
Stay here. Ill find help. Ill be back right away, the girl promised. The manamat
grunted her reply.
*

About a half a mile away, she met a spider who told her about the widow boy
living in the big house near the river. She ran right away, intending to save as much
time as she can.
She knocked on the first big house she saw. It opened after three knocks.
Hello, is there someone who knows medicine around here?
The boy who opened the door assessed her slowly. Im not a doctor, but I know
some basics.
Please, someone is dying back in my place. Ill pay you if you want.
What kind of treatment does the person need? I need to get my things.
Its. Uhm, its a dagger wound. And I thought Id let you know. My friends are not
ordinary. Please avoid staring. Please dont run away.
A few things would surprise me living in this part of the forest, little girl.
**
There was no need to worry, her son doesnt seem to be in the brink of death.
Their kind heals these wounds fast. Any aid brought by the girl would just need to make
sure that the slice would never open again.
The girl and the boy she brought put ointment on the wound to make it heal
faster. They bandaged it with a cloth the girl offered. The boy put her son to rest and
made tea for all of them.
It was the first time the mother manamat trusted someone who isnt like her.

**
After a week, the son was good to travel again. The boy came every now and
again to check on him until hes fully recovered. The mother informed the girl that they
need to go on. Gratitude and forgiveness were exchanged between them.
When the manamats were about to go, the girl stopped them. The house can
get a little lonely. I know you hunt and eat a lot, but Ill only need a little of your portion. If
you want, I can find my own yam or berries. Can I go with you?
The boy who was there to see the manamats off grabbed the girls arm, The
deeper forest is dangerous for a little girl like you. If youre getting sad living alone, you
can move in the house. I got another room to spare.
The girl thought about the comforts of the big house. It makes sense to just move
there than to go to a journey without a map. But her heart wanted to see what lies
behind the safe zones.
The mother manamat still killed her parents, but slowly the girl was starting to let
go. Shes going with them and take chances. Shes not going to run again to feel the
illusion of safety. Like before, she decided to dare reach out to what she didnt
understand.
As she waved goodbye to her friend, the orphan girl knew that shes also on her
way to have a new family.
**

From above the cliff overlooking the scene, the keeper of the forest smiled. It
knew all along that the girl would pass the challenge.
PART A
I decided to retell a Subanon folk tale The Story of the Orphan Girl. The
tale narrates a child who lived alone in the forest for years who was told by a
beautiful woman in a dream that she needs to go because manamats are going
her way to devour her in three days. She didnt want to believe until the spider
told her to heed the woman. Because the girl ran too late, the manamats nearly
overtook her but she stumbled upon a widows son house. The widows son killed
two of the the manamats and kept their leader, the Gunluh alive. The Gunluh
promised his service to the widows son. Now, the girl was very beautiful and
attracted the attention of the Sultan. The Sultan sent of multiple envoys to ask for
the girls hand in marriage but the widows son repeatedly said that she might
have other relatives somewhere so he cant give her to the sultan. The sultan
was enraged and tried to kill the widows son, but the power of manamat protects
him from being killed. In the end the widows son himself married the girl and the
sultan married a beautiful girl from Mecca. I chose this folk tale for two reasons.
First, the manamats were described to an inferior to a beautiful maiden or
goddess but as much feared. It brought to my memory the idea of hags, where
women who are ugly are seen in the archetype as always the one who did the
evil thing. It seems to be a common thing in Filipino lore. I want to tell a story
where the protagonist sees past what Ill call the hag faade. The second
reason is because it is just another damsel-in-distress narrative. I cant count

how many times the girl wept in the story. And after these she became a token
for the men to argue about. The qualifications she had were that she was very
beautiful, with straight eyebrows and very skillful in all womanly arts such as
weaving. I found that part very offending.
I want to write a retelling where the girl is the actual focus of the narrative.
At the same time, I want to tell that the evil isnt reflected on anyones physical
appearance, and we as people of higher reasoning that animals should learn
how to differentiate between people and real monsters.

REFERENCES
Lumbera, B. et.al. Ed. Philippine Literature: A History and
Anthology. English Edition. Anvil Publishing. Pasig City. 2005.
Pp.17-20. Print.