11 Baby Ato

Eleven years ago…

In a dark and stinky canal under the pavement of a subdivision's street, something were moving beneath the toxic mud. From a distance, the tiny wormlike movements in the murky surface suggested nothing strange or mysterious. However, moments later, tiny white objects came out of the muck. Most of them were fine while some were as thick as a baby's finger. They're bones!

A while after, the largest surfaced out – it's a snake skull! The skull glided in the surface of the mud and the rest of the bones followed. Then the weirdest thing happened, the bones arranged themselves and formed into a whole skeletal snake.

The serpent cautiously crawled along the dark canal completely unknown to the inhabitants. Ahead of it was a sun ray that entered through a crack in the concrete pavement. When the snake reached the lighted spot and its head was hit by the light, it mysteriously recovered its skin!

First, the head, then its body, until all of it were completely covered. But it was clear from its appearance that it's nothing but skin and bones. One can infer correctly that this slithering creature doesn't have flesh inside.

After a while, the snake paused. There's something else moving inside! The snake observed, then slowly crawled forward.

The snake was approaching the creature that was moving a while ago. Now, the creature stopped as well. It sensed the snake coming. Moments later, the serpent passed a rat. Its head was just inch away from the nose of the rat. The rat, on the other hand, only looked at the passerby snake.

The snake continued to slither until it reached a grilled hole. The hole was purposely made, it is where rain water drains. It extended its head out of the steel grills to sense the surroundings. It jutted its vibrating tongue to taste the smell of the air.

A dog from the nearest house ran towards it and barked ferociously. There were today more vehicles in the lawn of the house. One can hear the chatting and laughing of people inside. There's also one who was singing with the videoke.

The dog left howling when a group of men, who were drinking beer in the house' lawn, hit it with a rock because it's "too" noisy. Thanks to these drunk men, the snake got an opportunity to swiftly glide towards the house' concrete fence.

The entire appearance of the snake was now clear. It's pitch-black all around and about two feet long. And its eyes were all white – they don't have pupils!

With the help of the plants, the snake was able to climb over the concrete fence of the house. Once again, it tasted the smell of the air. Not long enough, the snake reached the wall of the house. Above it was a window of one of the house' bedrooms.

The snake raised its head and did all its best to reach the iron grill of the window. And it succeeded to do so. It hanged its head on the grill and pulled its body.

The snake attempted to enter the room through the window but it failed because of the mosquito screen. Now it started to retreat, perhaps, to look for another way in.

But just as when it decided to slid down, it noticed something in the left corner of the window. There's a tear in the screen!

The snake slid along the grill towards the left corner and entered the room. It swiftly slipped down the floor and hid under a cabinet. It tasted again the smell of the air with its tongue and its eyes contracted and gave a fierce hiss. Whatever it's looking for, it had found already!

It's about to come out from under the cabinet when, suddenly, the door of the room opened. Two women entered the room to check the five-month old baby who's soundly sleeping in a bed. His name was Ato.

The first woman was the baby's mother, Manika, and the other was her best friend, Okra, and now, Ato's godmother. The day was his baptism. And the people in the living room were their visitors.

"Baby Ato," Okra called gently and sweetly. "Oh, very good boy... still asleep!" she glanced at Ato's mother and smiled with admiration. "You didn't placed a long pillow in both his sides? He might fall if he rolls," Okra added.

"Actually, though Ato is not sickly, he's not very healthy too. That's why he often sleeps and can't roll his body yet. He even has difficulty in carrying his head. Although, it is also because his head is big," Ato's mother explained.

"Oh, really," Okra replied amused.

''So... let's go?" said Manika.

The two women have just turned back when— "WHOA! That's so beautiful!" Okra yelped. She pointed at a ten-inch cherubim statue on top of a cabinet. The six-feet tall cabinet was at the other side of the bed. It was over two feet away from Ato's bed.

"Can I look closer?" she asked.

"Sure, go ahead."

Okra walked at the other side to look closely at the cherubim. Ato's mother followed.

"Wow, it's really beautiful. Look at the details, they're finely made!" said Okra. "Ay! It's soooo heavy!" she yelped again when she took the statue.

"Hey, be careful. It's really heavy. It's made of iron wood... It's antique as well!"

"Really?" she asked with wonder. Her toes got closer to the cabinet's base.

"We inherited it from our grandmother."

"Ahh!" Okra's fascination with the statue grew more.

"My grandmother told us it is our family's inheritance since the time of the Spanish colonization. Accordingly, it was sculpted by a mentally ill friar from its original Anito form, which originated from our ancestors before the Spaniards came."

[Author's note: Anito is an idol or statue of a god or goddess worshipped by the pre-colonial Maharlikans.]

"WOW, AMAZING! That's freak'n over five-hundred years! If true, then it's probably the oldest thing that had been handed down up to our time.

Wait, let me calculate... it's already five-hundred years since the Spaniards reached Maharlika. If the anito shape of this statue originated from the pre-colonial natives, then, probably, it is much older. Six-hundred, seven-hundred years old or even older!"

"Oh, really! I never thought of that. Perhaps, you're right," Ato's mother replied.

"Wheeww! Hahaha," Okra laughed after feeling that she had cracked something significant about the statue.

"Psst, the baby!.. That's why we really take good care of it. It dropped several times already but because it's really tough, it's still here... Wait, let me have it.

Look at these letters. According to our family's story, these characters were already here in its original Anito form. The friar didn't touched these letters when he changed the Anito into a cherubim."

Okra held the statue and looked keenly at the carved letters under the based of the statue.

"Wow! Aren't these Baybayin?"

"Nope. Far from it. According to my grandmother, if this is really a language, it's must be older than the Baybayin. The Baybayin was the language of the Maharlikans when the Spaniards came. But this one is different."

"OMG! So mysterious!

Who do you think could this anito be? In my knowledge, the ones that were revered by the pre-colonial Maharlikans were Ideyanale, Dimangan, Mayari, Lam-ang, and Apolaki."

"Hmm... No idea... Let's go out now? The next song is mine," insisted Ato's mother. She's worried Ato might be awakened by their noise and she also wanted to sing the videoke song.

"Ok... Let's go," replied Ato's godmother then she returned the cherubim on top of the cabinet.

"Hey, place it securely! It might, later, fall."

"Oh, sorry..! There... it's secure already.

Speaking of which, do you think the cherub won't reach the bed in case it falls? It's dangerous, you know... to think that it's really heavy."

"Uhm... I think not... The cabinet is quite far already from the bed."

"Yeah, I think so... Bye, baby Ato," said Ato's godmother and the two left the room. "Ato is so cute. He got much of his look from his father."

Moments after there was silence in the room, the snake slowly revealed its head. It climbed the side of the bed and when it saw the child, its eyes turned bloody red and it hissed stronger!

The strange looking snake raised its head and opened its mouth, revealing a set of teeth that are razor sharp. Its long and pointed fangs are bent inside. It bent rearward a bit its upper body to attack the child. But something made it stop. The baby rolled a bit to the right and the snake was startled.

The vicious serpent lowered down its head and retreated a bit and rested its head on the wooden edge of the bed. It is one hell of a cautious snake. It observed for a while.

Moments after, the snake started to move its head to proceed to its plan of biting Ato when, suddenly—

"BLAG!!"

The snake's head was crushed! The heavy iron wood cherubim fell on it. The snake twisted with the pain and fell on the floor after the statue. Soon, the snake died.

The door of the room opened. Ato's mother rushed in when she heard the loud noise. Her eyes quickly searched for Ato. But Ato was soundly asleep and even smiled a bit. He always dream when asleep.

Ato's mother felt relief. But then she noticed that the cabinet's top seemed empty. She felt chills all over her body as soon as she realized that the cherub was no longer there.

She paced around to the other side of the bed. What she saw next made the hairs in her skin stood up. She saw the bones of the snake and the cherub standing on the floor! She covered her mouth to prevent her scream.

Manika quickly took Ato in her arms and got out of the room and looked for her husband. But when she saw Ato's father, he's vomiting due to heavy drinking. She made loud attempts to tell him about what happened.

But it was hopeless. She became furious when he vomited in front of her. He turned his back and vomited again. She kicked him at the butt! As far as she can remember, it was the strongest kick she did in all her life.

In the morning during breakfast, the couple talked.

"You know that I'm not used to drinking that's why I easily get drunk," the husband explained. "Also, somebody kicked me in the but last night and I fell and hit my head in the concrete fence. I can't remember anything after that!" he added while soothing the bump on his head with his fingers.

The wife covered her forehead with her hand. She's clearly frustrated and annoyed at his clueless face.

"Do you think this has something to do with our dreams about Ato?" Manika said anxiously. "I'm scared, Pang!" she added.

Her husband hug her. Now he's reminded about what his grandma told her about their family and about their clan's custom of placing the cherub near where the the kids sleep.

Whenever somebody from their family asked why they have this custom, the elders only reply that it was praying to the guardian angels to protect them.