1 MANANANGAL

I am from the Philippines, I was born and raised here. I grew up hearing about the things that go bump at night. There are many mythical creatures similar to other cultures but some are only present in our mythology. The "Manananggal" for example is said to be a beautiful maiden at day and turns into a half bodied monster at night. I hear of stories about the "Manananggal" since the day I learned to understand our language. One story was told by my grandfather that still haunts me until this day.

My grandfather was a fisherman in a small province of Camiguin located at Mindanao, Philippines. That was when the population was so small the nearest neighbor was half a kilometer away. If you all know, the Philippines has many festivals celebrated almost every day in different parts of the country.

That day, the neighboring town was celebrating a fiesta and they held a cock pit where two rosters armed with small sharp blades battle to death in the arena and the people put their bets in one of the rosters. It is considered one of the favorite pass time activities of the Filipinos, and my grandfather was one fanatic of the game. Back then there were only asphalt roads that leads to each cities and municipalities in the province and it is mostly built on the sea side. The people who doesn't own a horse and a carriage often pass in the forest mountain where it is nearer other than to use the roads. My grandfather knows all the path that leads to every town in the province, it was his playground when he was still a child.

It was already getting dark when he decided to go on his way home, he used a torch made by coconut leaves and entered the forest. The forest canopy made it darker since the light from the setting sun was blocked by the towering trees. As he was at the middle of his journey he heard something, it seems like someone was walking on the fallen leaves on the ground. He can hear each step, slowly pacing like and old person. He tried to locate where the sound was coming from until he reached an unfamiliar part of the forest. Using his torch, he tried to illuminate the surrounding and saw a silhouette of a hut. He called out for anyone who lived in that hut but no one answered. He went closer to look if someone was actually living on that hut but found no one so he entered. Someone seems to live in the hut by the fact that embers are still glowing from the kitchen. Then he heard the trashing of the leaves again, now closer and it looks like it was coming at the back of the hut. He went outside to see who was walking but didn't find anything. He waved his torch up to brighten the area, at the edge of the light illuminated by torch were feet, bare footed, it's thighs were round and the skin was so smooth it glows as the light shines on it. He greeted good night but the woman didn't respond, so he went closer. As he gets closer he noticed that the woman was naked all the way down. He stepped closer to see the woman's face but was shocked of what he saw, there was no upper body and yet its moving and standing up-right! He can see the exposed organs and the still beating veins.

The End

Is the story hanging? Well, I was just telling you the personal accounts of my grandfather. He always ends the story on that part, he keeps on telling me that story every night on my bed since he passed away on that gruesome night.