I am born and raised in the Philippines and growing up, my grandparents often told me and my cousins stories of our rich-fear-filled culture. One in particular, of the female monster we call the “manananggal.”
Just a little background story, the manananggal is a lady witch who can sever her body in half. The process is different among the places in the country, but the one my grandparents told us is that she has this magical oil she would massage onto her body, causing her to split in half and grow bat-like wings, leaving her lower half -from waist down- in her house in the woods while her upper half flies around in search of fetuses to devour upon. Now, in our village, stories went around that every once in a while, at around 3 am, a manananggal visits in search of pregnant ladies. An idicator would be the distinct and pungent smell of fish sauce and a sound of “tik tik tik” apparently made as they fly. The thing about the tiking sound is that, when it sounds faint or far, it means that the mananangal is actually near. It is said that this was to confuse it’s victims.
Now the story begins.
I think i was seven at the time and while everyone else in the family was asleep, i somehow couldn’t bring myself to follow suite. I was restless, with nothing in particular in my head keeping me awake. I remember just laying there in bed, staring at the ceiling when suddenly, i hear a noise. Confused, i sat on my bed and looked around. Nothing but darkness.
I listened again.
“Tik tik tik”
My eyes went wide open. If i knew how to swear at this time of my life, the F’s would be flying.
I slammed my head back into my pillow, and as kids would normally do, i covered myself up in my magic blanket, trembling in fear.
@UVcommunity
