Andres and I found an old woman pinned down to the floor by a huge tree branch. It was dark in color and looked somewhat charred – the lightning probably caused it to fall on the poor woman who now could not move.

We lifted the wood off her thigh and assisted her to stand up. She found It difficult to walk so we went with her back to a roughly-built cabin or kubo with wooden walls and interwoven nipa leaves on top of the roof. The house was slightly raised on piles over the surface of the soil, where one would need to go up three wooden steps to get into the house..

“Thank you, thank you so much!” The old woman shook our hands happily when we finally arrived. “I have been laying there for hours, goodness me! I’m so lucky that fellow humans found me and saved me before any other creature could…”

“Come on inside, dearies.” She gestured. “I need to thank my saviors!”

“Oh no, we don’t want to impose.” I said. “We also have to be somewhere.”

“We’re glad you’re okay now, but we really have to go lola.” Andres backed me up.

“Please, I insist.” The old woman smiled sweetly, lines at the edge of her eyes emerged. “It seems you have been travelling for quite a bit, a late lunch wouldn’t hurt, right? In fact, it would help you a lot in your journey if your stomachs are full.”

“Thank you so much for the offer, lola.” Andres started. “But I’m afraid we cannot take you up on that. We actually just ate some apples earlier.“

“Well if you are full them maybe you can help an old woman out with some quick few chores?” She winked at us mischievously. “It would also take you out from the drizzle, you wouldn’t want to get sick here. There are no pharmacies around, after all.”

We ran out of excuses so we soon found ourselves in the old woman’s quaint home. It was simple-looking inside and out, with most of the things inside made of wood – even the furniture and other household items.

She made Andres wear a long-sleeved brown man-dress on top of his jeans. His look seemed somewhat unisex for the most part. I, on the other hand, had to squeeze into a loose white dress with rounded collar and a skirt that fluttered when I turned.

According to her story, she arrived in this world in a way similar to ours. However, it seems she can no longer go back to the human world. It appears she was not able to find a way back home before the last moon gets gobbled up by the Bakunawa, the week she arrived here. My eyes quickly spotted a golden ring on her left hand. She smiled quietly towards me.

We spent a good part of our day by helping out with the house chores like sweeping and gardening We did these while waiting for our clothes to dry.

Both Andres and I lost track of time as he swept the floor and wiped the picture frame and wooden vase clean. I similarly tended to her small garden; harvesting some ingredients to stock in her pantry.

I suddenly thought of Inay. The old woman’s pearly whites were as beautiful as my mother’s smile whenever I was able to help out at home.

Andres shortly joined me and started bragging about his harvest; even to a point of juggling them before pocketing a good piece of garlic; he was like a kid despite him teasing me about being such.

We weren’t planning on staying the night, but the old woman was pretty insistent. It was difficult to say no to those sparkling eyes; her beauty still left traces from her youth despite her age.

“Why not stay the night?” She asked as she reached out to me. “So my sadness will go away for even just a bit. I really love having you two around.”

“We’re really very sorry, lola. We have to go.” I wrapped my hands around hers and gave her an apologetic smile. She responded by showing a smile tinged with sadness.

“I see, I see. Then you should at least let me prepare food for you so you can have them in your travels. Hold on, I think we’re still missing a few more things. I’ll grab them outside.”

Almost an hour has passed when the bright sky was veiled by the night. Not being able to wait any further, Andres and I went outside. Not soon after, we heard the flapping of what seemed to be huge wings soaring through the sky. We looked up and we saw a bat-like creature in front of the first moon to the right. Its face was horrifyingly ugly and it had bloodshot eyes to make it worse. Its ears were as pointed as its wings. As it slowly approached us, we noticed that it was not a bat. It was a –

“Manananggal!” Andres shouted, pulling me back into the hut.