DREAMWEAVERS : THE DARK MOON

PROLOGUE: LAYA

Manggahan Festival, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras Islands

The wizened Dark Moon stealthily uncurled herself with a gnarled sigh of relief from the suffocating bondage of the wicked Sun. She dexterously painted the night in complete darkness. It was a void that cuddled in silent witness to the stillness and madness of the night. Some madness which forever remained to be beyond the academic grasp of a mortal’s domain.

Two brothers strolled hesitantly albeit courageously through the thick blanket of forest. The older of the two, tucked away in secret the scampering beats of his frightened heart. He did his utmost best to ignore the warning rustles of skeletal branches.

There is nothing out there… just your wild imagination again playing tricks in your mind!

Jose, the older of the two repeated the mantra like a broken record. He tried to convince his mind to keep itself afloat amidst the sea of fearful anxiety from the macabre treasures hidden by the dark of night.

In order to distract his cowardly mind away from the tidal wave of trepidation that was about to engulf his whole physical being, he pretended to leisurely swing away with his trusted stick. It whipped against the cloaks of spindly shrubs swaying connivingly with the gleeful gust of the wind. The wicked shrubs hindered their path towards the safety and comfort of home.

The younger one gripped tightly with all the minute strength of his tiny palms the small plastic bag containing their hard-earned prize money of 5,000 pesos from winning the mango-eating contest. His tiny tummy now fully distended consumed a record-breaking 15 kilos of mangoes in less than five minutes.

Luis the 8-year old boy whose tattered slippers could barely protect him from the twigs of needles on the ground whispered.

“Kuya, I-I am s-s-scared….” He steadfastly clung to the side of his protector.

“Shhh…” Jose warned him in an undertone, his mouth barely a slit that feebly attempted to cut through the tension of fear in the air.

The forest was eerily hushed without a single melody of mirth from the birds except for the harsh cackles of sinister branches slicing through the suffocating blanket of unease.

Snap!

A twig cracked a few inches on their right.

The boys froze in their tracks. Their feet imprisoned by the shackles of terror. Their hearts were about to explode out of their chests in dreadful anticipation of the source of the ominous sound. It maliciously broke their artificial bubble of security.

Snap! Snap! SNAAAAAP!