The Enchanted Forest of Mangga

16. The god of rain...

Crash!

Yaya Rosa hurriedly entered the kitchen with light, quick steps. "Mang Jose! Ay jusko!"

Mang Jose had dropped his plate onto the tiled floor. His hand clutched the edge of the kitchen counter while his other hand pressed on his chest. His body figure crouched below and his knees gave out. It was a miserable sight to witness for Yaya Rosa when it was only her and Mang Jose at the house yet the old man chuckled as if he was playing a prank on her.

"Don't you dare say it's a prank again, sir! It's not funny to scare me like that!"

"You always ruin the mood Yaya Rosa."

Yaya Rosa assisted Mang Jose to a chair. "Stay here. I'll get your medicine."

Mang Jose tried to breathe slowly and clearly with his mouth. He stared at the broken plate pieces as Yaya Rosa disappeared from the kitchen. His lips formed a straight line and he sighed. The wind blew that sent the wind chimes outside the kitchen window to chime. Mang Jose closed his eyes.

Snap!

"AAAAAHHH!" The children, the fairy, and the frog screamed. But they didn't fall into the mud lake. Bea finally made it to the other side as she tightly hugged her brothers. It was a close call. Some of the goblins made it on land with them, but some were unfortunate. Luckily they still clung onto the rope bridge so they used that to pick themselves up. Some of the termites fell into the mud lake and were stuck inside. The more they struggled, the more they sank quickly into the mud.

"That was a close call!" Ali said in relief. "Yahoo! We made it!"

"W-we're alive!" Kaloy cried happily.

"It's not over yet," a goblin stated. "We managed to cross the mud lake, but the witch is nowhere to be seen."

"What's going to happen now?" Bea asked as she and the others dusted themselves.

"First of all, what are three children doing here all alone in the forest. Don't your parents tell you that there are engkantos?"

"They did. My Lolo told us stories," Bea said. "But our fairy friend is hurt so we wanted to help her get her home."

The goblin glanced at Danaya. "Princesa Danaya. You're up to trouble again."

"It's an adventure! Adventure! And understanding the world I'm living in."

The goblin wanted to say more but instead he sighed. "Some of my allies will stay here and guard the area while some of us will escort you to Hari Barios and Reyna Sampaguita. The witch may be watching us this moment."

It was a safe feeling to have more engkantos join them on their journey. Although, the goblins weren't much talkers. They were busy scanning the area before they could continue on their way. The path was rocky, feeling like they've been on a mountain hike.

"I've never heard of short goblins before," Bea whispered to Danaya who had now switched her perching to Bea's shoulders.

"They're nuno sa punso, goblins of the mounds. They live and protect their homes in an ant or termite hill. Sometimes, they can be nice or mean. If you destroy their home whether it was intentional or on purpose, the mound goblins put a powerful curse on you and your family. They can hold grudges for a very long time. So be wary of them," Danaya said.

"Excuse me," Bea talked to one of the nearest goblins. "Did that witch took over your home?"

The goblin nodded. "She's evil and selfish. We've been trying to get back our termite mound for several days now, but her curses are too strong for us."

"Kakakaka! Of course, I'm the most powerful engkanto of this forest. I deserve to rule the enchanted forest of all the diwata!" The witch appeared from a boulder, and raising from the ground were more termites.

"It's her! Protect the humans!" the goblin instructed.

The children ran and hid behind a bush, watching the goblins defending the termite's path to get to the children.

"You deserve to be brought to justice, witch!"

"Kakakaka! We'll see who will win this match." Extending her arm, a gush of air released from her hand that sent some of the goblins flying. She reached into her cloak and brought a small doll that looked like a goblin. "Kakakaka! Let's see all of you goblins move! You need more stretches!"

The goblins froze in their spot. They tried to move, but they couldn't. "I can't move!"

"Me too!"

"Me to0!"

"Kakakaka! All of you can't move! Because I have the power!" The witch raised the goblin doll in her hand, all of the goblins started to float in the air.

"They're floating!" Sez stared.

"What do we do?" Ali said.

"My charms can't shield them all," Danaya said helplessly. "I can only protect us. My powers are not strong enough to go against the witch. I'm just a mango fairy."

"Princesa Danaya! You must run with your friends!" said one of the goblins. "Go!"

"No, they will not!" The witch said, releasing yet another gush of air toward the children. The bush was blown away and the children were exposed.

"A-ate! Ate!" the boys whimpered, wrapping their arms around Bea.

Bea was scared too. She wouldn't see her parents ever again or listen to Lolo's stories or hide from Yaya Rosa to take a bath. She was breathing heavily. "I cannot let this happen. If we can't go back home, we might as well fight back!" Bea said.

This time her brothers are not going to do all the work. They'll do it together. They only have each other. One heart, one family.

"Danaya, protect me and my brothers."

"What are you going to do?" Danaya said.

Bea spotted a stick and grabbed it. "We're going to fight back."

"Me too!" Kaloy volunteered. "I have a very sticky tongue!"

"That's right!" Ali said. "I'll throw rocks at her and aim for her hand so that she'll drop the goblin doll and free the goblins."

"I'll trip her with my stick, and Sez is going to help me with that. Right, Sez?"

Sez nodded with determination.

The band put their hands together. "Let's do this!"

As they charged toward the witch with all their strength, the sky began to sprinkle rain. The witch moved frantically. "What's happening? What's happening?! I'm getting wet! Wet!"

The children and the engkantos watched the witch cry in agony. Her figure shrunk to the ground while her skin melted because of the rain.

"Aaaah! The rain! I'm melting! I'm melting! Aaaah!" the witch cried as she melted in a pool of goop. The sprinkle of rain stopped, but the sky didn't turn blue.

"She's gone," Kaloy said.

The goblins cheered. "Praise Habagat! Praise Habagat! The god of rain helped us!" They danced in circles and laughed arm in arm.

1151 words

15, 587 words total

May 2, 2021