The Samaniegos had always been hunters. There was not a Samaniego house where you cannot find a single head of an animal hanging on its wall. There was even a creepy tale going on in town about those heads moving as if alive. Hunting was a part of who they are. Animal right laws might have lessen the frequency of their hunts and their choice of games but it will never diminish the hunt running wild in their blood, strengthened by gene and time itself.
At young age, adult Samaniegos take their children with them when they hunt. At one somewhat similar instance, on a Thursday morning, Leon Samaniego wrote an excuse letter to his son's adviser stating he wants to take the thirteen year old Levi Samaniego for a fun family bonding time. His son was always bugging him on coming with him on a hunt. Today he intends to let him so.
“Is it done yet? I'm hungry.”
The young Levi grumbled as he twirled the bangs of his messy hair. He was an albino kid: white, pale skinned, white haired, and of sapphire blue eyes with crimson pupils. Now those eyes were trained at his father's hulking figure in an apron.
“Almost, and voila...”
Leon transfered the contents of the frying pan to a bowl. Levi set the plates he fished out the drawer while the whistling Leon poured hot soup on two mugs.
“What is this?” Levi spooned the fried green and yellow thing his father was making a while ago.
“Breakfast. They call it "okoy" or something. You mix sliced vegetables with flour and fry them altogether.”
“Please Pops, stop it with the weird cuisine. That fish paste you brought yesterday made the kitchen stink. Why not go with hot dogs for a change, right?”
“Don't say that. Now Lev don't play with your food and say your graces.”
“I'll go wake mom.” The boy offered.
“No, don't disturb her," his father prevented. “Let her get some rest. She pulled an all-nighter yesterday at the lab. I'll bring her food later.”
...
“So Pops, you going out hunting today?” Levi opened as he wiped the dishes.
“Yep. Your Uncle Andrei told me there were rumors about a strange animal roaming the mountain.”
“That's so cool! Pops let me come with you. Please?”
The son's sapphirine eyes shone expectantly. Andrei Primo was his father's friend and a fellow hunter. Levi liked the guy because he always bring him sweets every time he visits them. What's more, he would always tell Levi exciting tales of his hunts.
“I don't know...you said my cooking was weird. And that kinda hurt.”
The pleading went on for a moment and ended with Leon Samaniego letting his son come with him in exchange for Levi not telling his mother that he broke one of her favorite vases.
The prepared excuse letter was dropped off by the school guardhouse on the way to the Madya-as Mountain.
On the car Leon was whistling the tune of Ed Sherran's Perfect that was playing on the radio. Levi was amazed every time his father whistles a song because he just seems to do it perfectly.
“Hey Pops, why do you whistle so much?”
“Well...”, the father massaged his nose as he searched for a reason. “Your Grandpops whistles, and your great-grandpops too, so I think it just rubbed off on me. But I'm better than them at whistling, mind you.”
Levi just nodded, pondering: Will I be whistling when I get old too? It's not that bad, actually.
“Ah!” Exclaimed Leon as a memory came back to him.
“Did you know that I serenaded your mother with a whistle when I was courting her? I was so nervous that time I couldn't produce a decent whistle! Vivian said she thought I sounded like a suffocating bird that night. Hahahaha!”
“Hahaha! Embarrassing! Wait... what does serenade mean, Pops?” Asked Levi as he wiped a laugh tear off the corner of his eyes.
“Hmm... Serenade is when you visit the girl you are interested in dating with at night and sing love songs to her while you are outside her house. It's also a sort of asking the parents permission to date their daughter. If they consented, the door will open and you will be invited to come in. If your not lucky, or good-looking enough, you will be politely asked to stop. In worst cases, you will find a shotgun pointed at you, or a urinal raining it's contents on you.”
“Strange dating practices...” the younger Samaniego cringed his face as he imagined the scenario.
Leon, apparently teased for some reason, chided.
“It's not strange, it's romantic. It's more formal and nice than most dating practices nowadays. What does HHWW even mean? In my times, once you hold a girl's hand, it means you are prepared to marry her!”
The complaining man struck the steering wheel as if to strengthen his grievance on the modern world. However, the act only earned him a surprising honk from his own car and some glares from fellow motorists.
“Woah, woah! Easy, old man. No use telling that to me.”
“What do you mean no use? Your mother and I heard you were always with the transferee girl. You interested in her? Want me to teach you how to whistle-serenade her?”
The reddening of Levi's cheeks and ears was clearly pronounced by his complexion.
“W-what! We're friends...” His voice trailed. “And she's not in town for this week. A relative's burial, she told me... Hey! w-why are you smiling! Stop it or I'll rip your lips of your face!”
Leon just continued to smile. Aside from his son not denying his interest with girl, he knew that his son goes brutal when he gets embarrassed. Looking through the windshield, he could see the humongous silhouette of the Madya-as Mountain now. It means they are halfway there. To past the time, Leon gave Levi a crash course on tracking techniques, and which kind of mushroom is marginally edible and which one is more likely to incur a psychedelic death.
Two hours later, they got by the foot of the mountain. They immediately sported their hunting gears. Along with some bags, Leon carried the hunting rifle with him while Levi has the hunting bow.
The sun was strangely hot for a supposedly cool November month. Luckily, Madya-as Mountain was a forest of evergreen trees so the shade was helpful against the scorching glare of the sun. Strangely though, the usual cool atmosphere of the forest was replaced by a warmer one.
However, what bothers Leon was the absence of Andrei at the foot of the mountain when they talked about meeting each other at their usual meeting place. He just dismissed this thought by thinking Andrei, despite his overwhelming spinelessness, might have gone in the forest by himself. He knew Levi will be joining today, and perhaps he was afraid the kid might find out that most of his valiant tale were doctored. That guy was more a storyteller than a hunter.
“You know, I just remembered something my grandpops told me about whistles,” Leon prompted as he trotted beside his son.
He noticed that Levi was starting to feel the toil of the uphill trek of the mountain forest plus the heat of the sun, so he thought it's best to start a conversation with him to take his mind away from the tiredness.
“He said that whistling is magic. When you feel hot, just whistle. And you will feel the wind blow on you. Just like magic.”
“Magic?” Levi queried skeptically. “Did you try it? Does it work?”
“Yes, I think. Works everytime.”
“Nah, I don't think so Pops. That's unscientific. Maybe just chance.”
“Scientific?!” His father exclaimed then went to unruly hair.
“Oh my poor Levi, thirteen and already lost his imagination...”
Wrestling Leon's beefy arm away from his head, the young one retorted:
“Science is all about imagination, factual imagination. Did you know that Einstein mostly imagined his postulates?”
“OK, whatever you say kiddo. But there's no harm in just trying it out, right?”
“Hmm. Fair point. Actually, I could use some kind of wind right now. I'm sweating buckets here. Magical or scientific wind, I'll take it.”
Levi put on the cap he was using as a fan. He inhaled, puckered his lips to a suitable form for a whistle, and blew as hard as he can.
Moments later, as Levi starting to formulate a witty comeback at his father, a cool wind blasted at them. It was forceful enough to fly his cap off his head. It cooled him down instantly.
Magic! somewhere deep inside Levi's soul screamed.
Something in him flipped on forcefully and sent jolting tingles all over his body.
As if a gigantic crowbar pried open his mind box and from that moment on, he believed that magic does exist.
Skepticism and doubt were blown away like the cap he was wearing a while ago.
Wide-eyed, the boy turned to his father which was equally surprised as he was.
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