Good Old Yarns

There were many nights when I was a kid when we would gather around Grandpa to listen to his stories.  Some of them are true but most are just yarns to keep us little kids in various states of amazement.  Below is a sampling of his stories.

I. Good Fridays 

These are special days when extraordinary plants, animals and a host of other things show themselves.  Grandpa said they possess healing powers.  He would  gather them together, and in a secret place, draw the juices. If somebody sees what they were doing, drops of blood from that person must also be drawn and mixed with the juices, otherwise the mixture becomes useless.

He said in one Good Friday, he accompanied his cousin in search of those magical juices.  He was an apprentice then and they were walking silently deep in the woods at high noon.  Suddenly , his cousin stopped at the base of a huge tree.  He pointed upwards to the highest branch, and told him to climb up and get a uniquely beautiful orchid. 

He did as told and reached for it.  Suddenly a snake popped out of nowhere and tensed back to strike him in the face!  He was panic stricken but in reflex, he let himself slid through the length of the trunk until he dropped on the ground covered with cuts and bruises.  His cousin all calm and composed told him that the snake guards the orchid alright.  And that although it appeared menacing, it is absolutely harmless. 

To prove this point, his cousin climb up the tree and reached for the orchid. And when the guard snake indeed prepared to bite, he slapped him on the head.  The snake backed down and his cousin was free to wiggle the orchid out of the branch where it has perched.  Grandpa said he used to have scars all over his body for sliding that tree’s very coarse bark, but they mysteriously disappeared after a couple of days.

II. Puppies

Grandpa had a farm not far from the house, and it had an old mango tree.  One twilight as they (with my uncles) were preparing to leave for home which was just about 15 minute walk from the barn, they saw little puppies wandering and sniffing around the tree trunk.  There were about five of them and they were brought to the house and fed with milk.  That same night, they made a cage and placed the puppies inside to prevent them from wandering.  The following morning they looked for the puppies, but they were nowhere to be found!  The cage was still there, empty.

III. Smooth Branch

In the farm in the mountains, there was a very old Kamansi tree.  Curiously, it had a branch with a particularly smooth and polished upper part.  My uncles came home one night from a dance in the next barrio.  There was a full moon and visibility was fine.  They passed by the area and noticed smoke billowing from the Kamansi tree.  As they came near, they saw a giant figure smoking a huge cigar.  It was sitting on that particularly smooth branch with both feet playfully swinging in the air. Sensing their smell, it started to turn, and they started to run!

IV. Stampede

Grandpa’s country house was built beside a road.  One night they were awakened by the sound of a huge stampede.  But the thundering hoof falls were too gigantic to be real.  Grandpa went outside to investigate while the rest were huddled in a corner terrified.  Grandpa stood his ground and faced in the direction where the sound was coming.   Moments later, tiny puppies emerged running towards the sloping road. He said, ”Just puppies, go back to sleep.”  They did.

V. Abandoned House

One night my uncles went home from a dance in the next barrio.  The only road leads to an abandoned house surrounded by old trees.  The second floor was so dilapidated that only a part of the walls and a door frame remained standing without the roof.  At the time, there was a full moon illuminating the entire second floor.  And what they saw made their hair stand! A giant figure was seated there with broad hairy shoulders squeezed tight by the door frame.  He was looking at them.  His shadow falling directly on their path!