03/11/2022
THE CURSE OF THE TREE-DWELLING WOMAN
By: Jeremiah Dominguez
When I opened my eyes, I noticed an enormously large tree in the heart of the town that appeared to be dead. Its bark was as black as charcoal, its roots were thick, and its leaves were a peculiar grayish tint rather than the typical green. There were quite a few people out and about, but they all appeared to be moving painfully slow. A vague haze pervaded the city, an inexplicable stench permeated the air, and the silence was deafening.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of it all, seemingly waiting for something, and then… I heard these massive, unfamiliar footsteps approaching. When I turned to see where they were coming from, there was nothing there; instead, the footsteps grew firmer and closer, until they seemed to be only a few feet behind me. In a state of terror, I fled.
As I ran between buildings in an attempt to escape something I couldn't see, my vision blurred. I was running and running but not getting anywhere. It felt like I'm stuck in a never-ending loop and I kept passing by the same old, decaying tree in the heart of the town. But I kept going until I bumped into something so massive that I had to look straight to see what it was. As I peered at the massive shadowy figure above me, I felt dizzy and suddenly... I woke up.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was struggling for air. With a sudden onset of panic, I sit up in bed, clutching my shirt as I struggle to regain my composure and calm my racing heart. Take a deep breath in... And out... Take a deep breath in... And out... In the darkness of the night, I saw the clock as it stopped working at 3:07 AM. All of a sudden, the air was thinner than usual, and the unsettling sensation I had in my dream was right there with me in the real world. After then, I heard a screeching noise, and the walls began to fall apart. Its noise level was so high that I had to cover my ears in agony and scream at the top of my lungs. It reverberated off the still-falling walls until all was quiet once more.
I gathered my strength and jumped off the bed, sprinting as fast as I could toward the front door. Although the distance from our door to the exit started off quite short, the halls gradually lengthened and became increasingly winding as I ran through them. I gave up trying to outrun my exhaustion, and the hallways shrank to match my mood. I tried to calm down by pondering why my dreams have merged with the real world, but then I realized that I had actually leapt into another dream, a recurring nightmare. And then… I finally saw “it”…
In the dead of night, I saw a woman emerge from the house post my late father had carved out of our ancient Narra tree. She was monstrously overweight, and her messy, overgrown hair almost completely obscured her face. The woman's intense, menacing glare made me feel both absolutely terrified and apprehensive; it conveyed a sense of melancholy, and at the same time, blood lust. I slowly and quietly retreated, hoping to escape the area. However, I feel as though my entire body has frozen solid; I am paralyzed. All I can do is stare at the woman who is now slowly making her way towards me. I closed my eyes, hoping to be taken out of this nightmare and awaken, but it was in vain. The woman laughed and mocked me as I prayed. “HE has no power here. Don’t you know who I am? I am Batibat, the queen of nightmares, and you are in my kingdom…” she gloated. As she approached closer and closer to me, I could hear her voice resonating in my head causing me to almost lose consciousness.
Then, she swung her hand and I slid to the floor, landing on my back. My throat tightened and I started to choke as she mumbled what sounded like an incantation. I shut my eyes and braced myself for the worst, but the discomfort in my chest just intensified. It hurt so much to open my eyes, but I did so for the last time as my body began to convulse and I rolled across the floor. To my horror, I looked down to see a woman sitting on top of my chest, her weight clearly pushing me firmly against the floor; she's choking me with her hands. She seemed to take great pleasure in my suffering as she mumbled while staring down at me with vengeful eyes, "This is what happens when you take my house away from me when you cut down that Narra tree."
When I was about to give up, the apparition of my late father hovered by my foot and urged me to try moving my big toe to break Batibat's spell. I yelled for help and tried to wiggle my toe so that people could see that I was trying to get out of her curse, but no one came to aid me. I managed to wiggle my right toe barely in time before passing out... And I snapped out of it right away. I was sitting bolt upright in the middle of my bed in the pitch black of my room, plainly out of breath and scared out of my mind, but incredibly relieved. Smirking, I told myself, "I am glad that was over," the image shifted as I was about to get down from my bed, and I found myself once more in front of the same old, decaying tree in the heart of the town. No, I thought I had gotten away, but it turns out I didn't.
I now prowl around in people's dreams, particularly their worst nightmares, looking for a way to collect a lost soul and bring it back to my kingdom. But surely you must recognize me by now. I am Batibat, and I cannot wait to see you in your dreams tonight…
