"The Tale of S'rapungki the Horrible"
The human body is as complex as the human mind, but both are subject to the only thing that is as complicated as life – death itself. In the old days, death is seen as something that is taboo. But now, some people embraces it to an extent. They say that if a person dies a natural death brought about by natural occurrences such as accidents, their souls will go back and forth from the realm of the dead and of the living, grasping on the last hopes of life as they are dragged towards their impending demise. This explains why some people are rushed to the hospital in a critical condition with 50-50 chance of surviving. This is where Tabangon, our deity of safe passage comes into action. If she wills, she can help the soul into the afterlife and provide assistance so souls won’t be lost in the spirit realm. Once Tabangon has reached the body and the soul accepts her assistance, the person will die immediately, since the body is only an empty shell without a soul.
But Tabangon has a competitor to our souls, and that is S’rapungki, the demon that eats the souls of the living with a prophesied curse. The souls who are killed in the event of the curse will be stuck in the spirit realm making them vulnerable to S’rapungki’s true form – a monstrous titan slouched over due to its huge back, with tall and lanky legs; long arms and nails that are bloody and skin that are adhered to its bones to the point that it looked like the bones itself, and it’s face that has empty eye sockets along with blood-stained sharp teeth. Perfectly representing the pestilence and curse it has inflicted in the realm of the living. But in the real world, S’rapungki possesses a body of a human being and forces it to become old and wrinkly, wandering around aimlessly and would serve as the herald of an event that would cause massive amounts of death. And when the curse is made, the vessel will spend a whole week performing chants and rituals in the middle of the woods. Once the ritual is complete, the heralded event will occur and all the souls that were killed due to the prophesied event will now be trapped in the spirit realm, waiting to be eaten by the demon.
The S’rapungki’s origins are unknown but one thing is for certain – he will herald yet another event that will take the life of countless of innocent people. It is only up to one strong and courageous person to sacrifice themselves and serve as a vessel for the demon to lift the curse.
This story is about Sabrina, the woman who faced “S’rapungki the horrible.”
