Mang Pepito and The Stranger

A short story by Joey Bidan

 Once there was a tale told over the years when the Japanese just started coming in Leyte. And during this time in Isabel, there was a wide isolated farm owned by an old man named Mang Pepito.

  As the 42nd heir of this wide farm, it is his obligation to tend to it and take good care of the crops. Mang Pepito's parents died when he was just a youth of 14. He was about to run away and live his dream in the city but was forced to bury his parents and stay. He was bugged by his conscience to leave it and decided to continue the hundred-year legacy of preserving the farm.

  But he was alone and now a sickly 74-year-old. He never had a wife because he never even met a woman in that lonely place. And so how could he continue the farm's legacy if he could not have a son? How he wished he could have one to help him. Especially now that the monkeys are getting more and more.

   Monkeys are the major pest problem of his father and his ancestors who took care of the farm decades ago. Hundreds just come running in from the forest to steal corn, uproot sweet potatoes and cassava. His father and his ancestors before him all got tired of shooting them with shotguns just like him. They die, but they don't eat monkeys. Their dead bodies serving as fertilizers are not even enough to compensate for the crops they've been stealing and destroying.

  Then one hot afternoon, as he was sitting outside the house, Mang Pepito saw a man completely dressed all in brown. He finds the stranger funny and creepy at the same time. What, with his slant eyes and unusual accent who wouldn't get scared?

  The man came to him sweating as he carried his bayonet and speaking in a weird language Mang Pepito never heard before. But since the stranger was rubbing his neck, he got in the house and handed him over a mug of cold water from a jar. He understood the stranger was thirsty as he watched him drain the contents of the mug.

  The man was still uttering words Mang Pepito failed to comprehend like "Arigato" and "Gozaimas" over and over when suddenly, they stopped upon hearing the loud marching sounds coming from the forest. The army of monkeys were suddenly in the field, ripping the crops. Mang Pepito wasted no time to grab his shotgun, aimed and shot only a few of the invaders.

  Then came louder gunshots. Mang Pepito saw the man in brown uniform from behind him aiming and shooting perfect headshots. It took only six minutes for the monkeys to run away shrieking loudly and leaving behind more than fifty dead. He never saw someone shoot perfectly that fast even his father and grandfathers before him were no match to this stranger.

  Happy and amazed, they had dinner that night talking. Even though they don't understand each other's words, actions seem to make what they wanted to say to the other clear.

  The next morning, Mang Pepito saw Arigato stitching something like a fur to a noisy monkey. He was almost done when the monkeys started to march to the farm by the hundreds. It is only then Mang Pepito realized that Arigato stitched dog skin to a monkey.

  The Monkey wearing the newly stitched dog skin ran so fast it chased away the other monkeys who were all wondering why the dog could climb the trees with them. It is only then, that their invasion stopped once and for all.

  The Japanese soldier stayed and helped cultivate the farm. Later on, he married a Filipina from the city. When Mang Pepito died, he was happy to pass the farm to his newly-found son. As for the monkeys, it is still believed the dog-like monkey were still chasing them until now.