Chapter 1

"Do you believe that on earth, we are interacting on some creatures disguised as human but not human at all?" an old man asked the ten children. He was seated in a medium rock at the side of the road.

One of the children about seven years old answered with disbelief, "Huh? Was there such a thing? A human but not a human at all?"

It was around seven in the evening and only the light of the full moon serves as the torch around. There was no electricity yet on that particular remote island of the Philippines and only cities have electricity. It was normal for young people and some adults to gather around and spend the night together every night. Some of the men sang while some were playing the guitars.

"If that is true, how can we be able to recognize them? How can we know they aren't human?" another young girl about eight-year-old asked the old man.

The old man smiled before answering, "There were times when people don't really need to know their existence in the world because most of them live normally just like humans. However, there were times when their existence spontaneously appears in the world because of unexpected events."

"Ah, are those creatures are also good and kind?" another young girl asked.

"As human beings, there are good and there are evil. They are maybe not human beings but just like human beings they are also composed of good and evil."

The old man stood up from the rock and smiled at the children before saying goodbye, "Let's talk again next time. Farewell children."

"Wait a minute Mister." The boy who asked earlier stopped the old man and asked again, "Can humans be friends with those creatures?"

"Hahaha, you may never know the possibility that maybe one of your friends is like them. I'll bid my farewell now. See you again next time." And the old man waved his hand while walking away from the children.

"Please be careful, Mister!" the children shouted in a chorus before they stood up and played on the roadside.

"A human form but aren't human at all? Was that true or fiction of that old man for the kids?" Lester curiously asked himself while walking away from where he had been standing for a while. After buying some gas for their flambeau, he was only passing by the area and got curious after hearing the old man's story.

Lester suddenly laughed at the thought, "I think it was only fiction. Hihi. There was no way it could be possible."

Later on, Lester forgot about it.

His name is Lester Wang, twenty years old, extremely masculine, and a very handsome guy. However, due to his work as a farmer and a fisherman, he has a dark complexion. But that was not a hindrance to an islander guy like him. In fact, such burnt skin was common in their place.

After how many weeks...

"Lester! Lester!"

Lester suddenly woke up in confusion. He was startled because of his mother's shouts outside his bedroom door. He ran barefooted while feeling dizzy towards the door.

"What's all the fuss about, Mother?" half-awake Lester asked his mother right after opening the door.

"You should hurry, Son! There is a commotion on the seashore right now because of the huge fish paddling on the shore. It is as if a god of the sea give us a miracle and that fishes were given for us!" she sighed and signed of a cross while saying thanksgiving to God.

Lester quickly grabbed his t-shirt hanging at the back of his bedroom door and hurriedly ran to the backyard while putting on the shirt. He grabbed a fishing net and a big bucket and ran barefooted to the seashore not far away from their house.

The sky was still dark, in his calculations, it was only four in the morning. There was no sign of daylight yet. However, from a distance, he could see some of the villagers were anxious and busy on the shore.

"This is a miracle!" one man shouted in disbelief. He was holding a round fishnet with many alive fishes that struggling for their lives inside of it.

Some of the folks were busy and don't know what to do to catch all those fish.

Lester's eyes widened in disbelief after seeing the unbelievable scenery. Such too many big fishes! He couldn't believe his eyes! He quickly catches some of the fishes and put in his big bucket.

"This is enough," Lester whispered to himself after looking at the bucket full of fish. "There are too many fishes but what should I do if I take more? This one bucket is enough for me and my mother."

With contentment in his heart, Lester walked back to go home without hurrying.

While walking, Lester heard some old women talking from his back. They could possibly also go to the shore to catch fish and now walk back to their respective homes. He did not say any word but he heard their conversation.

"I pray to the deity. I hope my suspicion isn't correct. When I was very young, such an unexplainable event like this occurred to this place before. People believed it was a miracle but it wasn't! Those fishes in the seashore represent bad omen!"

Another woman replied, "I hope it is not the same sister. But I also remember those horrible times. A tragic event happened at our place. It was a very strong typhoon that ruined many houses, damaged many farms, and many things. The big flood that occurred those times almost erase our island from the map!"

"My goodness!" the women chorused with a horrified tone. Lester can assume that they all made a sign of a cross because of fear.

He did not say any word but Lester quickly walked away from them with a horrified heart. He drank two glasses of cold water from the big jar in their kitchen right after he arrived home.

Lester already heard about that story mentioned by those women. Because he was not a native islander, Lester thought it was only fiction. However, he can say now that such a tragic event really happened before. When he was very young and his father still alive, they lived on that island after his father bought a huge part of the land in the village.

There was hearsay before that huge fishes found in the seashore just like what happened today. It was believed a miracle and a gift of God. However, as the hearsay said, a god of sea disguised as an old beggar on the city and stroll every street and every village to look for food. Knowing how poor was that beggar, wearing dirty clothes and barefooted, no one dared to help him nor gave a single food. The island was very rich in many kinds of foods like fruits, vegetables, rice, corn, and any kind of edible plants. But those idiots ignored the old beggar. The beggar cursed the people and a very big typhoon occurred that almost washed the entire island. Still, it was a miracle that the island survived but many lives were taken away by that tragedy.

After recalling the story, Lester felt very annoyed just like how he felt the first time he heard that story. He said to himself, "Is it hard to hand a single piece of food to the beggar?! Such an inhumane manner! Selfish people worth to be punished!"

While standing in the kitchen with annoyance, Lester's mother came and pursued him, "Lester, go back to the shore and take more fish. Such miracle rarely happens." She put the fish on a big basin to wash after pursuing Lester.

"These fishes are more than enough for us already, Mother. Let the rest of the villagers get it too. That's a lot of fish and I've put in a big bucket. "

His mother was convinced, she then replied, "Okay okay. I won't pursue you anymore. Now go back to rest more in your room, take a nap while it's still dark. I will cook for breakfast so you can eat fish soup before going to work."

"Alright, Mother!"

Lester went to his bedroom again, took off his clothes, and lied down on the mat at the top of the wooden bed.

While lying on the bed, Lester fell into deep thought and he recalled the story he heard from the old man weeks ago.

"Could it be possible that his story related to the event on the seashore today? Could it be possible that the god of sea disguise as human again?"

Thinking these thoughts made Lester's fur stood.

"How if I encounter him or meet him but I ignored him unintentionally? How will I know if he possibly asked for some help but I did not even help him? Will a tragedy happen again? How can I pay attention to him?"

Lester swallowed hard.