A Duwende’s Tale

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            Hello everyone! Kumusta ka! Welcome to today’s episode, and that is a genuine welcome, even if the fate of this podcast is still up in the air. A little bit. I am sorry about that, by the way. Or as sorry as I can be, considering I am excited for what comes next. And while I can’t tell you everything, I do have some sort of update. Specifically, the name of the next podcast initiative that will house content like this. It’s called Hugot Podcasting. You’ll find the Twitter handle in the description. As this baby podcast network gets built from the ground up, that is where you can find updates and hints on the upcoming content coming for the platform.

            But as for the podcast you are currently listing to, I still don’t know what the release schedule will look like. It may be down to one show a month on a specific day, but it will be a show that reliably comes out on the promised day. Unlike it currently isI mean, this episode likely came out late, didn’t it?

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            Though I may not have the details, I do have something I should tell you about. Or a story I should offer. I mean, even if this isn’t a closing of the book or podcast there is a loose thread hanging in the air between us.

            Because as I said in the pilot episode, this journey to return home started upon hearing the “duwende” again. But I never properly explained the again-part, did I? Oh why am I trying to be dramatic? I have not. In part because I don’t exactly know how. Or I didn’t and still don’t. This isn’t a neat story, it is probably overly simplistic, I don’t have all the details, and with my grandfather being gone, some of it is always going to be lost or open to potentially inaccurate interpretation. But I’ll just have to do the best I can, I guess. What else can I do?

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            My family in the Philippines has seemingly never strayed all that far from my grandparents’ home or home base, you could also call it. I guess it’s a sort of all or nothing thing with us. Either you leave to some far flung corner of the globe or you stay close to home. I’ve got a cousin and uncle working on two different cruise ships, an aunt and uncle working in London, and then me and my mom are in the US. Literally everyone else stayed in the neighborhood.

            Inevitably, in small ways, neighborhood demographics have ended up shifting across time. My family grew as other families moved away or otherwise shrunk down. And as land became available to purchase, we did just that. Or they did just that--my aunts and uncles, and I use that term both for my mom’s siblings as well as her cousins. It might seem a bit tricky linguistically or getting there, but we have always been close knit. So it works for us.

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            One day, about thirty years ago a plot down the way came up for sale. Think of it as the home on the corner to keep it easy. It has its appeals as a meeting place and easy to get to, but there are some drawbacks. Not least of which was that this plot had never been cleared for any sort of home, especially not the more Western-style my aunt wanted to build on it. It hadn’t held anything before, in fact. It was just left vacant and wild until the time to sell it came. And the reason for selling it was also not explained.

            My aunt was the first one on the market for one of these plots. She was likely be the one to start this trend that has defined my visits home. After all, she was the second one of the family to work abroad, in Hong Kong as it were. The first one was my mother, but she was set to inherit the family home as the oldest child. Consequently, her salary was used to support the siblings and cousins as they finished their schooling. My mother was the trailblazer, yes, but there were twists and turns on her path that my aunt couldn’t follow her down.

            In many ways, my aunt was the first one in the family to make a large purchase like this. And she was nervous about it. But before she and my uncle could pursue anything, they wanted to consult my grandfather—her father—as is both proper and prudent. After all, Lolo knew the area better than anyone in the family, in any family infact, and there were reasons to be concerned. Specifically, that the plot had never carried a house before, and maybe there was a reason for it.

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            The three of them--my aunt, uncle, and grandfather--went out to the plot early one morning and looked at it through the gate. Which created other concerns. The plot was fenced off and locked up despite nothing being on it. And while a barrier to keep someone off a property is not an unheard of concept, the fence had only been put up just days before the intention to be sold was made clear.

            It was another reason to be concerned. Was the fence put up to hide something? Or to keep something else safe? And if it the answer to either of those was yes to either of those questions, then that’s just something else to deal with.

            My aunt explained all of this to Lolo, as if he didn’t already know. But he wasn’t talking Lolo looked out on the plot and studied it in silence. After a while, he told them, “Buy the land and put your house on this side.” He gestured towards his right. “And do not touch the tree. But leave fruits and other food stuffs out there every so often.”

            They asked him why.

            He replied, “There are duwende in that tree.”

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            Visually speaking, the duwende are like goblins or elves. As far as parallels across cultures can be drawn that would be the best one.

            And the thing is, duwende are surprisingly neutral creatures. Well, some are good and some are bad, but to a great extent, we can just co-exist with them. However, they can bring someone great fortune or great despair, usually as reactions to whatever the homeowner or person does to them. It is said that they often live in trees or in termite-like hills or mounds. And sometimes they are said to even live in the home with you. And that makes some things difficult. Because you do not want to cross the duwende. You do not want to cause them any offense. They have the ability to make you sick or otherwise suffer.

            And maybe that’s why no one had bothered to build on that plot of land. There are some chances that just shouldn’t be taken. But Lolo was confident that a design could be made that would not touch the duwende’s tree in the back of the lot. The home just had to be L-shaped, which wasn’t that bad of a compromise. Aesthetically it works rather well.

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            But there is one odd thing about it, though. One particular spot of the property that does not make a great deal of sense to those who do not know about it. Namely a small concrete ledge or shelf in the backyard where the walkway just ends abruptly.

            Now, maybe—you could be saying—that there is something no good way to end a walkway or sidewalk, and builders have to make do. But this is a block of concrete that extends beyond any of its neighbors.  It is deliberate, which would suggest a reason. And honestly, there are reasons to many of the things that puzzle us, and if we could offer up a bit of openness, we could what lies behind the things we see. In this case, the shelf is there in an off-the-path place as a pick up point: a nice little spot where the gifts to the duwende can sit undisturbed until they are taken by the intended recipients.

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            Shortly after the house was built and a routine of offerings was set, my aunt and uncle received job offers in the United Kingdom. Together. Working for a well-established family is the beautiful English countryside for more pay than they could have thought possible. And there they have worked there for over two decades until retiring to the Philippines recently and to their children and grandchildren who now have more opportunities available to them than Lolo could have ever imagined.

            Or maybe he could. After all, he did know what the duwende could bring.

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            Please don’t forget to check out Hugot Podcasting. On twitter, for now. While other details are still being worked out. Thanks.

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