STORY RELAY GAME

Bago ang lahat, explain ko muna. Me, my brother and his wife Yen, Aira (my cousin), and Andeng (my sil's sister) played a game called "Story Relay" or simply dugtungan ng istorya. Each one of us contributed at least 3 sentences at every turn.

We started August 24 and finished the whole story October 04. Enjoy! :)

CHAPTER ONE

In a city far far away from South, there lived a very cranky cat named So. She lives with her human slaves Totoy and Buyen. One day, a mysterious insect with huge eyes appeared in their doorway.

The insect is in pain. "Help me", he said while crying. He is missing a leg. So immediately called his servant, Totoy, to serve the injured insect. They went inside the house and treat the insect.

So said to Totoy, "None of us here knows what to do! Paki-Google mo ng very quick how to handle a missing leg from a 6 footer insect that looks like a grasshopper!!!!". Totoy obliged but he's having diarrhea from drinking too much milk tea, so Buyen takes over. After rougly 5 minutes of browsing, Buyen applied an effective first aid. She asked the insect with huge eyes, " What is your name pala?" to which he replied, " Bulbulito".

After hearing the insect's name, So and Buyen tried so hard not to laugh but they couldn't help it. Then Bubulito laughed with them as well, he said that even he finds his name funny. That moment made them comfortable with each other and made Bulbulito happy despite his wounds. Totoy then comes back holding something that seems to be the missing leg of Bulbulito.

Totoy then exclaimed “I think I found something under the sink while I’m taking a dump”. He showed it to them while they are still in hysterics because of Bulbulito’s name. Then, Totoy asked them “What’s so funny?”.

They all stared at Totoy while showing off the leg he found. Bulbulito got scared and kept asking where did he find his leg. Then when he started yelling, he tried to run and escape but he can’t. So and the slaves got confused and kept asking Bulbulito what happened. He answered them, “It shouldn’t be there!! It shouldn’t be there!! He’s here!! Waaahh!”

So nervously asked Bulbulito, "How did you lose your leg?! and who put it there?!" As Bulbulito's about to open his trembling mouth, the floor suddenly shakes as if there's an earthquake. He shouted, "We should leave now!" Totoy quickly grabbed the key of So's brand new Toyota Fortuner. Totoy and Buyen carried Bulbulito to their car while So carried his missing leg. They drove away to the nearest McDonald's.

Each of them ordered 1pc chicken joy with rice. They ordered it for takeout and drove to the park that So really likes to go to when she needs some peace and quiet. They went there because that's a safe place away from where the earthquake is happening. They sat on the grass and ate their chicken joys from McDo. Then, Buyen asked Bulbulito about what happened to his missing leg.

While they’re sitting in the grass eating their chicken joy (kahit chicken mcdo dapat), So heard loud noises coming from the forest near the park where they’re eating. The noise seems to be getting louder and louder and they stopped eating as it’s getting unbearable. Bulbulito then exclaimed “Run!!!”.

They run with all their might without any destination in mind. Buyen felt guilty for leaving the chicken joy behind. She tried to get it back but Totoy and So stopped her. "You need to let it go, Buyen", Totoy said. Buyen cried but it's okay. Bulbulito suddenly stopped and everyone looked at him. He started to feel unwell and felt something wrong with his body.

The noise from the park suddenly stopped as they all stared at Bulbulito. "His missing leg is growing back!" says So. It was scary and amazing at the same time. "Now what happens to the other leg we left in the car?" Totoy wondered. "We should go back to the car and bring the leg to the faraway land." Bulbulito answered as his body regenerates a new flawless leg.

Then they ran back to the car as quickly as they can and grabbed the leg of Bulbulito. When Totoy saw the leg, he noticed that it looked like it was bigger than the last time he saw it, so Totoy asked Bulbulito, "Why do we need to bring this leg to the faraway land Bulbulito?" Bulbulito looked nervous while saying, "That severed leg will grow into a new creature, those were the creatures that we heard from the forest and they are not very nice, so we need to put it in a faraway land before it grows even bigger."

CHAPTER TWO

They drive away from the park but made another stopover at Mcdo to buy burger and bff fries with barbecue powder for their long journey. Totoy is the one driving while So is in the passenger seat, Buyen and Bulbulito with his leg at the back. They are all silent as they need to be alert if something appears while they’re driving away.

As they enjoy munching the tasty, salty, and fatty foods while they drive, they are unaware they are heading into the wilderness. Eventually, they found themselves stuck and alone with only the moonlight on sight. With no signal and a few minutes remaining on their mobile devices’ battery, they are in a panic about what to do.

While nervously staring into nothing, they noticed a light coming. Should they call for the light or escape from it? They decided to hide at the back of their car. As the mysterious man comes closer, So suddenly farts. They all exclaimed and stepped out of the car blaming how bad that fart was. They forgot about the man with light and boom! They heard something from the other side, as they went to look for the source of the sound...

"Why are you all driving here at this hour?" It turns out it was just a man with a very bright flashlight. He looks like he's in his 40s. They wanted to explain but couldn't because so many random things have been happening all night. "What is that sound?" So asked. "I hope we're not being followed by those not-very-nice creatures." Buyen blurted. "What creatures?" The 40ish man asked looking puzzled. "The sound you're hearing is from a nearby waterfall. It's quite huge!" He noticed that they're all edgy, so he invited them to his mansion.

They were all mesmerized when they went inside the mansion of the man. The mansion looked old but the structure is still good. They went to the living room and sat on the couch. Then the man gave them water to calm them down. He asked them, "So what are the creatures you were talking about earlier?"

While they’re drinking the water offered by the man, So started narrating what happened to them. The man said “It’s unbelievable! That’s the first time I heard about the said creatures and I’ve lived here for quite some time now but I believe all of you.” while looking at Bulbulito. Buyen then asked for the name of the man.

He went silent for like 2 seconds. "Do you have a place to stay?", the man offered, trying to ignore the question. At first, they hesitated because they knew something was off but since it's late night and their mobile devices are all low on battery, the four of them decided to stay. The man showed them their rooms, "You can use the shower to clean up yourselves. You all look dirty and tired."

After the man left them in their room, they instinctively conversed “this doesn’t feel right, something’s off” and everyone just stared blankly at each other. Within minutes just after the man left, they heard a sound of an approaching vehicle. Judging by the sound, Totoy presumed it was big vehicle. From the corner of a window they all confirmed that is was indeed a big vehicle, “A white van!” Buyen exclaimed. “They are here to abduct us!” Bulbulito terrifyingly whispered. In what appeared to be the result of social media dependence, they all concurred that it was indeed a clear indicator of abduction. Except for So, “Shut up all of you!" He muttered. “Aren’t those vans abducting the young ones only? So why do we panic?”. Given their median age of 25, they all don’t seem to be target of abduction in that case. “So why is there a fucking white van in the middle of fucking nowhere in the middle of a fucking night huh? It’s clearly up to something bad! Have you not watched any news or movies before?” Bulbulito yelled.

They all seemed anxious but unable to decide what to do. "Let's just lock the door and play by ear." So suggested. "Look! A guy just got out of the white van and heading towards the house." Buyen shrieked. "Sssssh!" So whispered. After a minute, the white van drove off and they heard footsteps coming to their room. They were all ready to scream and fight when the 40ish man knocked on their door. "Your food is here." They all stared at each other and quietly laughed at their silliness.

They went downstairs to the dining table, then Buyen saw a man walked by the kitchen. She just shrugged it off and continued to sit in the chair. While the man was serving their food, Buyen saw a figure walk again in the kitchen. She couldn't help her curiosity, so she asked the man, "Is there another person in this mansion? Because I keep seeing someone that is walking in the kitchen." The man looked shocked and said "You can see her?"

Buyen answered, “who is she?”. The man did not move an inch and stared blankly at Buyen. Totoy cleared his throat and said to So, “Can you please pass the water pitcher over to me?” So replied “Why don’t you get another pitcher for yourself? I’m the boss here! Do not tell me what to do!”

Totoy got sad. He thought they became close after all the runnings and Mcdo dates. He walked out shouting, "Akala ko lang pala!" Buyen saw the lady followed Totoy as he walked out of the dining room. Since only the man and Buyen can see the lady, she doesn't know how to explain what's happening. The man warned Buyen, "Don't try!"

Buyen may have felt threatened by the man but that didn't stop her from following Totoy who is apparently being followed by an unknown woman. "Totoy, come back here! It could be dangerous out there." Buyen warned. So, feeling bad about snapping at Totoy, was behind Buyen. "Sorry about what happened. Buyen is right, you should come back to the table. We don't know what else could happen tonight. We should all stick together." Totoy didn't hesitate as he feels something's totally eerie around them." The woman who only Buyen and the man can see is now gone. They finished their meal and went back to bed. The next morning, So woke up early and bravely went downstairs to get some coffee. He noticed the man already in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea and reading a newspaper. "Good morning!" the man greeted. "I hope you had a good sleep." So, although she finds the man untrustworthy, cheerily replied, "Hey, yes. I did sleep well." After a short silence, the man offered to show them the huge waterfall they heard last night.

So felt excited when the man offered to show them the waterfall that is near the mansion. He quickly called Buyen, Totoy, and Bulbulito. But as soon as he went inside Bulbulito's room, he saw Bulbulito looking so scared while holding the leg that now grew a body. Bulbulito said, "We don't have much time left, we should get rid of this before the creature grows completely." So feeling scared too quickly called Totoy and Buyen to hurry up and help them carry the leg. And the man was worried too and helped them. The man said, "I know a place we can go to get rid of that creature. It's near the waterfall."

CHAPTER THREE

They all hurriedly went inside the Toyota Fortuner with the man but the SUV won’t start. Totoy exclaimed, “What happened? This is a brand new SUV and it’s working fine before we went here!”. Totoy tried again and again but it won’t budge.

Totoy checked the car and it turns out, someone intentionally broke the car to stop them from escaping the castle(mansion). It would take time for him to fix it. The man suggested to stay at the castle and wait to get it fixed but Bulbulito disagree and exclaimed, "we can walk it! we should dispose it now!" The man replied, "we could get lost in the forest and it's dangerous especially we're carrying this suspicious leg!" The two began to argue, the doubt started to grew. So suddenly stepped in, "we should settle this with a tossed coin."

"Hold on!" The man exclaimed. I've got a cage that used to be birds little sanctuary in our garden behind the mansion. We can put that weird leg creature in that enclosure as we fix this car. "Can it be transported by hand?" Buyen curiously asked. "Yes, as long as at least 4 people are carrying it." Bulbulito chimed in, "Then if  we can't fix this car we'll have to bring the crate to the waterfalls. We've still got all day."

"Okay, I'll go and get the cage in the storage room," The man said. While waiting for the man, Buyen, So, Totoy, and Bulbulito is watching the leg in case it grows again. Then, Buyen saw the woman again, and she is looking at the leg too. Buyen was so shocked when the woman talked to her and said, "Do you know how dangerous it will be if that leg grows fully? I know how you can stop it from growing." Buyen answered, "Really? Then tell us how." So, Bulbulito and Totoy was weirded out because it looked like Buyen is talking to herself. Then the woman answered again, "Meet me at the cave behind the waterfall, and make sure that the cage is locked, things will get harder pretty soon."

Buyen narrated what the woman had asked her to do and the others don’t want to believe her. While they’re busy arguing, the man returned with a huge cage. Buyen then asked him, “I saw the woman once again and asked me to bring the locked cage at the cave behind the waterfall, what should we do???” .

"First, we have to cage this creepy leg! Make sure it's tightly locked, okay?!", Buyen commanded. Now, what's left to do is wait for Totoy to fix the car. It's already noon but the car still don't start. The group tried to calm their selves from all what's happening. The clock is ticking, the time is running. It's only about few hours before the sun sets.

After hours of effort to fix the faulty car, it finally started just before the sun sets. They locked the creepy leg in the trunk and all boarded the car.

The woman once again appeared by the car but only the man and Buyen can see her. "Why can't others see you? Buyen asked while everyone else looking flustered. "It's because I'm dead." The woman nonchalanty answered. "You are gifted with a third eye that's why you can see me." Buyen couldn't help but ask, "So this man also has a third eye? Cause he can see you, too." The woman just nodded. "Stop asking too much, we should get going.  I'll meet you at the waterfalls." The woman passed through the car like the ghost she is.

While they're halfway near the waterfalls, they heard a loud bang at the top of the vehicle, it sounded like something dropped or someone threw something at their car. The man said, "We should hurry up before other creatures catch up to us." Because it looked like the leg can attract other creatures.

“Brace yourselves!”, exclaimed Totoy as he drove really fast. Everyone was anxious but stayed alert incase something showed up. “We’re close”, the man finally said to the group.

"We're here!", the man shouted. Totoy steps on the brakes right away. Every one was pissed because that was a sudden brake but as soon as they got out of the car, they were mesmerized by the beauty of the falls. They could not believe how beautiful it is. They grabbed the cage and checked every side of the car to ensure no one followed or no one is with them. They went through the back of the falls and saw a cave.

"What took you so long!" The ghost woman exclaimed to Buyen as they approached the entrance of the cave. "We did our best." Buyen tiringly said. Everyone else except the man looked confused at Buyen again. The cave behind the waterfalls looks like the inside of a big cathedral. There are used candles and carvings on walls. "We should find the round tomb." The man urged.

They hurriedly carried the cage to the cave. While the man is finding the round tomb. He said, “I think I found it at the end of the cave, we should hurry up.” He then helped to carry the cage to the tomb. When they reached the tomb, the ghost woman was waiting for them, and she said, “Who was the owner of this leg?” Buyen answered, “It was Bulbulito.” “Okay, we need Bulbulito to do something in order for this to work,” The woman said.

Buyen then explained to bulbulito what the woman had said to her. Bulbulito exclaimed “Why should I believe her? I haven’t even seen her!”. Then the man answered, I’ll explain everything once we’re done here, but first we should hurry!”

Bulbulito was very confused on what to do. He wants to do something about the growing leg but he couldn't help to doubt the man they just met at the forest and the woman who only Buyen and the man can see. The leg started to grew again, they all panicked. "Okay, fine! I'll do it, I'll do it", Bulbulito shouted. He went to the round tomb and lie in there. "It's up to you now, So!" Only So can save Bulbulito.

"What!? Why me!?" So looked clueless and nervous. The woman rolled her eyes at Buyen, "Could you also please explain it to So?" Buyen, exhausted and frustrated, muttered, "Looks like nobody was listening while I was explaining what's about to happen to Bulbulito." Totoy and So were busy taking photos and selfies. "Gather around! Here's what's going to happen!" Buyen shouted. Everyone's attention finally to Buyen as she continues to explain. "As you all can see, Bulbulito is lying on the tomb with his leg. So needs to prick her finger and draw enough blood to drop on Bulbulito's body. Then we will close the tomb and wait it out."

"But Im afraid of blood, does it really have to be my blood?" So said. Totoy almost laughed because they are just kidding, anyone can do it, but he just kept it to himself, he thought that it will help So face her fears. "Fine, I'll do it, so that things will finally be over and I can just drink my milk and relax. Buyen took a needle from her bag and gave it to So. Then, So pricked her own finger and let the blood drop on the leg. Then, Totoy, Buyen, and the man hurriedly closed the tomb. An awkward silence happened after that because nothing happened. So said, "So are we just gonna leave? Is it over?" Just as when So finished talking, a blinding light appeared that came from under the tomb.

It took awhile before the light disappeared. They all started to come near the tomb to check and it seems that it is already locked. They tried to open it again, but to no avail. That’s when they decided to leave the cave.

The went inside the car and looked at each other. "It's finished right?", So said. "The leg is gone, right?" "We don't have to worry about anything diba?", they all worriedly asked. Totoy answered, "The leg is gone! Bulbulito's fine! Everything's fine! We don't have to worry about anything." They all relaxed in the car and went back to the mansion. They thanked the man and the girl who helped them despite all the crazy happenings. They decided to go back home but before anything else, they went to McDo to celebrate. While eating their favorite chickenjoy, So felt a mini pain in his wound. He shrugged about it and continued to eat.

Everyone was having fun and laughing at each other at McDonald's as they celebrate their triumph. Buyen noticed So's uneasiness as she kept looking at her finger where she was pricked. "Are you okay?" Buyen asked. So nodded trying to convince Buyen that she was all right. As they were leaving McDonald's, So fainted. Her pricked finger was swollen and oozing with what looks like green pus. Totoy was about to carry So and bring her to the hospital but Bulbulito stopped him. "Let's just bring her to the park. This is how it's supposed to happen." They carried So to the park and they watched the green pus flow from her wounded finger until the swelling subsided. "The green pus just signifies my leg that almost turned a creepy creature. So will eventually gain her consciousness and she'll be okay." Bulbulito reassured everyone.

So woke up after a few minutes and said "Who are you guys? And where am I?" They were all speechless because they didn't expect So to forget. But then So laughed and said, "I'm just kidding, you guys are too serious. Let's go get some milk tea."  They were all relieved and went to the car to go to the nearest milk tea shop. As they were drinking, Buyen asked Bulbulito if he has a home. Bulbulito answered, "Oh I forgot about that, I guess something will lead me to find my home soon." Buyen, So and Totoy looked at each other. So said, "You can stay at our home because this adventure helped us all to get closer and become a family." They all smiled at each other thinking how happy they are to meet each other and have a family. 

The End.