BY Aswana

Some people see things. Other people feel things. And not to forgetting those who could only hear things. I can do all three before I decided to block my vision. I can see still but only in blurs not as clear as before... What I'm about to tell you is something I can only hear but not see. Maybe if I follow it I might see what it is but I was too scared.

I was 14 years old. We had a holiday trip. It was our last day in KK Sabah. My dad decided that on our last night we might pay a visit to nene tangah's house and stay there for the night as he promised that he would. In sabah there are kampongs belonged to the old bruneian community. Our histories have shown that before Brunei as it is now, we were a huge empire. Almost the whole of Borneo and parts of the philipines belonged to us. So it's not surprised if we have relatives in an around Sabah and other parts of Borneo.

One of these Kampongs is called Bongawan. It's a beautiful place. Still preserved with it's Kampong state. Wooded stilt houses, dirt roads you name it. It's all you could imagine of a kampong. They even have a Pekan that is still ancient and shops out of houses.You don't have to worry about languages and such cause these people they speak Brunei. The kind of dialect you would normally hear coming from Kampong Ayer residents. Mind you their Brunei Vocab is much more better than me. Our generation nowadays slowly forgotten our own unique language. It's a shame.

Let's just say it's our first time there (except for my dad tho). I never satyed in Kampong houses but it was an adventure for me. And I was excited of the prospect.When we were there everyone looked at us. More like staring. Macam rusa masuk kampong everyone was talking. It's the first time a Bruneian came to their place in a loooong time. And it delighted them.

Night came. I was asleep in one of the rooms with my brothers. My parents slept outside in the living room area with my two lil sisters.

I woke up. I couldn't sleep cause someone decided to play music in the middle of the night. On top of that I had the most excruciating stomach pain. I sat on my bed. Felt very sleepy. Such melodious tune. It's a sound of someone playing the flute. It sound so ancient and scary and so magic. But it was. It sound magic to me. The tune makes me feel like I want to go out and see who it was. In my mind a picture of a men in Yellow Royal Malay clothes sat under a tree playing the flute. He was handsome looking and very fair. I shook the image of my head. I tried to peek outside the wooden window but I was so scared.

I debated on whether to just go out and look for the guy with the flute or woke up my mother and ask her for minyak parut. I chose the latter. I woke my mom up. Told her I had this really sharp stomache ache.

"Meh.. Aku sakit parut." She woke up and gave me the ointment. I guess I'm not the only one who has the stomache ache dilemma.

I took it and woke her up again after a few mins of hesitation.
"Meh... di luar bising. Nda ku dapat tidur.."
"Eh bising apa? Manada bising. Balik saja ke bilik tidur. Mummy ngalih ni. Esok lagi balik awal"

Feeling disappointed I went back to my room and tried to go back to sleep with the noise.

I couldn't sleep. The sound was getting louder and louder almost piercing my ears. I was scared I might be deaf soon. I cried. I cried because of my stomach pain and also because I couldn't sleep due to the flute sound. Eventually I cried my self to sleep.

The next day, I told everyone that last night I heard someone playing the flute. I couldn't sleep.

My nene tangah said this:

"Orang bunian tu. Manggil. Ia kan bagi barang. Kalau kau kluar ia kan bagi kau buluh perindu."

My nene tangah sdaid it won't happen again. Because this thing it will not happen twice. But it could be something else too. I might not coming back if the thing decided to take me in.

I'm glad I didn't go out. I don't care if the thing buluh perindu is a good thing. Being taken away is not something I want in return either.