Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Jomalig Love Story: A Princess, a Man and a Marathon


On a Kingdom locked by sea, surrounded by sand glittering like gold, lived a princess with a beauty more suited for a goddess rather than a mere mortal. As her father, the kingdom’s DATU, saw her beauty blossomed day after day, he saw no man, noble or not, suited for her divine princess.

But as her famed beauty spread across the sea, a young man from a neighbouring island, with such bravado and belief in himself, arrived in the kingdom and declared her love to the princess. But with the Datu’s enormous pride and irrational contempt for the young man, as he always felt for anyone who showed affection for her daughter, he made a proclamation, that the privilege of marrying her daughter would only be given to someone who can complete a task, so ridiculous in its impossibility that no sane man would ever attempt it – to run the entirety of their island, and shoot three fishes on every pond, before the day ends. But the young man’s determination is immeasurable that he, without hesitation, agreed to the condition and attempted the trials the very next morning.

The young man’s spirit was commendable, but his body, or anyone’s, was never equipped to finish such a feat with such time constraints, that he was near death approaching the end line. Having failed to finish it before sundown, he arrived back in the palace, hopelessly dejected, and moments away from dying. Failing his test, but winning the adoration of the entire kingdom, including the princess’, he asked for one wish before he perished – the honor to kiss the fabled princess as his only consolation.

The princess then rushed to the dying man, and gave him a kiss, to the delight of the entire populace who were already chanting “HUMALIK!!! HUMALIK!!!” in unison, echoing in the entire island.

The chanting was so loud, that it was heard across the sea, electing HUMALIK as the kingdom’s new name. As time passed, the island’s name changed to JOMALIG, but the Agoho trees, the golden sandbars, as well as the pink sunsets who were witnesses to its famed love story, remained today.

No comments:

Post a Comment