I fell silent as I watched Mom cry that afternoon. The people passing by no longer seemed as energetic as they used to be. The panic on their faces made it clear that they all wanted this ordeal to end as soon as possible.
“Mom doesn’t know exactly when it started, Abdi,” she said, holding my hand.
“It began four days ago. Everything seemed normal. Your mother and father went to the fields as usual to tend the crops and harvest vegetables, which they would later give to the produce collectors on the main road near the border forest.”
Mom’s face looked sad as she told me what had really happened. I still didn’t understand any of it, so all I could do was sit there in silence and listen to her tell me everything she knew.
“Mom doesn’t know how it first happened. Your father and I came home from the fields that afternoon and saw that everything in the village was normal.”
“But as dusk approached, screams suddenly rang out from outside. Everything descended into chaos. No one could believe that the village had suddenly transformed. I was at home then, and I tried to save myself by hiding inside a wardrobe. Your father stayed inside the house, keeping watch until morning.”
I could hardly believe what Mom was telling me. It sounded like a fairy tale or one of those fantasy movies I used to watch. But I couldn’t dismiss it, because I had experienced the same thing myself when I first came to this place.
“Mom can’t bear remembering it. I was terrified inside that wardrobe. My whole body wouldn’t stop shaking, and I didn’t sleep a wink all night. Your father was the same, Abdi. He guarded me until morning.”
It was chaos. Absolute chaos. Mom was telling me about something horrifying that had happened in Cihalimun Village, something none of the villagers could ever have expected at the time.
It had once been a beautiful, prosperous village, famous for its peacefulness and its self-sufficient way of life, without any help from outsiders. Now, its condition was utterly horrifying.
In a single night, Cihalimun Village was plunged into terrifying terror. Fortunately, Mom and Dad had already been home that night. But the people who usually hung around outside with their trail bikes, along with the shopkeepers who kept their stalls open until late, became easy targets for the creatures that came that night.
They never expected the village they lived in to suddenly become so terrifying. They were trapped there throughout the night.
Cihalimun Village had suddenly transformed on its own. The once-beautiful village was visited by terrifying creatures every night. As a result, Cihalimun Village became a place inhabited by terrifying creatures every night, and this had continued for several days.
Screams and frightening sounds began to echo throughout the village every night.
High-pitched laughter could be heard outside, along with growls like those of a beast and knocking on every house’s door. The villagers didn’t dare open their doors.
They even kept their windows tightly shut. Some villagers deliberately blocked their doors and windows with wardrobes or tables, afraid that the creatures would crawl into their homes and terrorize them.
They didn’t understand why this was happening. They had no idea what had caused it. But the terror continued every night and ended on its own when the morning sunlight appeared between the trees surrounding the village.
The villagers’ homes were the only truly safe places to take shelter when night fell. It was strange, because the creatures only pounded on the doors or made noises against the walls. They never deliberately entered or disturbed the houses.
They only bothered and occupied buildings that weren’t homes, such as the sports hall, meeting hall, Puskesmas, and other places.
“But, Mom,” I tried to interrupt her as she told me about what had happened while I was gone.
“When I was trapped there, I hid inside a house. But the creature crawled into that house, and I passed out inside,” I told her.
But Mom only shook her head. The situation I described was completely different from what she knew. She said it was impossible for there to have been no one inside the Mandala family’s home.
The Mandala family had a tradition of making their house large enough to accommodate several families.
So there was no way I could have entered that house without seeing any of the family members inside.
Mom’s explanation only confused me further, because I had seen for myself that the house was empty. In the end, though, I didn’t think much more about it. I didn’t have enough solid evidence to convince her at the time.
“What about the people who were trapped outside at night? Did many of them survive like I did, Mom?” I asked.
Mom fell silent for a moment, as if trying to arrange her thoughts before speaking to me.
“Only a few survived, Abdi. The rest disappeared without a trace,” she said.
According to Mom, nearly a quarter of the villagers had disappeared. Old and young, men and women—they had vanished mysteriously and still hadn’t been found.
Usually, they disappeared because they hadn’t had time to save themselves before evening came. They became trapped and were gone by morning.
“Then why did Dad disappear too, Mom? Wasn’t he at home with you?” I asked.
Mom lowered her head. Her face looked sad. She seemed unwilling to talk about it, but eventually she steeled herself and spoke to me.
“Your father and several others intended to search for the missing villagers, Abdi. On the village elders’ orders, they formed a team made up of representatives from the three families in Cihalimun Village.”
“As the elder of the Wilaga family, your father joined the search alongside people from the Tarmana and Mandala families.”
“The first team was formed to warn everyone when night was approaching. They went around the village every afternoon to tell the villagers that night was coming. The second team was tasked with searching for the missing villagers. But unfortunately, your father was with the second team, and they never came back.”
Mom began crying again, tears falling in front of me. I couldn’t bear to see her sobbing like that. She had lost her husband because of what had happened to the village.
“We’re trapped, Abdi. The day after it happened, the villagers all rushed to leave. But as you can see, the bridge connecting the village suddenly turned into an incredibly deep chasm, leaving us trapped here with this terror every night.”
I immediately hugged Mom. I couldn’t hold back my tears over the suffering my parents had endured. After coming home from prison, I had so many questions. The village where I had lived had completely transformed into a terrifying place.
“Something’s wrong,” I murmured to myself.
“Don’t worry, Mom. Just stay home. I’ll be the one to look for Dad, because I don’t know what condition the village is in now either. I need to go around the village first. Maybe that will give me some clues.”
“Come on, Mom. Don’t cry anymore, okay? Dad will definitely come home,” I said, trying to encourage her.
I told Mom to get some rest. I also wanted to find out what lay behind this incident. Something had to be wrong—something that had caused Cihalimun Village to become like this.
Finally, when Mom was about to leave my room, I asked her,
“Mom, do you know where Dad went first when he went looking for the missing villagers?”