The Circle Village

By Nenita Isobe

Eight houses encircle a forest with giant trees several hundred years old. In the Circle Village people believe everything they hear. Legend has it that a harmful creature lurks in the darkness and attacks innocent victims face-first, with a mouth big enough to swallow a mans head. But when three individuals experience firsthand what it is like to have an extraordinary friend, folklore suddenly becomes the truth.

Seventeen-year-old Matet Orec is a normal teenager on an early morning walk when she encounters a small fairy with purple wings that seems to know everything about her life. Already over one hundred years old, the fairy befriend her, and soon leads her on a magical journey in the forest, where a powerful and dangerous creature lurks. As the angry beast stalks the young adventurers, they soon realize that the forest is home to many mysterious beings that desperately needs the help of their human friends.

The Circle Village will transport you through a mystical world filled with fairies, dwarves, and witches, as three individual immerse themselves in uncovering the truth behind a legend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 23, 2010
• ISBN: 9781426937163

Nenita Isobe

Nenita Isobe lives in Henderson, Nevada, with her husband and younger daughter. She is looking forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time with her elder daughter. This is her first book.

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© Copyright 2010, 2012, 2014 Nenita Isobe.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4269-3715-6 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4269-3716-3 (e)

Trafford rev. 11/04/2014

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Contents

The Circle Village

Lots Of Mouth To Feed Makes Everything Insufficient

Encounter With Jeremy

Is She A Witch?

The Store Owner

Friends Forever

Encounter With Matthew

The Summon

The Circle Village

I t was 7:30 in the evening, the moon rises up on its crescent stage and creatures of the night are on the move hunting for food. Bats, great horned owls, opossum, toad and firefly, are now hunting for each other, the smallest get to be eaten first as the biggest is the one to eat the next big one. Most of the time the hunt is unsuccessful that the biggest one will get through the night hungry. An Eagle owl is gliding looking down on a certain spot, one illuminated of all the places in the village it passes by the roof of the house, there’s a movement from below, the owl wants to know what’s going on with the usually quite place that is now bustling with activity, it flew straight into the forest and landed on one of the branch at least two hundred twenty meters from the unusual bright place. Like every creature it’s afraid of fire. Facing the front of the house it acts as if it’s investigating on what’s happening.

Almost every man in the neighborhood had gathered around out of Mrs. Orec’s house in circle, yes in circle, it’s not just a tradition otherwise it would have died a long time ago. Staying out and keeping yourself awake the whole night and not be able to do anything but to stand as a watchman. For it is about time that she is giving birth. With her inside the room is the lady who would help her deliver the baby and with them as helper is her eldest daughter Matet. There are two other children Mindy 11 yr. old and Sheila 7, staying miles away with their relative and will stay there at least until she deliver the baby. The things that are needed for the new member are all piled up on the side of the room down on the floor for they don’t have a bed, it’s just a thick mattress that serves as a bed, (actually the firm hard wood is known to be good for health and body posture than the soft one). Mrs. Lori Orec is having contraction but she’s trying not to make so much noises for she’s aware that most of mature male in her neighborhood are around her house. She would make a small sound of discomfort but her face can’t hide the pain. Matet is watching, seeing her mother in such situation made her eyes teary. She have heard of a story from other mother that giving birth is no difference of having your left foot on the pit of death made her agitated with fear for her mother. She followed what the helper instructed her to do, boiling water is sitting on fire in a makeshift stove, and baby’s wardrobe courtesy of older siblings now waits for the new arrival. She sat beside her mom, though there were times that she hated her for being bossy she really love her and at his moment her mother look helpless and in so much pain, she gets overwhelmed with compassion for her , she sat near her side and wipe her mom’s hair off her forehead. Mrs. Orec is so occupied of her task that she didn’t even feel her daughter’s touch, pain is everywhere her body back and front, and thank goodness it is mid-summer that instead of a bitter cold a bead like sweat is on her forehead. Matet wiped it with cloth along with its tussled hair, it is already taking up a while now. Why the baby just won’t come out and get it over with, and it’s going to be a girl again! Matet thought. Her parents already have three girls, but what if it’s a boy? He will be the favorite for sure, even if her parents deny it, she know better, she wasn’t born yesterday, she knows more than what her parents know of what she really know she’s 17.

Outside around their house, each group are sitting on a bench that were borrowed from other neighbor’s house to be used for a night or two, tonight the neighbors are so protective of their surroundings for they know of the creature who would snatch a new born baby, take it away and probably eat it! This village has zero casualties so far because of their vigilance. While in other village they have heard of several new born being kidnapped, they must stay and stand guard till brake of dawn. Mr. Orec is busy brewing tea for unending demand of drinkers. The four corner of the house is surrounded by a group of three or four on each part, and each of them has a story to tell or to listen to. Augustine a 38 year old man is seated in the middle telling a gossip to two of his seat mate about his suspicion that Ernie, their 27 year old neighbor is the one who stole his chicken.

I counted my chickens the other day and again one is missing, I tried to look around and when I passed by Ernie’s house kitchen, I saw him cleaning the bird to be cooked at the back of his house feathers all plucked out his face is serious. What did you do? asked the neighbor

I came up to him and ask if he happen to see a chicken around cause I’m missing one on my flock, he put down the chicken and told me that he didn’t see any and that if he see it he will come and tell me, he scratches his head and continue, I will put a bait on him and if I ever caught him, I will make him pay for all the chicken that’s gone missing all these past years.

Ernie works in the neighboring village as helper for his relatives farm about 10 miles from their village. A lot of chickens are disappearing in their Village; all of the people that live around are farmers and loosing chicken is part of their daily lives.

On the other side, a group of young males are talking about girls, Jeremy 21 year old is the one saying…,

Last Saturday I danced with Matilda, while we were dancing she came to me so close and start swaying, it’s so awkward, I don’t know what to do,

One of the two who are listening said Did you make the first base?

No, that’s disgusting

The two stand up and said You’re a liar! in a loud voice with mischievous faces.

The group of middle age men tried to hush the trio down from making too much noises that could attract attention

Keep it down guys we have to listen to our surroundings, as he pointed upward referring to the flying baby snatcher. The two fell silent, went back to their seat apologized and continue with their chat.

Mr. Orec’s fresh brewed tea is located at the front of the house, so for someone who’s getting tired of sitting on a hard seat, it is a relief to have to walk for a cup of tea, than to stay seated for about 4 hours now? Th e baby will add prosperity to their Village, staying overnight is their way of welcoming the new addition of their community. Plus, the reality that they have to be in this place for safety reason is really what they’re here for, to stand guard. Tomorrow their wives will gonna have to do the farm duty while they sleep, everything had been planted, the field is ripening and is just waiting to be harvested so there’s not much to do around, farm animals needs to be fed though, chickens, cows, goats, sheep among others. So while the rest of the village are past asleep tonight, the men are outside and around the Orec’s house trying to keep the flame alive on each side of the house for visibility. It’s now about 11:00 o’clock in the evening and some of them starts to get drowsy. One in the group, a middle age man slim built that stands at least 5’7 with a look of the one who spent a lot of time in the farm, thought of sleeping right there on the ground. He search for the smaller log to use as pillow, put it down on the ground, puts his head on …no, the wood is too hard and too thick for his head for support, he decided to use his arm, he moved a little far from his group 6 feet away, lay down on the ground sideways and put his arm under his head. But the guys he’s with won’t let him go to sleep just yet, they started to throw rocks at him along with some twigs none stop. It’s no use, these people won’t let him have some peace and quiet even for a second, he got lost of his tiredness, he stood up, picked up some of the twigs that they’ve thrown on him, came back to his group and throw it back on the three younger men he’s with You guys are a pain" he said, the trio just laughed quietly.

The Orec has two household pets. A dog named Rosita, black and yellow striped tiger like female basenji that was given to them by Mr. Orec’s in –laws, and a cat named Cleo, black fur mixed with yellow hair around its body that they adopted when they found it wandering around when it was just a kitten. Both are enjoying the sight of having many guests, they seem happy to have these folks in their property that the duo are not sleeping. Rosita is walking back and forth around the house, would come up to the group, stand for a while just to be ignored, but she’s not disappointed she went to the other group, just the same. She decided to find a spot to lie on only to start walking again, would occasionally pass by Cleo on a hunch and give the cat a sniff then will continue walking. Each time a group started laughing she will come in rush, standing in front of them and would just walk away upon realizing that nothing is really happening that would interest her, there’s no food to snatch anyway. But she can’t sleep, she’s just too agitated of what’s going on. Some of the male dogs around their neighbor start howling. Rosita stiffened by the sound it made; ears erected listening to where the sound is coming. Though she desire to look around to see what is going on, she is not used walking away from the comfort of her yard.

The men around the house were also alarmed of the sound; the chatting paused, looking at each other alarmed, suddenly revived and awake as the owner has the look of worry on his face.

William Orec is a farmer that stands 6 feet tall with blue eyes, slim built with straight nose and a blond hair, he’s face shows the image of a man baked under the sun of years of farm work, he’s got a tan skin with bangs that covers his forehead, and his face shows that of a cheerful guy.

Everyone listens to the sound of the dogs howling, for the folks it’s the sign of warning. When in fact, it’s the mating season for the dog’s world, since the neighbor tries to control their dog to multiply, they would have it grounded and it is this time that the male dog would go crazy and voice out their dominance. But the strong belief, of its message as a warning of bad event is about to happen is what they always give attention to.

At William’s home, a bundle of joy inside Lori Orec’s stomach seem quiet for a while, she ‘s not feeling any contraction for quiet sometime now. She asked for a drinking water, Matet stood up from her side hurried to the kitchen to get her mother a drink. Holding a lamp on left hand, in a hurry with a lot of panic on her head that she knocked down some of the mugs from the kitchen counter, one fell and broke,

Oh no she thought, my mom will gonna kill me

The mugs are just enough for all of them and there’s no more extra, she know her family is poor that even buying for things like mug is a big deal of money. First things first, she got a mug of water and brought it to the room, she handed it to the helper who’s way older than her mom, a 62 year old kind faced lady with gray hair showing on the most part of her head, who she is, Matet don’t know what’s her name but she’s the one everybody calls for when they need assistance delivering the baby.

Matet’s mom heard the broken glass, when she showed up by the door..,

Are you ok? her mom asked smiling,

Yah, I’ll clean it up

Be careful of the fragments

Yes, I will

She went back into the kitchen with lamp on her hand, put it down on the floor and started cleaning. She’s done, walk around looking for any pieces, the place is clear, at least on the part where they walk.

Outside, the three youngsters Jeremy, Beno and Paul are sitting just right in front of the kitchen window and they are…, watching her wondering what she is doing, Beno noticed that Jeremy is watching Matet intently,

You got a crush on her don’t you he asked bumping Jeremy with his arm,

Jeremy slap his arm with the back of his hand and said She’s not my type

Paul, sitting on his left told him, You’re unbelievable she’s the prettiest girl around, I got a crush on her since I was 7 giving Jeremy a smirk,

I’ll ask her to go with me on a dance Paul continued.

Jeremy just shake his head at him, but deep inside he knows that Matet is the prettiest one in their village. With black hair down before her waist, her arms are thin but not bony. She’s got a little smooth upward shape nose that made her snout go upward to show her front teeth that almost look like of a rabbit. Big brown eyes, and on top of it all she is a quiet, shy person with a behavior of a 10 yr. old girl, she’s also kind and polite doesn’t talk much always a listener standing behind of her group of friends all the time, though she’ s thin she’s shapely, that’s obvious even with those layer of fabric she’s wearing.

Matet went back and forth searching for any sparkling pieces, satisfied that there’s none, she picked up the lamp hurried back to her mom’s room, just in time to see the baby came out slimy, the lady will going to cut the umbilical, Matet turned her face the opposite side, she don’t need to see that! The baby is not crying but instead making a sound as if it’s complaining, it looks healthy and it’s a boy! it’s arm moved as if trying to grab on something, hands opening and closing, Matet has never seen a cutest baby in the world with little hands, it opened its eyes while the nurse is trying to bundle him up, oh my, I have a baby brother Matet thought.

Outside, William is listening to one group. Mr. Malone, with dark skin and thick eyebrows and in his 40’s talking to his friends giving instruction to Jeremy’s father Mr. Watson, same age as Mr. Malone and an older version of his son Jeremy. Mr. Malone ask him that while sitting,

Lift your right foot off the ground and make a clockwise circles, now while doing so draw a number 6 with your finger

Mr. Watson did and his foot made a counter clockwise following the movement of this finger, they all started laughing at their own diversion.

It was 12:30 pm, when Matet came down the stairs of the front door to announce to everybody that the baby had arrived. Hearing the news William hurried up the house to see the baby, he sat beside his wife, Lori turn to her husband and whisper, It’s a boy,

What will be his name

Since we prepared the name Samantha, we will call him Sam

The nurse got out of the room carrying basin and other stuff, just the time William is waiting for, he turned to his wife and said.

I know I have to try harder to provide for all of us, this I promise you it’s gonna be alright. I’ll work three times harder now for our family, unsure of how he’s gonna put a period on what he’s saying, he changed the subject by asking how she’s feeling,

I’m doing fine, he’s the fourth one so nothing much is new, he kissed her on a forehead and told her that he has to go back outside.

He asked his daughter to go back inside; she returned in time to see her mother nursing Sam Mom are you crying? Lori was surprised of her question but the fact is, tears rolling down her cheek without her knowing it, She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, asked Matet to go to sleep and pick up her two sisters tomorrow. She gave her mom a nod look at Sam and went to the room she’s sharing with her sisters, when she enter, the nurse is already asleep on the other side of the room. The lady will stay for the night and leave early tomorrow. Matet took the other side of the floor put her mattress and pillow she fell asleep soon.

Outside, William gave the good news, told everybody that it’s a boy with excitement on his face. People around him applauded in a soft sound with a lot of congratulations. He’s so thankful for all the neighbor who came to stand watch 11+1 to be exact who helped tonight and told them that they can go home to have some sleep, they all protested and insisted that they’ll stay for the night, he dismiss their idea and said that him and Lori’s brother in law Flint (he’s the +1) will stand watch inside the house and will keep the fire around the yard till dawn. They finally agreed to his idea, after all, it’s not like their houses are nearby, in fact, their village consist of only 8 houses, but it is so vast that it’s a 3 miles or more away from each other, positioned in almost perfect circle with 7 miles in diameter front house to another front of the house. They didn’t clear the middle part. The forest remain at the center with giant trees of several hundred years old, full of grasses and wild flowers on the ground of soft chess, wild oats, witch grass, alkali sedge and wild flowering plants. They call themselves neighbors even when they can’t see each other’s houses. It would have been easy to take a shortcut walking straight but there are some snakes that live inside, and in order for the children to stay away from danger, the grown-ups show the example of avoiding the forest themselves. William shake the hands of everybody and called flint who was on top of the roof all this time, watching for any flying danger that could land on top of the house, upon landing on his two feet on the ground, he also thanks the neighbors and they all said goodnight to each other at 1:00 am.

William and Flint will make sure that the fire has a flame for the whole night, they gather some more fire wood carefully looking around with their watchful eyes for anything that could get their attention. Before they make a round of the yard William called Rosita and put her on a leash at the front of the house attached to the stairs, the dog licks his face No stop it! he protested, stood up, and wipe his face with the shirt he’s wearing as the dog block his way that almost caught him off balance, he gave it a pat on the head and said Good girl. The cat is meowing, trying to get William’s attention, he gave it a pat on its abdomen and push her up inside the house. He then grab the firewood and went to where Flint is.

I guess this will stay the whole night it’s past midnight Flint said, looking at the fire

You can go inside I’ll go around to make sure that there’s enough wood on the other side

Ok said Flint.

William put an additional wood lined up end to end instead of one on top of the other to make sure that the flame will crawl and it wouldn’t die till dawn, went and picked up the kettle of tea. (Someone forgot his cup sitting on top of pile of wood.) He double check if there are any trash that will fly on an open flame in case the wind blow that could start a house fire, he looked up to the heaven searching for anything that maybe flying, he’s not worrying much anymore than he did earlier for he can see the light from the horizon. Another event of his life unfolded, he went upstairs past the living room where he found Flint with pillow already asleep on the floor, he passed their room where Lori and Sam also past asleep, went to the kitchen put the kettle down. Check the back door making sure it’s lock. The other room where Matet and their guest is sleeping is now closed, he sat on the kitchen table, he has no plan of sleeping tonight even if he try he knows it’s not gonna work he’s too excited of the new arrival. He can think about other things later, like how he can provide for all of them, the field is not producing a good harvest for awhile now, he’s going to have to expand his plantation, though he knows that the further the field is the more it’s hard to keep an eye on it, especially from those birds who rely on their corn field. Sam is crying, he went to see the mother and child both awake, he walk inside sat on the floor look at the baby. Though Sam is awake it suddenly stop crying with eyes open, looking around flicking his eyes several times, let out a yawn. Lori and William looked at each other smiling at the boy making a scene, then it start to sleep again. He signaled Lori to go back to sleep, she obeyed by turning on her side facing the other way she quickly fell asleep, William sat against the wall, his plan of not sleeping failed.

Lots Of Mouth To Feed Makes Everything Insufficient

M atet is at the dance with four of her friends Gale, Lisa and two other more that she didn’t bother herself to know, the place is packed with people, she’s so excited, where did all these people came from? Torches lights the place, lots of it that even though the party is happening at night, the fire everywhere lit the place like it’s in the middle of the day, she and her friends stands at the far side of the room enjoying the sound of accordion played by an old men, Matet leans on the wall listening to the music, she love music and wishes she could hear it regularly. From across the hall, she saw Matthew Wallet, a twenty two year old tall bronze skin blue eyes boy with ash brown hair. Tonight he’s wearing a button down shirt with vest on top and black pants; he’s one of the cutest guys in Wilshire. He’s with his friends too and yes, he noticed her and now coming towards her direction. She doesn’t know what to do, should she look in his direction? she can’t, she’s just too shy for that, not knowing how to react she acted as if she’s searching for something or someone else, and in the corner of her eye.. here he comes she thought,

Hi Matet,

Hi, how are you she try to look in his eyes, still too shy darn it, she thought, he smile at her, he stand at least five ten against her noticeable five three,

"I’ll be fine, if you dance with me?

Yah

She try to stay calm, she don’t want him to notice of her eagerness, he held his hand she reach for it, he guided her still holding on to her hand, they took the center of the dance floor. Gale and Lisa can’t see where they are with all the people around them, he put his hand on her waist, she don’t know where to put hers, Matthew took both of her hands put it on back of his neck that it look like she’s embracing him and him embracing her, they dance, he’s smiling at her, his face so close, the music died. They realized that they’re the only pair remained on the dance floor, they look around and saw that all eyes are on them now, everyone in the room starts to tease them, all shouting and whistling. They are now the amusement of everyone in the room, the teasing and applause are so loud that it made her jump on her sleep, is she dreaming? …..she is! And the loud sound that she’s hearing is the sound of Rosita barking at the visitor calling at the front of their house.

It’s her grandparents, came to visit their newly born grandson Sam, grandpa’s carrying a live chicken while grandma carries winter old baby clothes courtesy of her friends, the nurse sleeping in her room had already gone, she probably went at the brake of dawn.

Most people are afraid to go out before daylight, believing of the harmful creature lurking in the darkness. A little monster with silver skin fiery eyes and a devilish smile, they’ll sneak up stealthy and follow for a while then they will suddenly