Our house stood in the middle of a rice field facing a straight highway more than a mile long before it curved. On this road side bend stood an old tamarind tree few meters away from the road.
One night I saw a ball of fire among the branches of the tree. I though it was a ghost. I wanted to take a closer look on it but to my surprise it was a glowing bird that I saw. It was like a wild chicken. I knew that it was the supernatural bird as mentioned by my grandfather while I was still a child. I could still remember the warning he told me. He said that I should never came nearer to that bird for once you were radiated by the light of its flame you will die.
I never came nearer to the tree.
Few hours later an accident occurred at the bend.
A truck crashed at the metal railing of the road and rolled over.
We run to the scene bringing flashlights and torches. We saw the occupants bathed in blood. The truck was upside down with all its wheels facing the sky in the middle of the road.
It settled near the tamarind tree and immediately I suspected that the flaming bird had caused the accident, so I focused the light on the tree branches. To my surprise a big black bird flew away from the tree.
That bird is a soul snatcher commented by my old neighbor. The victims could not be saved anymore he told us. Then he make a sign of a cross. That bird is a harbinger of an accident to come for that accident
is just one of the many accidents happened at the bend and every time it happened the flaming bird was always sighted on that tree.
From the oral account Arnold Cauton of Pozzorobio Pangasinan, Philippines
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