A HOME READING REPORT

Jacob Altair M. Agtarap

Title: Luis and the Enchanted Creatures Author: Marcy Dans Lee Place and Date Publication: Philipines 1995 Adarna House No. of Pages:

Grade-V Razote

Brief Summary: There was once a little boy named Luis who spent most of his time reading all kinds of books. He was a curious little boy and wanted to know many things Luis favorite book was a huge, violet one, which contained secret stories about enchanted creatures of the Philipines. One day Luis read the book under a huge balete tree. The balete tree had a strange twisting branches from which enchanted creatures were believed to emerge.

Now the book was very interesting indeed! As he read, Luis met each enchanted creature in his mind. One such creature was the kapre. The kapre is a big and ugly creature that smokes an enormous cigar. The kapre`s smoke can cause you to lose your way home. You can even be buried alive by its ashes if you are not careful. This is possible because the kapre`s legs can easily be mistaken for the balete tree in which hides. The tiyanak was another creature to beware of! It appears as a crying baby lost in the forest. If you should stop and ask why the baby is crying, the tiyanak immediately grabs you with its sharp claws and eats you up! Yes, the tiyanak is indeed a hungry, little monster. Another enchanted creature was the tikbalang ,which has the face of a horse and the body of the man. When the moon is full, it sits in the balete tree, awaiting its victim. The tikbalang eats anyone that passes under the tree in just one gulp! Then, of course, there was the aswang which is a horrible witch with magical powers. The aswang fools people by disguising itself as an animal. It steals chicken and pigs from nearby farms and frightens people with is ugliness and magical powers! The nuno sa punso was an old creature that lives under a mound of soil. In passing any mound of soil, you have to excuse yourself and greet the unseen nuno to show respect. Or else, it will cast an evil spell on you to show its anger! Finally, there was a batibat a snake-like creature that lives in trees. The good batibat guides and watches over travelers at night with its strange silence. Night had quietly fallen as Luis finish reading. The moon was full and strange shadows fell across the forest. Hungry for dinner, Luis began to walk home. Suddenly the book flew from his hand and lay open the ground. It must be the wind, whispered the frightened, little boy, though there was not even the slightest breeze in the air. Luis bravely peered into the book and from its pages emerge the six enchanted creatures.Greetings from the underworld, said the majestic tikbalang. We have been asked to proved to you the greatness of our powers! This cant be true! cried Luis. I must be dreaming. If you cant believe it, then we prepared to show you a little demonstration, are we not? said the nuno. YES! shrieked the creatures. Luis was too shocked to move. He just stood there, open-mouthed. Relax, the kapre consoled him. Here, share a cigar with me. You wouldnt have a match on you by any chance, would you? Luckily, Luis did and handed it to kapre. But, as it puffed, it began to cough. My mom has been telling me to quit smoking. Cough ! Cough! I really should. Cough! The kapres cough woke the sleeping tiyanak, and it began to cry. UWAAH! wailed the baby tiyanak with feeling.