Bebegigs
Chapter 15's

"Ohhhhh!" The orange groaned as the black monster tried to grab it with its branch arm.

Orange immediately shivered. He felt a chill that he had never felt before. He could see the frozen waves emanating from the monster's body.

Then the creature tilted its large, round head. His eyes widened even wider. His voice boomed as he exclaimed, "WHO ARE YOU?"

The orange trembled amidst the waves of cold air that struck.

Oh, geez! That thing can talk!

Now he just believes.

The story of God and Magenta is true. Everything's true.

The scarecrow monster was moving closer, getting closer. His gaze was as if glued to an orange eye.

Actually Orange wants to stand. He wanted to run at that moment. But the waves of cold air emanating from the creature had frozen him. The girl could not get up. He can't back off. Can't move.

"WHO ARE YOU?" The scarecrow came back, his voice blaring. The whole mountain shook.

"A--a..." The orange voice trembled, shrill shrill. "J–don't.." he said with great difficulty. "I don't mean anything bad. I'm..."

"WHO ARE YOU?" the giant scarecrow asked for the third time.

"My name?" Orange squealing. "My name is Orange. Arsenic orange."

The scarecrow immediately widened its eyes. His dark mouth was wide open. "TRY TO REPEAT AGAIN" he ordered.

The orange shivers uncontrollably.

"Until Arsena," the orange repeats in a trembling voice of fear. For a while the Jurig Bebeggig was staring at him while silent. "YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" he asks.

Orange gulps. The question was completely beyond his expectations. He opened his mouth to answer, but his voice was stuck in his throat.

"YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Jurig Bebegig asked again. Nadanya.

"No," replied Jingga. "What are you really?"

"I'M YOUR FATHER!" exclaim the monster scarecrow.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" yell Orange. Where could my father be Jurig Bebegig! he didn't think happy.

Orange wants to get out of there. He wants to run away. Slumped through the mountainside. Or even fly!

But he can't move. He was in the grip of the scarecrow monster. He was stuck in the court. While his body shivered in the cold.

"Until, I am your father-Lingga Arsena," the scarecrow again said, lowering his voice. He looked at the orange with his frightening eyes. "Trust me. I'm Arsena's Lingga."

"Ng-no way!" Orange stuttering. He embraced himself, for his body to stop trembling. "You're a scarecrow. Where could you be my father! You are Jurig Bebegig!"

"Listen to me!" the scarecrow roared. "I am your father. Your grandmother was a witch. So did your mother. Your mother's engaged in all kinds of magic."

"Lied...!" Orange protesting. The lie raised his courage. He stood up immediately. "That's not real!" angry shouting. "I've never seen Mama practice anything that smells of magic. You liar!"

The scarecrow seemed to be swinging from left to right. The rocks that Orange treads along swaying. The girl almost lost her balance.

"I'm not lying, Orange. Arsenic's phallus is not a liar!" the creature insisted. He raised both his hands, as if begging the orange to believe. "That's how it is."

"But-but-but..." Orange stuttering.

"I became like this because of your grandmother's actions" said the scarecrow. "He used his magical powers to turn me into a scarecrow. You were only two years old then. He tried to return me to my original form. But he failed. Then he ran away from this village with your mother. You were also brought."

"Your mother has good reason to return" the scarecrow explained. "He knew that his magical influence would vanish after seventeen years."

"A--I don't understand," Orange stammered again. His head feels frozen. He can't think. He tried hard to understand the story of the monster scarecrow.

"After seventeen years, the power of the spell begins to diminish" the scarecrow asserted. "Your mother came back to renew that spell. He wants me to stay a scarecrow. He wants me to be a prisoner here forever. He wanted to make sure no one knew the fate that befell me. He's not willing to take you from his side!"

"Mama's not a witch!" Orange protesting. "I've lived with my mother for a lifetime. I've never seen Mama practice magic. My mom never..."

"WAIT!" the scarecrow cried out loud. He raised his hand to keep the orange silent. "We don't have much time. I am your father, Orange. Your birth father. You have to trust me."

"Tapi—" Orange stammered. Where could my father be Jurig Bebegig, he thought. The orange doesn't know what to say. The girl could not think clearly. Everything too.

"You can set me free" the scarecrow said in a pleading tone. "Originally you're not wasting your time. Soon your mother will renew her spell. If you don't save me, I have to be a scarecrow for seventeen more years."

"But...why should Mama curse her own husband?" Orange is still a doubt.

"We are separated" said the scarecrow. "Like I said, he doesn't want me to take you from his side!"

"How should I go now?" yelling Orange half screaming. "I'm not a magician. I have no magical powers. What could save you?"

"You can help me" the giant scarecrow insisted. "But I can't tell you how." He nodded bitterly. "If I tell you how, the spell will get stronger" he continued. "You'll have to think about it yourself."

"Huh? But where is it possible?" Orange groaning.

"I can give you a clue" said the scarecrow. "I can't tell you how. But I can give you a clue."

"OK," said Orange slowly. He was hugging himself more and more.

And then, with his heavy and thundering voice, the scarecrow uttered a rhyme that was very well known to the Orange!

"But it rains Ngagelebug, komo wanci sambekala. Kade Bebeggig, Anaking! Kade Bebegig's! Bebegig mawa dodoja."

The orange looked at him with wide eyes. " Ka—you know that rhyme!" screeching stammering.

"Of course I know!" sergeant the scarecrow. "I told you I'm your father!"

"But—" Orange stuttered again.

"That's the clue I'm talking about!" toilet the scarecrow.

The orange is still fluttering.

"That's the only clue I can give you. Now you have to think of a way to save me."

Orange already knows how. He knew as soon as he heard the old poem.

Second stall.

The antidote to the spell must be in the second stanza. A temple he could not remember until now.

"Help me, Orange." The scarecrow stared at the orange with an imploring look. "Help me. I'm your father, Orange. I'm your father."

Orange returned the gaze of the scarecrow while thinking hard. While trying to make a decision.

Should I trust him?

Should I help her?