1st Story : Iona and The Forest

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Once upon a time. In a village on the island of Java, there lived a girl named Elok Ardhiana, people used to called her Iona. She grew up with a very thick Javanese culture. Her physique also really describes the beauty of a Javanese woman. She has a long black hair and brown skin. The name Elok Ardhiana itself is taken from the Javanese language, Elok Ardhiana means a beautiful and pleasant girl who is blessed with a firm and strong soul.

In Javanese belief, the existence of spirits has become a common thing that is widely believed. When Iona was little, her grandfather once told her that the village they lived in now was the result of "Mbabad". Mbabad means clearing a piece of land in a jungle to make it a settlement or place to lived. The jungle that was never inhabited by humans, is believed to be a nest where spirits lived. Iona believes that what her grandfather told her might be true, this village is still surrounded by dense forests with tall tree trunks. The forest in the north of the village also looks like a forest that is very rarely entered by humans.

The "Mbabad" incident is believed to have greatly angered the spirits, they felt expelled from their own place of residence

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The "Mbabad" incident is believed to have greatly angered the spirits, they felt expelled from their own place of residence. That is why, there is a belief in the village that must be obeyed if we want to lived comfortably. The villagers are forbidden to approach the forest if the evening sky has begun to appeared, especially the forest in the north of the village. It is said that these spirits are still trying to took revenge on humans until this day.

These spirits cannot entered human dwellings. But the jungle is still their territory so they can only harmed the vilaggers if the villagers get close to their territory. The residents often called the spirits in the forest at the north of the village as "Lelembut" which in Javanese it's means spirits.

There is a figure of a Lelembut who very often showed her form, the residents often saw her on the edge of the forest

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There is a figure of a Lelembut who very often showed her form, the residents often saw her on the edge of the forest. But, only the adults in the village that have saw the appearance of the Lelembut and they never told to the children what it was like because they didn't want to scared the children.

Despite all those problems, this village is a very beautiful village. Many rice fields that stretched wide. The natural scenery is very beautiful as far as the eyes can see. The needs of all villagers are fulfilled in this village, they all lived peacefully.

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⏰ Last updated: Apr 04, 2023 ⏰

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