Pawang Pahar was getting ready to go to Lane Street that day. It was approaching dusk and suddenly the wind blew fiercely out of nowhere. All the coconut trees in front of Pawang Pahar's house shook tremendously and it gave a cold shiver throughout Pawang Pahars' spine.
Pawang Pahar was indeed a renowned shaman, and he could guess immediately that something dangerous was approaching him. His enemy was just within reach and was already residing inside his home compound.
"This shouldn't be," uttered Pawang Pahar while shaking his head in denial. He knew by the way the wind was blowing, it was the doings from a sundal bolong. The only thing he didn't know was the owner. He tried to guess, but found nothing to grasp as a clue.
Pawang Pahar's wife had just put on her prayer's dress. She wasn't excluded in noticing the difference of weather. It was absolutely different from the ordinary signals of upcoming rain. The sky was clear and blue, with no traces of dark clouds. The moon which had appeared within a few minutes before had shone clearly and was then hiding bits of its existence behind some of the bright clouds.
"What's wrong, my dear husband?" asked Hawa, Pawang Pahar's wife in a worried tone. She felt it was strangely odd and she must know something soothing to make her doubt go away.
"Someone is trying to test me," replied Pawang Pahar in a lowered tone. He gazed at Hawa and gestured her to start her prayers. He didn't want his wife to worry more.
Hawa obeyed her husband's request and went inside her room to pray. While praying, she could hear a loud stump on the roof. It seemed like falling from upwards, probably the sky. As impossible as it sounded to be, Hawa ignored the sound and continued her prayers. She knew her husband was able to take control of it. She always had faith in that.
Pawang Pahar sat with his legs crossed in the middle of the living room as soon as he completed his own prayers. He had heard the stumping thing but tried to calm down his anxiety and anger. He recited some versus from the holy Quran and after that confidently jumped down from his house, and landed mercifully in style on the land.
"I am the one and only Pawang Pahar. Nobody has ever had the guts to confront me. Don't you ever start a play tonight, or else I would not be doubtful to destroy you and all your associates. As long as I am the descendant of Adam and Eve, I am not afraid of evil spirits such as you!" yelled Pawang Pahar with all his might.
The angry wind suddenly stopped. It was stopped exactly like an electrical fan which had a power failure. Sudden and abrupt. Pawang Pahar immediately felt he was winning one point over his enemy. He quickly ascended his house and sat with crossed leg again in the middle of his living room. But this time he left the door ajar.
Pawang Pahar took out his kemenyan from his bag. He reached for his burning pot and sprinkled the kemenyan over it. Smoke appeared, thick and cloudy. A strong smell came together with the burning. Pawang Pahar then reached for a skull which he had long kept with him. The skull was aging more than a hundred years, and Pawang Pahar recited something while holding on to the skull.
Suddenly, the skull started to move. Slowly, it raised to the air and floated there for a couple of seconds. Then, like a burst of urgency the skull flew out of the door and circled Pawang Pahar's house. Completed a circle, the skull then flew out from the house compound and disappeared from Pawang Pahar's eye sight.
Pawang Pahar sat patiently, waiting for the skull to return. He was confident the skull would come back to report to him.
Unfortunately, his guess was a mistake. Pawang Pahar didn't know what had happened a few minutes before while the skull was hunting for information. Suddenly, the skull flew back and fell off in front of Pawang Pahar. It brought back with him a disgusting smell and a horrifying sight.
The skull was full of blood and it was coated with large, living, green maggots. The faulty smell was terrible and it dizzied Pawang Pahar on his first inhale of breath. The maggots attacked Pawang Pahar with no mercy and they breeded almost instantly. Within seconds, Pawang Pahar's body was covered with disgusting, green maggots. Pawang Pahar screamed in agony and tremendous pain.
Hawa who was cooking in the kitchen at that time heard her husband's cry. She ran to the living room to see what had happened. She saw her husband was no longer in the form of a normal human being, but had turned more into a living skeleton.
The skull had returned into its original condition. There were no maggot nor traces of blood. It looked clean as if nothing had touched it before. It lay peacefully on the floor.
Hawa saw her husband struggled to get free from the maggot attack. He tried to pull out the maggots from biting his flesh, but his flesh came out together with the pull. More blood spilled out from all over his body when he tried to pull more maggots. Pawang Pahar trembled fiercefully for the pain was unbearable and after a long fight he surrended his life to the maggots.
Hawa could do nothing else but to run to his husband and cry her heart out. Even though she was scared she braved herself to lift up her husband's head and put it on her lap. Gradually, the maggots disappeared and within minutes all of them were gone. So did the blood and the faulty smell.
