Cursed Stillborn
Suriyati was a beautiful Malay girl who lived in one of the villages in Johor. Of a petite built, Suriyati had pale skin for Malay. Her facial features were delicate, with big almond eyes, a small straight nose, and luscious lips, framed by a oval face. Her hair were also the envy of many girls in her village, long flowing straight hair that reached down to her waist. Indeed, Suriyati was the village flower.
When it was time for Suriyati to get married, it was not unusual for her to have many suitors. All the young men in her village had dreamed of marrying her. The braver ones had sent their representatives to her house to ask for her hand in marriage.
However, one by one, she refused them all, without any second thoughts. Despite this, offers still came, and soon word of her beauty spread beyond her village, and the villagers started to see suitors from the neighbouring village at her doorstep.
From a lower middle-income family, Suriyati had little luxury since young. Ridiculed by her friends in school, Suriyati knew that she had to crawl out of the poverty hole. The only way for her to get out, was to marry somebody rich. Since her previous suitors were from her village, she knew them and knew that they could not give her the life she craved for.
One day, a proposal came from somebody from another village from the north. Apparently, the suitor was an heir to his father's timber company.
Feeling that he was the right person for her, Suriyati accepted the proposal. She was looking for someone who could take care of her both financially and emotionally, and this wealthy guy was the right one.
When news of her marriage acceptance spread through the village, the families of her rejected suitors were furious to know that Suriyati had looked down on their son's proposal, and married instead someone rich from another village. Her parents were relieved that their daughter had finally made up her mind, but the villager's unhappiness made them worry for her.
To ensure that nothing went wrong before the marriage, Suriyati was not allowed to go out with her fiance. He could only visit her at home and the young couple must be chaperoned by either parent at all times. Suriyati was an obedient child, and she understood that she must not bring shame to her parents. Although she was anxious to meet her fiance, she understood her parent's concern.
Despite all the precautions her parents had taken, things still went awry for Suriyati.
At first, Suriyati's periods stop coming. Four months into the engagement, her abdomen had started to swell. Suriyati also woke up every morning feeling nauseous.
"Suriyati, are you pregnant?" Her mother asked.
"No, Ma."
"Why is your stomach sticking out? You don't lie to your parents okay?"
"I don't know, Pa. Please believe me. You are around whenever he visits. I did not do anything."
Her parents brought her to the doctor. After several painful tests, the result was negative. Suriyati was not pregnant. However, the doctor could not explain her swelling abdomen.
The rumours started, spreading throughout the village like wildfire. No matter how hard Suriyati's parents denied the allegations, the villagers refused to believe their story. They began to whisper whenever they saw her on the streets.
"Now, you know, she is pregnant."
"Yes, she deserve it. Such an arrogant girl. Servers her right to be pregnant."
"Do you think it is her fiance?"
"Must be, then who else could it be?"
"No, that cannot be. His father is such a respectable man. And the fiance look so decent. It cannot be him. She must be playing behind his back."
"Must be, if not how come her stomach is so big."
"That's right. Her parents still want to deny it. It's so obvious. They're treating us as if we are all so stupid, as if we don't know how a pregnant woman would look like."
None of the villagers were sympathetic. Only their immediate neighbour understood their troubles. The rumours were vicious, lashing out at Suriyati at every opportunity.
Hearing about her swelling abdomen, Suriyati's fiance went to her house to visit. On seeing her, he could not cope with it. Thinking that he had been made a fool, he broke off the engagement one month later.
Suriyati's parents stayed by her and supported her throughout the ordeal. After nine months, nothing happened. The day the three of them had been waiting for never materialise.
Suriyati did not got into labour.
Suriyati's pregnancy stretched to twelve months. By then, her parents knew that something was wrong. The villagers had began to wonder what was wrong. Some of the families even blamed that year's poor harvest on the poor girl, calling her a jinx. All in the village now realised that Suriyati was not pregnant but no man in the village would take her as the she looked 'pregnant'.
Worried sick, they decided to follow the advice of one of their relatives and seek help. One by one, they were introduced to every bomohs in Johor, spending lots of money and raising hopes at every turn. However, none could help her.
The black magic spell cast was too powerful to be broken.
For eight years, Suriyati carried her burden. Eight long and humiliating years she carried the 'pregnant' abdomen. However, Suriyati did not lose faith. Neither did her parents.
One of Suriyati's rejected suitors from the neighbouring village got to know of her plight. Remembering the sweet-faced girl he met many years back, he sympathised with her. Together with Suriyati and her parents, they went off to a faraway state to consult with a powerful bomoh.
According to the young man, this bomoh had inherited the craft from his father, and was a well-respected man of his village. Looking at Suriyati, he told them that the cure for her condition would be time consuming and told them to be patient.
Everyday, the bomoh would give her abdomen a medical rub as she worried parents looked on. Believing in the bomoh, they would go back to him everyday.
Soon, the day came for the cure. The bomoh was rubbing Suriyati's abdomen as usual, when she started to experience painful contractions in her abdomen. Knowing that the cure was near, he told them to hold on to Suriyati tight, while he continued to massage.
As the bomoh massaged Suriyati's abdomen, he began to chant. Gritting her teeth, Suriyati felt the pain in her abdomen intensify. Soon, unable to bear the pain twisting in her, she screamed and writhed. Something was clawing at her abdomen, trying to get out. After a while, the pain subsided, and she blacked out.
Her relief did not last long. Soon enough, the pain was back. This time, it was more painful. Again, it grew to the point where Suriyati thought that she would go mad. On the stretched skin of her abdomen, her parents could see bumps appearing, as if something was trying to claw its way out from the inside. However, they held on tightly to their daughter's hand, and told her to hold on and be strong.
After two hours of struggle, Suriyati gave birth. What came out from Suriyati's stomach was beyond anyone's imagination. A black dool carved out of stone, fifteen centimetres long, it looked exactly like Suriyati.
The bomoh then told them that the black magic was cast by their immediate neighbour, the one who had stood by her all the while. They were very angry that Suriyati had rejected their son's proposal, forcing him to commit suicide. Having Suriyati and her family, and had thus decided to punish her for her selfish pride.
Shaking his head sadly, the bomoh told them that once the powerful spell on Suriyati was broken, their immediate neighbour would die, for they had sold their souls to make Suriyati suffer and such would be the price of a powerful spell.
Not wanting to return to their village, Suriyati and her family decided to move away for good. Recovered from the spell, she was once again the village beauty, and suitors came to call on her once more.
This
time however, she was more humble, and took the time to turn the marriage
proposals down. She had decided to do something with her life to rise out
of the hole of poverty.