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burnt so something like you cannot happen.”
    “Sorry lah, sorry lah, I’m just doing my job,” the toyol whimpered. “You know my boss. He’s the king.”
    “The king?”
    “The owner,” said the toyol. “The one in charge. The pengurus. The king.”
    Then I knew who it meant.
    “Go Back to your boss and tell him to go and die,” I said. “I’m going Back to sleep. I see you here again, I’ll kill you.”
    “But—”
    “You can hear or not? You want me to say ‘I’ll kill you’ louder a bit?”
    “No, but—”
    “Go away!”
    The toyol’s lower lip wobbled.
    “Don’t I even get a hug?” it said.
    “Go Back now,” I said, “or I will cremate your ass.”
    It went away after that, but I didn’t sleep. Like I said, I never go Back. I stayed awake until morning, listening to the earth. The voices were uneasy, but at least the earth never lies.
    In the morning, I went to look for the forest spirit when I knew it wouldn’t be awake yet. You believe or not? I spent so many days waiting for the forest spirit to give me my freedom, I even knew its habits. You see how dangerous the smile of the forest spirit is?
    The forest spirit looked very blur when it came down its tree to meet me.
    “Wah, early ah, boss,” it said, but I didn’t let it say any more.
    “From you, right? That toyol,” I said. “I cannot stand toyol, you know or not? They’re disgusting. Even cockroach I think are better.”
    Its face changed, but it looked alien no matter what expression it had.
    “Ah, they’re not so bad,” it said. “Not like a dead baby’s going to do anything else what. Might as well make it useful, right?”
    “I cannot stand toyol,” I said, tight with anger, “and I cannot stand your kind of playing around. ‘Tomorrow, tomorrow’—and all the time you just want me to stay so you can steal my money. If you want money, no problem. You should just say, ‘If you want the freedom of the land, must pay fee.’ Like that I don’t mind. I’m not asking you for favour. But day after day you say ‘tomorrow’. Day after day, ‘Come lah, drink tea with me lah, tomorrow sure can lah.’ All because you want to rob me.”
    “I didn’t—”
    “You sent your toyol in,” I said. “You went in without my permission. Don’t you know you cannot go into an earth spirit’s hole without asking? But you don’t even know how to respect!”
    “Bloody—! You don’t even let me explain!”
    “Explain what? Got what to explain? You intruded!”
    “You don’t even have the freedom anyway!” it shouted.
    It was right. You don’t really own your hole until the land accept you. Until you have the freedom of the land, your hole belongs to the local forest spirit, like everything else.
    But it felt like my hole. I slept so many nights in it; I knew the earth so well. Now it was all spoil. You cannot go into an earth spirit’s hole without asking first. It is like stepping into a person’s heart without being invited. For an earth spirit, it is the same thing.
    I bowed.
    “I’m sorry I intruded so long in your area,” I said. “This is obviously the wrong place for me. I will find another place to set up hole.”
    I bowed again because I was so angry, and then I left.
    The rest of the day I looked for new hole, but I was too damn miserable. Setting up a hole doesn’t mean simply digging anywhere, in any mood. When you dig your hole, you must be full of good thoughts. You must be thinking of how happy your parents will be when you send money Back hole; you must think of the children you will have to fill your hole. Then the earth will be happy with you, and you will have a good life in your hole.
    But I was too tired and heart-pain to look properly, so finally when it was late and the light was turning blue, I just dug a hole where I was. An earth spirit must not be out when the sun has gone down. There are too many hungry gods and spirits in this world.
    But the earth’s voices were not happy and