In a small fishermen's village, there lived a family small and poor family.
An abusive and alcoholic father, a weak and pregnant mother, and an eight-year-old girl.
They had little to eat as the father was a lazy fisherman. He would seldom fish and his catch was not enough to support them.
At night, the father would be away to drink with his friends while the mother and child stay at home without food.
Mother and daughter would sleep their hunger away. The mother had a lovely voice so she would sing lullabies to her daughter to sleep.
One day the mother gave birth to the second child.
Unfortunately, the mother was weak and died after the child was born. Leaving behind a little girl to care for her newly born baby brother.
The little girl was worried about her little brother's food. They didn't have milk but only water from the well. Their father wouldn't give them money, instead would beat her if she ever asked for money.
Sometimes their neighbors would take pity on them and give them soup or leftover food. Sometimes the mischievous children would climb coconut trees. Her little brother would drink the juice while she ate the flesh of the coconut.
But this was not enough. At night there would be nothing to eat.
Every night when the toddler cries for milk the father would get angry. He would shout, curse, hit the little girl, or sometimes disappear all night to drink.
One night the father was asleep. The little girl, fearing to wake their father's sleep, took her little brother out to the shores as he started crying.
She hushed and cradled her brother trying to calm him. Then she started singing him lullabies.
On a moonlight night, a child walked the sandy shores singing a lullaby to her younger brother. Her lullaby rang through the quiet night.
It was a beautiful scene.
The little girl had inherited her mother's lullabies and was born with a lovely voice like her mother.
Night after night, the little girl would sing her caring lullabies on the shores.
Until one night her younger brother was too hungry to sleep. Instead of lullabies, it was the cries of an aggrieved child that rang through the shores at night.
The little girl anxiously comforted her baby brother. Tears started to form in her eyes. She too was hungry and helpless.
She continued to walk both comforting her little brother while shedding helpless tears.
With teary eyes widened as she saw a dugong. The creature was a few feet away and was looking at her. It gently bowed at her and seemed to be urging her to come closer.
Afraid at first but courage overcame the little girl as she walked closer to the dugong. It was neither hostile nor wary of her but instead had a gentle aura.
The dugong was attracted to the lullabies she sang every night. In fact, a group of dugongs have been listening to her lullabies every night. The little girl was too focused on singing for her brother to notice them.
Now they have come distressed to her cries instead of lullabies in the night.
The dugong lay on the sand as it urged the little girl to come closer. And without hesitation let the baby suckle for its milk.
Finally, her brother was fed milk.
Happy, the little girl sang for the dugong. It was also then she noticed a group of dugongs near the shore. They were listening to her as well.
And so, every night a dugong would wait for the children every night on the shores to feed the baby while the little girl would sing for them. Sometimes, they would bring fish with them for the girl to eat. And so, the two children were fed and no longer starved at night.
This happened for years even after the baby has weaned but the children would still see the dugongs every night.
However, their father realized something amiss. The children were no longer weak and thin but become a bit healthy and energetic.
He knew there was not much food to feed yet the children didn't look hungry and sometimes there was fish to cook. At first, he thought that they were fished by the children but the fish they had was the type found in the deep sea.
One night, he came back early from drinking and found out the children were not at home. He was puzzled but didn't care and just slept.
But then he noticed the children disappearing more than just once.
Angry, he searched for them in the dark night. He searched for them everywhere and just as he was about to call for help from the neighbors, he saw them playing by the shores with a dugong.
Enraged, he ran towards them and attacked the dugong. He was a fisherman and carried a fishing spear with him. He didn't care for his children's cries and pleadings as he killed the dugong.
The other dugongs swam and scattered away.
The father then dragged the children home and locked them up.
However, his crime irked the sea as the next day a strong storm hit the land, causing destruction and chaos. The villagers were unprepared and some speculated that someone had caused this catastrophe.
A few days passed by, and the village slowly recovered from the storm. The sea had calmed down and now the fishermen could return to fishing.
The father went out to the sea to fish.
On his fishing boat, as he prepared his net, something bumped into his boat causing him to tumble. Staggering to get up on his rocking boat, he was terrified and tumbled again on his boat. His face turned pale as he trembled at the sight of dugongs surrounding him in his little fishing boat.
There were dozens of them circling his little fishing boat. Dugongs were friendly creatures but the sight of them terrified him. He recalled the night he killed a dugong out of rage because of his children.
Scared, he cursed and fumbled on his boat. Realizing the other fishermen had long disappeared.
The dugongs rocked his boat sending him further and further into the sea until he disappeared. He never appeared again. The other fishermen came back to the village and told them what happened. Thus, they did not go and search for the children's father. As villagers who lived by the sea, they know better than to disturb the mythical creatures of the sea.
It was not known what exactly happened to the two children after their father's disappearance. It was told grew up well without their father.