At first, it looked like every other morning on Buton Island: soft light, damp soil, the rustle of leaves as Wa Siti moved between her vegetable rows. When she did not return, her family felt the familiar twinge of worry that comes with life in a rural village. That worry turned to dread when her sons found her basket lying in the dirt, its contents spilled, as if dropped in a single, terrified motion.

What they discovered next will haunt them forever: their mother, lifeless, trapped in the coils of a massive python. Villagers rushed in desperation, fighting to free her from the snake’s grip, but the struggle had ended long before they arrived. In the days that followed, grief mixed with anger and fear. People spoke in hushed voices about shrinking forests, hungry animals, and a world where even a simple walk to the garden can become a fatal crossing of paths.