Ghosts

Yesterday, Cate showed me this picture that she had taken of herself using Ervyn’s phone. She said this had been taken while they were whizzing through the closed MRT station near Potong Pasir. The train never stops at this station even though it’s fully functional and the rumor is that it had been closed due to ghostly appearances, this station being built on a former cemetery and all.

Creepy, isn’t it?

Turns out that the picture is Ervyn’s joke on us. He had used an iphone app to put that ghostly figure in there. The station rumor is a joke as well, though not Ervyn’s. Someone had circulated that story when the truth is that the station has actually never been opened yet because there are too few people living there at the moment. They just built it for the future.

But actually, I’ve never really been afraid of ghosts because I’ve never seen one. In fact when I was younger I used to venture out in the dark by myself in the hope that I would find some so that I’d prove to myself once and for all that they do exist. Never did happen though.

My friends think that I’m brave because of this, so they cling to me whenever they find themselves afraid of the dark and the unknown. Like that time when we were on an overnight retreat during college and something happened that sent all the girls huddled in one bedroom. When we heard sounds outside the window, everyone moved towards me, as though I could somehow protect them. And then when we reviewed for our CPA board exam, we stayed at Immaculate Concepcion Ladies Hall, a really old building that was rumored to be full of ghosts. Maya was so afraid of the dark that during our first night, she pushed her bed next to mine and we went to bed with our hands clasped. “Heids, I’m so scared,” she whispered in the dark whenever we heard strange sounds, which happened a lot because our bedroom was right across the multi-stalled toilet and bathroom. “It’s okay, I’m here,” I whispered back, trying my best to soothe her. Whenever I drifted off to sleep, I would be jolted awake by her fearful whispers, poor dear. I don’t know how we both managed to sleep that night, but we eventually did.

We never saw a ghost in that room, though, but we did feel one. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were cleaning our bedroom. After we had swept the floor, Zenie brushed all the dirt into a dustpan and walked outside, shutting the door behind her. Meanwhile, Maya, Gay and I sat down on our beds or puttered around on the sink, far away from the door. After some time, we saw the doorknob turn and the door swung inwards and we looked outside, expecting Zenie to walk in. To our surprise, we saw her peeking towards us as she sat at a bench with the newspaper in front of her. She thought we had opened the door. So if it wasn’t us and it wasn’t her, then who was it? Creepy.

But the most interesting ghost story I’ve heard happened to my friend Rodel last year during his birthday. It was close to midnight and they were singing videoke in the living room when the smell of candles suddenly permeated the air. One of their guests had a third eye, and she told him, “There’s a ghost, an old female relative of yours greeting you.” Rodel said thank you and the smell went away. He thought his ghost encounters were done, but after he had gone to bed, he was suddenly roused from sleep in the middle of the night to the sound of a girl calling his name. Worse, he could see the outline of her messed up hair at the foot of his bed. Oh my God, he thought as he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, praying that she would leave him alone when she saw that he hadn’t heard her. Still she persisted, and after a while he realized… hey, that’s not a ghost. That’s my roommate Tyne! She was in pain from food poisoning and was asking for his help. Poor Tyne. Masakit na nga ang tiyan, pinagkamalan pang multo. XD