Blackbook

It was around this same time last year when I saw her.

It was exactly midnight and I just parted ways with Bernard and JM in Katipunan. I was still wide awake but no longer had anything else to do so I decided to just go home. There weren’t many cars in Katipunan as I drove towards Balara. I passed Ateneo then the church near CP Garcia. I was just taking my time, still wondering what I can do or who I can bother.

The road going to Balara at night is pretty dark. There were only a few cars. Sometimes, there’s a police patrol stationed there. Most of the time it’s deserted. But tonight, someone else was there. 

I was only several meters away when I saw something that was out of place in that dark, quiet night.  There was a person standing in the bus stop in front of UP Integrated School. As I got closer, I saw that it was a girl because of the long hair covering her face and the white dress she was wearing. As I drove past the bus stop, I peered at her through the passenger window wondering what in the world she was waiting in a bus stop at this hour and wearing a white dress!  People are going to think she’s a white lady…

WHITE LADY!

Very long hair covering her faceI White dress. Midnight. Shiiiit! I continued driving but I slowed down. I kept looking at the side view mirror.

Questions were going through my mind:

1. Was she still there?

Yes, she was  still in the bus stop, standing, not moving at all.

2. Was she a ghost, a white lady or just some inconsiderate and insensitive citizen who thought of wearing a white dress at midnight and brushing her long hair in front of her face just like Sadako while waiting for her ride in a dark, isolated place?

I have no idea.

3. What do I do now?

Keep on driving and look at the side view mirror and make sure she’s still at the bus stop and not the back passenger seat!

4. Do I call for help?

Help with what?!

Thirty meters away, I stopped the car. I weighed my options for a few seconds. I finally told myself that I am NOT going to spend the rest of my life asking myself whether I actually saw a ghost  or not, forever fearing that it might show up some place else. I looked at the side view mirror again. She was GONE!

I stepped on the gas and made a U-turn.

There she was, running to the other side of the road. RUNNING! Why would a ghost run?! The whole thing was a hoax and it was time to turn the tables around.  I got all excited. I flicked my headlights to high beam. You’re going down, baby!

By the time I got to the side in front of the bus stop, she’d run into the darkness. I wanted to jump out of the vehicle and give chase. I was pretty damn sure I was going to be able to catch up. I was really worked up now and I run pretty fast too.  I was going to catch a ghost!!!

But then I thought, the “ghost” might have friends with it somewhere nearby. They’re not going to like it that I just messed up their little act. I didn’t want to run into an ambush. The best thing was to call for reinforcements crazy enough to help me make a “sweep” at midnight. I called JM. No good, he was already home and too far away to do anything. I tried Bernard. He was much farther away with some other friends!

Too bad. It would have been fun. I drove home and congratulated myself all the way back for not running away the minute I saw a supernatural being.

Hopefully, we’ll meet again.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2005 at 7:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.