english,
Literary: Funeral
I never liked going to funerals, especially when I didn’t know the person who died. Yet here I am, attending the funeral of somebody I’d never talked to or even met.
My mom told me that the one who died was the daughter of her friend, so she brought me here. I wanted to tell her I'd rather not come, but if I said that to my mom, I have a feeling that the next funeral I’d be going to would be my own.
To relieve my boredom, I pulled my phone out and started playing some games. After a couple of hours, I got bored. I asked my mom who was currently talking to her friends, “Mom, when are we going home?”
“Later, when the coffin is buried, so just sit there and behave, okay?” she replied and went back to her conversation.
I sighed and put my phone away. I stood up and walked around to stretch my legs. I went to the area where the snacks were displayed and got myself some Fita Crackers .
As I walked and nibbled on my biscuits, I looked over to where the coffin was placed. I was curious. I wonder what she looks like.
I walked over to take a peek. The first thing I noticed was her made-up face with a blank expression. I looked at her body and I saw that she was dressed completely in white, both of her hands clasped on top of her stomach, and her long black hair spread over her shoulders.
How tragic, she looked so young and she probably had a bright future ahead of her... but now it’s all gone. I looked at her smiling face one last time before going back to my seat….
Huh? Smiling? I turned back to look again. There was no smile on her face but a blank expression. Weird. Was I just imagining things?
I continued staring at her face until suddenly, a cold hand gripped my shoulder.
“Anak, it’s time to go. Ilalabas na raw yung kabaong para madala na sa sementeryo.”
My God , my heart almost leapt out of my chest! Couldn’t she have just called me without holding my shoulder?
“Ma, please ‘wag mo naman ako gulatin.”
“Ha? Ano? Bilisan mo na, parating na yung mga magbubuhat ng kabaong.”
I moved away from the coffin and went back with my mother. I looked back one more time at the coffin. It was really giving me the creeps; this is exactly why I don’t like going to funerals. I really wanted to go home immediately after this.
The people who were to carry the coffin arrived. They placed the coffin in the hearse. My mother and I got into our car and followed the hearse to the cemetery where the coffin was to be buried. When we arrived at the cemetery, I saw the coffin being carried to a rectangular hole in the ground. My mom and I got out of our car and went to the funeral tent. There, I saw a man and a woman crying while hugging each other. We waited until the coffin was lowered into the grave.
While we were walking back to the car my mom suddenly asked.
“Anak, do you want to go grab something to eat before we go back?”
“No, I just want to go home. I’m kind of tired today, we can eat the leftovers at home.”
And besides, I didn’t want to stay here a minute longer and I didn’t have an appetite after all that. I just wanted to stay home and rest.
“Sure ka? Alam mo ba sabi daw ng iba, kapag diretso ka daw umuwi sa bahay pagkatapos ng burol susundan ka daw ng masamang espiritu?”
“Ma, those are just myths. Naniniwala pa ba kayo diyan? Tinatakot niyo lang ata ako eh”
My mom shrugged and replied
“Well sige uwi na tayo, pero wag mo ko sisihin kapag bigla kang sundan diyan ni Sadako ah”
“Ma, seriously? Hindi na ako naniniwala sa mga multo”
Well, at least that’s what I wanted myself to believe.
When we arrived at our house, it was already evening, so I immediately went upstairs to my room and plopped down on my bed. I felt so tired. As I was about to doze off, I felt something behind me, like someone was watching me. Then suddenly, the lights of my room switched off.
“Mom? Why’d you turn off the lights?”
There was no reply. I looked over at the door of my bedroom and saw that it was open. I was pretty sure I closed it when I entered. Was the door broken? Did someone open it?
Only my mom and I live in the house. My dad works outside the country so only Mom could have opened it.
I got up from my bed and walked over to the door. I turned the knob and pressed the lock to check if the door was working properly. Click. It was working perfectly fine. But if Mom opened the door, where is she?
Clack! Something fell downstairs.
“Mom? Ikaw ba ‘yan?”
I walked over to the stairs but just before I took my first step down, I stopped. It was dark. It was still early evening but why were all the lights out? It was still too early for my mom to be sleeping at this hour and she would always leave a light on. I hesitated for a bit before deciding to continue.
I couldn’t see anything. I tried to look for the light switch but it was far from the stairs so I had to walk towards it. As I walked, I felt a cold wind brushing against my neck. The hairs on my skin stood from the cold. I hurried my steps to reach the switch faster. I tried to reach around for it since I couldn’t see anything in this darkness, and soon I felt the familiar outline of it.
But just as I was about to turn on the lights, I felt a cold hand cover mine. My hand stopped feeling for the light switch and I froze. My body was completely paralyzed. I felt my heartbeat quicken.
“Mom?” I asked, my voice clearly trembling.
The person didn’t reply. I closed my eyes, I was about to cry. I was so scared. Who was it? I wanted to shout and run but my legs were shaking so much that I couldn’t move properly. I tried to move my fingers. I thought to myself that if I were going to die today, I should at least know the face of the person who killed me. I gathered all the courage left in me and switched on the lights.
And there I saw a horrifying bloody face with eyes crying tears of blood.Horrifying in the sense that it was the cheapest-looking Halloween mask I had ever seen. There stood my mother with a mask on her face.
“Boo!”
I couldn’t say anything.
“What? Gusto lang kita takutin, magha-Halloween na eh. Eto naman ‘di mabiro.”
“Mom, are you serious?”
If she weren’t my mother, I would have probably hit her on the head or something. Did she seriously do all that just for a prank?
“Dapat pala kinuhanan ko ng video tapos in-upload ko sa Facebook,” my mom said while laughing.
While she was busy laughing to her heart's content, I started to walk away and climb up the stairs.
“Huy eto naman, we’re about to eat dinner so get back here!”
After she said that, I turned around and walked towards her and looked her in the eyes.
“Please, ‘Ma, ‘wag mo na ulitin ‘yun ever again. Natakot ako, sobra, akala ko kung sinong pumasok sa bahay natin. Alam niyo naman ang panahon ngayon, ‘Ma. Napaka-inappropriate!” I said to her in a stern voice.
I was angry but at the same time I was relieved. It’s a good thing it wasn’t some stranger wanting to rob us or some ghost trying to haunt us.
“O sige, sige, ‘di ko na uulitin. Kumain na lang tayo, baka lumamig pa yung pagkain,” my mom replied in a teasing tone.
I walked with my mom towards the dining room to eat dinner but for some reason, I still couldn’t shake off this feeling. That somebody was watching me. That somebody was following me. I looked out the window and saw a young girl staring directly at me. She was dressed completely in white and had long hair spread over shoulders. I looked at her face and I saw… that she was smiling.
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