Pasidaan

Innocent Bait

The house is filled with chatters and laughter.

"Happy Fiesta!"

"Welcome to our humble abode..."

Mama Imelda's kumares and co-teachers are gathered in the sala. As I walk down the stairs with the my off-shoulder white dress and braided hair, Mama Imelda looked at me in admiration. She is wearing a red bestida and her favorite flower crown that she confidently showed-off.

"Mare, this is my daughter Fausta... Fau anak! Magmano ka sa mga ninang mo"

Pagmamano is a Filipino culture of respecting elders.

"Asus Imelda! You have such a lovely daughter! You look like your mother when she was at your age back then, iha" One of Mama Imelda's friends complimented.

"Hoy! Buyag oy!" Mama Imelda blunted. In our community, it is a common belief that saying buyag, after one has admired will drive away the evil spirits that will cause something bad to happen to that child or girl.

I gave them my sincerest smile and walked to the front door. Since my Papa Fidel is a former mayor in town, his political friends are also in the porch with their wine glasses. An ambrosial scent of heavenly food allured me and pulled me towards the kitchen. Pancit was served in the platter since it was believed to give a longer life, along with my favorite Beef Kaldereta. Some of my relatives and cousins are still eating on the table and they greeted me with me the same compliment. I opened the fridge to get some water when the drinking glass accidentally slipped from my grip. The sound of breaking glass reverberated in the whole kitchen. Its shards scatter around my feet and all ominous stares daunt on me.

"Ay! Qué horrible desgracia!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Sus Ginoo! Evil spirits please go away!"

"Hala basin mabuyagan!"

They all frantically blurted. Elders believe that a broken glass is a bad omen, this explains their reactions. Mama Imelda rush to the kitchen with a worried face and helped me clean out the broken fragments.

The incident did not reach the porch so when I get there; Papa Fidel and his friends are clueless. People still arrive in the house, and I greeted them with a warm welcome. In the front yard, the kids are playing and I have never seen Nay Pransing since visitors flooded in and out. What she told me yesterday still left me in confusion. Although it creeps me out, I disregarded the feeling and chose not to put more attention to what she said.

"Fau! Have you seen Patyong? I guess that kid is soaked on sweat right now. Tsk! I will just change his shirt."My cousin Ising asked about his little brother Patyong whom I suspected was playing with the kids around the garden.

"Oh a lot of kids were running back and forth the porch 'sing and they're making me sick! Anyway, I'll go look for Patyong. He must be around the yard playing."

Ising nodded and went back inside the house. As I gaze in the surroundings, two women sitting on the corner of the porch were seriously talking. Their faces are full of fear and I accidentally overheard their talk.

"Gracious! So the rumours are true? Some people are even saying that this house is haunted! Ay amen!"

"That's the exact thing kumare Pistang told me. She said she saw a man standing in front of that Balete tree and then quickly disappeared! My children also told me when they were playing outside the gate, they saw a man wearing all white standing in the Balete tree, but guess what...  it was beheaded! Jusko! I'm having goose bumps!"

"Really? Oh we never know! Ghosts are just in the corners, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a chance to attack us!"

"Indeed, this place is horrible!"

As I eavesdropped, the hair on my neck stood to its end. Suddenly, the cold touch of wind shivered my spine. I walked away from the two women and roamed around the yard. Some kids bumped on me as I try to look for Patyong. No matter how I try to distract myself, my thought always keeps coming back to what I've heard earlier. Those rumors shouldn't be real. I don't believe on such supernatural beings, however, the stories passed from one person to another seem to create an illusion in my mind that scares me out.

As I continued to walk, I reached the quietest place in the garden. This is where Mama Imelda grows her flowers. Children can no longer reach this place since it is at the back of our house like it was secluded and protected. Its silence is deafening and the wind here is intimidating. Even the birds were silent and the flowers stood still as if charged not to move. I was about to go back when I saw a boy standing in front of the Balete tree.

"Tabi tabi po..." I murmured like what elders usually say. It is a polite way to request spirits to move to the side. According to folk beliefs, this is paying respect by acknowledging their existence, avoiding accidents or infringing on their territory.

"Patyong? What are you doing here alone? Come on let's go back inside... Patyong?"

However, Patyong did not respond as he was just staring at the enormous tree. The big Balete tree stood thickly in the center like it owns the entire garden. Its big gnarly branches out-stretched that seems to devour the roof of the house. Its green leaves give shade, racing for their share of the sun's rays.

Before I could call his name again, Patyong slowly turned his head to me. With an eerie smile, he said.

"Ate Fau! He likes you, and he will take you... Soon"