A Teacher's Diary

Scary Stories

September 19, 2014

Friday

I was awaken by my sister's voice. She was talking to mom about the continuous lightning and roaring of thunder. I hugged mom and asked, "Wala ng pasok?" My mom answered with a disbelief in her voice, "Ikaw naman, wala agad pasok?" I reached for my phone and checked the time. 3:25 AM. Argh. It's too early. I had a hard time going back to sleep. The sound of the thunder was very hard to miss. And the flashes of lightning were blinding. Mom was telling us, "Kapag ganyan.. magdasal kayo." And then she moved my curtain to fully cover the window since the small portion was missed. I silently uttered a prayer that the lightning and thunder would stop and that I will immediately fall back to sleep.

****

EJ no longer have classes. And still I haven't receive amy updates yet coming from anyone, except that this time it's Kristin who's asking... "Cher, may classes po ba?" I waited for any news. A lot of cities, including Taguig already suspended their classes. I decided to take a bath. I'm not gonna expect that I don't need to go to work. But I am very sure the kids will have a long weekend.

I'm used to it. Even when I was a call center agent before. We were still required to go to work even though there's storm. This is not something new.

****

It's raining really hard. T. Josie didn't allow me to wear jeans. Ugh. I decided to bring my Lenovo with me and the mocha cake Mom received from a friend as a belated birthday gift.

When I arrived in school. I was about to put my umbrella outside the preschool room when I noticed a black figure in the restroom outside the library, just near the preschool door. The rest room door widely opened. The figure suddenly smiled and spoke,

"Kala mo si Rowena no?"

Napa-face palm lang ako. Hindi naman ako kinabahan. Hindi naman nagtayuan ang balbon kong balahibo sa braso. I was not scared. I was just curious why T. Josie didn't switch on the lights while using the restroom. I think she's washing her hands. Siguro kung si T. Jessie nakakita sa kanya... tumili o sumigaw na yun ng wagas.

"Naku hindi po. Hindi po ako naniniwala doon", I answered. Nakakahiya naman kasing idagdag na, "Next time po. Gamit-gamit din po ng ilaw pag may time cher ha? Kaya may mga batang natatakot eh.. dahil ata sa mga ganitong senaryo. She answered back, "Ay. Mabuti naman."

Actually, I do believe in them. Hindi naman porke hindi ako nakakakita, hindi na sila totoo. But I am choosing not to be scared by them. Kasi yun ang bilin sakin ng Dadad.

When I was a kid, I was very scared of dark. I hated Halloween. I remember one time.. Nakikinig ng radyo si papa. And the DJ's were talking about ghosts and paranormal stuffs. I can't sleep with that radio on. Sabayan pa ng mga nakakatakot na sound effects. Naiihi ako nun sa sobrang takot. I peed in my pajamas kasi ayoko ding pumunta sa banyo mag-isa. Since, we were sleeping on the same bed, I woke him up and told him I'm wet. And that I can't sleep because I'm scared. I asked him to turn off the radio. He did. But he told me not to be scared. That if I am, the more they will come and get me. He said, if I don't think of them and told myself I could face them without being scared, they would leave me alone. He added, "Just think that they aren't real. Because ghosts want to scare those who are already afraid." I was convinced.

And from then on... I can go to dark places. I can watch horror movies without closing or covering my eyes.. I can go to haunted houses or horror booths. I can be alone.

And when my papa died, I declared him as my own guardian angel.

So.. if I have a scary story to tell. It's not about ghosts.. It is when a loved one left you... and you know you can no longer see and be with them in this life ever again.

****

We busied ourselves doing the bulletin board. Shane and I finished early. We were told we could go home. T. Kristoff asked me what time do I want to go home. He said, he wants to go by 9:30. I bargained with 10:00 since were already at school. Why not finish everything I need to accomplish.

I also finished my next week's lesson plan. I was also able to organize the outputs of my grade 5 pupils into their F4. I just went to grade 1 room for a while but then Shane showed up. Nagyayaya ng umuwi. I left T. Jenn and T. Kristoff at school. Sorry po :( T. Des and T. Shane were in a hurry. Nagmadali na rin ako dahil gustong-gusto ko na rin umuwi. I could do more at home.

****

Anyway, I received a text from Hailey's mom today.

"Good morning t. april! Monday-Thursday na lang ang sked ni hailey for the tutor. and then im not sure if your getting my messages here bcoz last time, sept 12, i texted abt the payment kng every when but no reply. if you have another number, pls let me know so i contact u in both numbers. i will resend the text i sent last sept. 12 po. thanks!

SEPT. 12 TEXT:

Good afternoon teach! sa monday na lang po mag tutor si hailey. thank you po. when you hav time teach, pls text me po if monthly or bi monthly ang payment po! thank you po teacher april!!"

I agreed that bimonthly na lang yung payment. Yey! Makakaipon na ko. ^-^

****

I did laundry and after that, I replayed Ghajini since I wasn't able to finish it last week. Hands down to Aamir Khan, he never failed to amaze me with his movies.

I was tired. When I woke up, which was around 9 PM, I received messages from EJ. One was a forwarded message. And I noticed Kuya Chris, one of the guards in our school forwarded me the same.

"I-off daw mamaya ang mga Cp o anu mang Gadget natin. 10:30pm till 3:30am dahil sa malakas na radiation at cusmic rays, nucli atomic. bnalita ni kuya kim , CNN at BBC sa skycable. Delikado makamatay daw. Wag itabi ang cp sa pag2log mmya .. kindly share nlng din sa ibang friends natin.

Please don't ignore it.. 2 prevent danger.

FORWARDED

- Totoo kaya to?"

Nevertheless if it's true or not, I forwarded it to people on my contact list. I don't have much time left since it's already 9:00. I don't see anything bad if people would comply kahit hindi pa totoo. At least, matutulog pa sila ng maaga at makakatipid pa sa kuryente. People these days are addicted to gadgets. I, myself lack sleep sometimes because I play games or write in Wattpad even it's already late night. There are boon and bane of technology. And people had become dependent to it. Try nila pumunta at magbakasyon sa Anawangin, Zambales ng isang Linggo. Without signal and electricity. Tingnan ko kung hindi mabaliw ang mga techie.

***

After I ate my dinner, I decided to go to the restroom.. Again, a black figure while the door is wide open.

It was just mom, peeing. Bakit ba kasi ayaw nilang gumamit ng ilaw. Buti na lang talaga, I rarely drink coffee. Buti hindi ako nerbyoso.

This time, I told my mom, "Ma? Bakit hindi ka nag-iilaw??"