As a typical Filipino child, I indulge listening to tagalong short stories inspired by Philippine mythology and folklore. Most of these are scary urban stories with magical creatures and other malevolent entities taunting my innocent yet vivid imagination.



In the middle of the night, as I gaze on the window. I could imagine a Mananangal passing by. Then I embrace myself, quickly hides under my covers as my sudoriferous glands starts to leak.All of a sudden, an abrasive flapping sound (oh my! Are those wings?) hurled into my ears. Then the sound became louder and louder and LOUDER! And then it stopped – I felt something's moving on my feet. I could feel a clammy thing touching my skin – now on my legs. The wind blew and there was a silhouette or was it a shadow I don't really know but I thought of it as a Mananangal blocking the bright fluorescents lights. Instead of hiding under the covers, I cringed facing right covering my eyes with my hands.



Frozen in fear, eyes shut for the moment, I couldn't even hear anything. But I know something crawled from my legs up to my chest. Hair rose behind my spine, I thought I was going to die – it’s the end for me. I’m going to see a wicked face! I'm going to see a Mananangal or an Aswang's hideous face.



An old lady, with a distinctively large pointed nose, a boil sticking on its tip; she had sallow complexion, her scattered gray hair is full of cockroaches, lice and other bugs and since I'm the nth victim of the night her hands are already gory. The wind was blowing hard and the lights turned on and off and I know she’s goin to eat me out alive! Oh my. . .I have to do something. I have to open my eyes. . I have to face my fear and oh my Gahhh..whaatt.. the hell...I screamed!!!

Ahhhhhh! I screamed to my lungs. Only to find out that it was. .

It was just Chippy! (Chippy is my late pet cat).

Oh no! There's the face again..

Nahh..it was just my imagination.

But? What about the flapping sounds? The flickering of lights? That something is blocking the fluorescent lights?

The fan, the changing of flourescent lights and the curtains. :D How fragile could I be?

That’s how scary stories almost ruined my childhood life, giving me nightmares and sleepless nights. My parents have once told me not to go out at night because there’s a “Kapre” living on the Balete Tree two blocks away from the house. That is aside from the Mananangal and Aswang stories (even movies) which have influenced me. I believed them though; I've always been suspicious about that tree since I was five. It looks old and creepy in fact I've had a nightmare about it. It may have given me frights at night but I never let it ruin my playtime by daylight. Not even when one fine afternoon, while I was playing with my half-Chinese friend on their yard. A devil showed up right before our eyes!


The devil was my big fat cousin. He's an asshole back then and sometimes even now. hehe. PEACE! He just want to beat us down or scare us to death - that's what makes him happy I think. But he obviously failed that time! And for him, we owe him BIG TIME! I thought. So he may prepare something that might scare the hell out of us, especially to me.



The sky was partly lit up, invoking mystical creatures to wander around. As I walk pass by the neighbors houses, the sun went out and the moon blazed in the dark blue sky.Then I heard a Pssst... .

Could it be him? I continued my pace as I gulp a spit. . .

It was followed by another. . So I walked even faster.

But it didn't stop.In fact it went on simultaneously - around 4 more times and the pssting sound got stuck into my head as if it was done by a creature of the dark. The Kapre, I thought.

Although I have the idea that it could be my cousin, that thought vanished when I saw a dark figure from above the Balete tree a few steps away from where I was.The figure was all black and so did the Balete tree as it was located before the only sodium vapor lamp streetlight in our street. I stood frozen in fear in the middle of the street. Then a gust of wind blew from behind, and forced me to run, eyes staring above as I crossed the Balete tree. What a ferocious monster could it be!?





I flew away home crying, begging for help “Please let me in!”, “Please let me in!” Then my Grandmother opened the gate. I didn’t went outside for a week . . . .


But it never prevented me to stop playing still. haha  I played with my cousins and my younger siblings on my cousin’s front yard and played there “Luto-lutoan and Bahay-bahayan” (in English Cooking-cooking and House-Housing.lol) and we also played tag. But my bully cousin went to avenge me, ruined the moment by warning us about monsters – not just monsters but ugly devil like monsters lying underneath my other cousin's house!! He filled our poor innocent minds with gruesome images we wished we’re home in an instant. He’s a big bad bully and indeed one of the craziest bastards of my childhood days. So, I went home feeling doomed. I bid playtime goodbye. In my mind  "I couldn't even go next doors?"But I cannot just stay home my whole life.

I guess, I need to do something. So I came up with an evil plan!

To Be Continued. . .