Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Unspooked (Nothing to Fear But Fear)

This time of year, people get sorted out into two types.

Those who've seen ghosts and those who haven't.

For all my interest in the occult, I am one of those who haven't.

I work in a building said to be densely haunted, built as it is on what used to be a stretch of killing fields during the "Japanese time." Every other officemate has reported unexplained sightings, soundings, and sensings. And of course, the stories fly thicker and faster as November comes near.

It is always Hector this and Hector that.

Hector is the most popular of our resident ghosts.

Last seen, Hector was walking the office corridors and entering the men's washroom. The only trouble is he snubbed the door and entered directly into the wall. He must have stayed there because even the most macho of our macho men stayed clear of the men’s room all day.

Objects were getting lost all week. Keys, files, mobile phones. Si Hector kasi. Then they are wondrously put back. Si Hector din kasi.

One morning last week, as I came in, there was a crowd huddling by the big glass door. "Look, look," they say, "there’s Hector." Before I could scamper away, someone assured me “... it is just his image.” My less than 20-20 vision could only make out amorphous blotches, even as everyone else saw a silhouette of eyes, nose, mouth on the glass door -- as though the surface was thick with mist and someone pressed his face unaccountably on it. The consensus: “Guapo pala si Hector.”

My own daughter had close brushes with Hector, too. She has espied him in caucus with his buddies by the dimly-lit lounge near the stairway. In my room one night, she saw the main door swing open and then swing close, with no visitor to account for the motion. Since then, she refused to again come up at night unless I fetched her from the ground floor.

One night, many years ago, the reconnoitering
security guard heard earnest typing at the director’s office on our floor. A workaholic spirit by all indications, as the click-clacking on the keyboard continued until the small hours of morning. Also an impatient one, because between click-clacks, there was the bang-clang of file cabinets flinging open and pushing shut.

First thing the next morning, sure enough, a computer was seen still running. On the screen was a single word: “Hector.” And that was how the playful phantom identified himself.

Come to think of it, I am the only person in the office willing to work alone late at night nowadays, with only the security guard on the lobby for insecure company. When my friends ask me why or how, I can only mumble: “There’s nothing to fear but fear.”

I don’t know why I am impervious to Hector and his buddies. All I know is that they just do not seem to like me, for why else have they never spooked me?!

I think I am about to take personal offense.

Note:


Last night, at the online scrabble club, I opened a game with the word "S-P-I-R-I-T-S." My opponent in turn answered with the word "S-E-N-S-I-N-G." One of us remarked how our bingos kept with the spirit of November 1st.

And that is how this post got written.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Me too, I've always wanted to see, or at least, feel the presence of an unworldly being. But it looks like they're more scared of me than I to them, hehe...

Happy halloween, myrna. Boo! :-D

Anonymous said...

I'm easily spooked but I haven't seen a thing yet. I hope I won't be able to. You are brave Annamanila for being able to stand being in a room said to be inhabited by things not seen normally. It is fear that makes us fearful.

Have a wonderful long weekend with your family :)

Anonymous said...

Whenever I work on Sundays, I make it a point not to be left alone, especially during the night. I haven't seen anything, though sometimes I feel or hear something suspiciously eerie. I'm such a coward! :)

Anonymous said...

Di ko kayang tapusin. Kinakabog dibdib ko waaaaaah!

MrsPartyGirl said...

hehe, very halloween-y. :) don't take hector's snub personally, maybe he's just waiting for the right moment to introduce himself. *wink*

exskindiver said...

Very brave, this AnnaManila.

(I am not)

Gypsy said...

Oh wow, I agree with Chesca, you are very brave--but then again, I always say, "Be more afraid of thieves who break in than of ghosts who just wanna do office work." ;)

noemi said...

Tama ka. now that is really freaky. But I have learned to live with the unknown for so long. Living in an old house in the past exposed me to so many weird sounds and smells.

Anonymous said...

youre about to take offense huh? this reminds me of someone i knew back in college who claimed to be able to open third eyes. should i ask him to get in touch with you? hehehe, joke lang :)

ive never experienced such things myself. hindi rin ako lapitin. pero hindi ako nagtatampo :D

Anonymous said...

spooky...I honestly wouldn't know how to react if I ever see one, at least you can say I see dead people, er person...

Anonymous said...

you're lucky you haven't seen "them". i have a "third eye" but it's pretty inconsistent, recently inactive. it runs in the family. got it from my dad. my niece is showing signs she can see them too.

Anonymous said...

i have never experienced/seen such things. probably because when i hear weird/eerie noises,i always come up with an explanation.

could someone in the office be playing tricks?

Princess said...

While I believe that some are really "ghost friendly", I don't think I am. But I have a very vivid memory of a close encounter with one. Wanna hear about it?
BTW, enjoy reading the quotes on your side bar. May I borrow some?

Wenchie said...

Hi Annamanila, I missed your blog buddy. Been away for 5 days, nilagnat na yata ako kasi di ako naka-blog he he. Ok yan si Hector ha, di nya type pag matapang and baka snob ka daw, ha ha. Seriously, ako I've seen and heard them lots of times, nasanay nako kahit san kami tumira, lagi silang nandyan ayoko lang pag me nawawalang gamit sa bahay, ilalabas lang pag di na kelangan...

ysrael said...

I just posted a 2 related topics today. I knew it was kinda late pero Im still wishing to na mabasa mo ito today kasi may scrabble torney sa SM North edsa at 10 am, Nov. 4. Sana makarating at join na rin. Halos andoon lahat ang mga classmate natin sa ISC.

Anonymous said...

I am one who also have not seen nor encountered any ghosts. And I don't want to! Once in a while, when I have to go downstairs in the middle of the night, I'll tell to myself, Pa, I miss you, but please I don't want to see your ghost. :)

Anonymous said...

based on experience, i don't see ghosts when i'm scared. it's when you expect it that something happens. most of my encounters are like that.

gibbs cadiz said...

"Come to think of it, I am the only person in the office willing to work alone late at night nowadays..."

but of course! hector's no match to you. i bet you'll even invite him to a game of scrabble when you see him. haha, but yeah, i've been to your office/building at night, remember? it's REALLY spooky! :)

duke said...

ooh, hector doesn't like you. hehe.

looks like someone's been having fun taking pranks to the limits - that is, if hector really isn't real. if he is that ghost that he is, he sounds like a friendly one.

Anonymous said...

Halaka, nariyan si Hector sa likod mo!

Ako eh, duwag, magaling manakot sa sarili. indeed, we make our own ghosts.

vernaloo said...

wow! atapang atao si Annamanila hehe me I wouldn't dare work in a haunted office alone (even if the ghost is goodlooking like Hector hehe)

ScroochChronicles said...

Aba aba aba, mukhang may future si Hector as a blogger. At marunong pang gumamit ng computer ang moomoo.

Seriously, since I can see them, I wouldn't want to be going to your office because I'm sure magpapakilala sa akin si Hector. Naku, baka isama pa niya ako sa mundo ng kadiliman. MWAHAHAHA!!

Abaniko said...

Don't you think it was Hector who played scrabble with you? I wish he plays badminton too, no? I'll challenge him to a midnight match. Hehe.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps skepticism has a way of driving away potential spooks? I've never had any close encounters with the supernatural kind myself. Well, what else can I say, except: "The mind sees what it wants to see."

Anonymous said...

I always thought you're a brave heart! Ako di mo na rin mapapa akyat dun, unless sundo mo ko sa baba ha... hehe. Joke! :) But really those dark stairwells give me the creeps... though never in my life have I seen any moomoos.

Jap said...

Anna, I just love the way you write your anecdotes. I had a great time reading this and like you, up to this day, I'm still waiting for my first encounter with ghosts. Somebody told me that the more you want to see a ghost the more they'll avoid you. So, repeat after me: "we don't want to see ghosts!" =)

Anonymous said...

spooky--remember that was the very first thing i told you when i came to your office? that must have been hector wanting to greet me, shyly hiding by the silent corridors.

Anonymous said...

acckkk grabe kung may Hector sa paligid ko, I sing them away hahaha When I was in UPLB, I often find myself looking in just one direction, avoiding sideway glances & often would whisper "wag kayong magpakita, duwag ako" hehe

takot ko lang!

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