{"id":3910,"date":"2024-10-02T15:01:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T07:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/?p=3910"},"modified":"2025-04-21T20:38:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T12:38:25","slug":"five-days-at-inas-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/five-days-at-inas-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Five days at Ina’s House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joross Michael D. Bongcarawan<\/em><\/p>\n

Aircon… ON. Electric fan\u2026 ON. Zainab is slurping an iced tea. Ali is enjoying some ice cream treats. Zulaikah is taking a shower and has been there for about 20 minutes now. Everyone is coming up with a\u00a0diskarte<\/em>\u00a0to beat the heat, but to no avail; we failed no matter how hard we tried.<\/p>\n

It was a hot Sunday afternoon in January. The sun has been rising unusually hot these past few weeks. The wind cannot even move a leaf. The lake is waveless as if it\u2019s also resting under the boiling heat of the sun. Everything seems to be still.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines is currently experiencing a severe increase in temperatures in several parts of the country, signifying threats from El Nino,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhh, it\u2019s so hot,\u201d my sister complained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just took a bath, but look, my sweats are already dripping one by one. Subhanallah,” she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou Khaliq? \u2018Don\u2019t you feel hot at all?\u201d, she asked.<\/p>\n

I just nodded my head in response. I can\u2019t even dare to move. It feels like moving a bone can make me sweat profusely.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssalamu alaykum. Ina,\u00a0mapipiya kano<\/em>\u00a0san<\/em>?\u201d, Omie said as she talked with Grandma on the phone. \u201cWe are planning on spending a vacation there tomorrow.\u00a0Katawan kadn, inikadali ka i Ghafur ago gya mga wata,”<\/em>\u00a0she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll bring the kids with us because it\u2019s been a while since you last saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNa gyuto Ina ow<\/em>. I\u2019ll call you again. Assalamu alaykum.\u201d<\/p>\n

My mother informed us that we would be visiting our Grandma\u2019s hometown\u2014\u00a0the small but happy town of Banga Pantar. I, together with my siblings, jumped in excitement. It\u2019s been ages since we last stepped foot in that cold, peaceful town. I think we won\u2019t be able to sleep all night out of excitement.<\/p>\n

If I can remember it well, I was just five when I last saw Grandma before we permanently settled in Quezon City. I was so young back then. I can vividly remember how she makes\u00a0palapa<\/em>, which is a staple dish in our daily meals. I didn\u2019t like it at first because it was spicy, but I eventually grew to like it, and it has become my favorite since then!<\/p>\n

The night came. Everyone fell asleep. While I, still eyes wide open, busy thinking about all the good things I can do there and such traditional foods I can eat as\u00a0dodol<\/em>, jackfruit with some coconut shreds, and yes!\u00a0Palapa<\/em>! And my\u00a0bolayoka<\/em>!!! There\u2019s Gaza, Ayyub, and my best friend, Iyash!\u00a0Langit, Lupa? Sili-sili? Tagu-taguan<\/em>? Oh! All those games we played before. Ah! It took me an hour or two, or more, to imagine all these things.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, a loud sound of knocking resonated through our walls.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure\u2026<\/p>\n

It was past midnight already, so…<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s normal to…<\/p>\n

Imagine unreal things? Ey! There\u2019s no such thing as…<\/p>\n

Ya Allah! Someone is really trying to crack our door open!<\/p>\n

I can see how much force he is trying to exert with those loud thuds. Until\u2026. Ya Allah! It was opened. And I saw… a silhouette of a huge man… His muscles\u2026. are gigantic\u2026. His face… I cannot see it. But oh! His knee\u2026. I can see it dripping with blood. Then he started walking… towards me\u2026 slowly\u2026 and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAhhhhh! \u201d, I screamed.<\/p>\n

My alarm rang. It was 7 a.m. already. The rooster started crowing. The birds were chirping.<\/p>\n

Shoot! What a dream! I quickly woke up and washed my face to fully awaken my soul. Maybe it\u2019s because of my overexcitement. But somehow it helped me wake up early, as I usually make bed at 10 a.m. when on break.<\/p>\n

\u201cPupunta tayo sa babu n\u2019yo maya-maya.<\/em>\u00a0Start packing your things,” Omie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIlang araw po pala tayo dun<\/em>, Omie? \u201d, I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201c5 days only.\u00a0Phkatangkaan mambo a phakatnggaw a dunya<\/em>. Your father also missed your grandma, that\u2019s why,” she replied.<\/p>\n

My little siblings once again jumped in excitement. It was a semestral break, so it wouldn\u2019t hurt to enliven our bodies and souls in the meantime.<\/p>\n

As we finished packing our things, we started traveling. It was quite a long trip, so I fell asleep in the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cKhaliq,\u00a0dumating na tayo. Kawto si Ina ka nanayawn ka<\/em>\u00a0niyan<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was half-awake, but as soon as I saw Grandma\u2019s face, it felt like a bucket of water was splashed right on my face.<\/p>\n

\u201cInaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!\u201d, I screamed while running to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAydow, watakulay akn a Khaliq<\/em>. You\u2019ve grown a lot!\u201d, Grandma said. \u201cLet\u2019s go inside and eat. I have prepared a lot for you to dig in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIna,\u00a0may palapa ba<\/em>? \u201d, I asked. \u201cOf course, it\u2019s your favorite,”\u00a0 she responded.<\/p>\n

Then we had our meal. Afterward, I asked Omie if I could go outside and visit my\u00a0bolayoka<\/em>. She allowed me but warned me to go home before dusk.<\/p>\n

On my way, I saw Gaza. He didn\u2019t recognize me.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Gaza!\u00a0Mapipiya ka<\/em>?\u201d, I said. \u201cAntaa ka<\/em>?\u201d, he responded. \u201cIt\u2019s me, Khaliq!\u201d \u201cAh, Manila boy!\u00a0Ska bs anan<\/em>. When did you arrive? Sorry, I didn\u2019t recognize you. You have grown so tall.\u201d<\/p>\n

I just laughed, and we had some chitchat. I asked him where the others were, and he accompanied me to their houses. Finally, we gathered again after five years. Everyone has grown a lot.<\/p>\n

We tried playing the games we used to play.\u00a0Sili-sili. Langit-lupa. Tumbang-preso.<\/em>\u00a0We enjoyed it so much that we became oblivious of the time. Before calling it a day, we played hide-and-seek, in which I became the\u00a0taya<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllahu akbar. Allahu akbar.\u201d The call for prayer has come.\u00a0\u201cTagu-taguan, maliwanag ang buwan.\u00a0<\/em>Wala sa likod. Wala sa harap<\/em>.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0” I didn’t hear it as I was busy singing the chant. \u201c\u2014Pag bilang ko ng sampo nakatago na kayo. Isa\u2026 Dalawa\u2026Tatlo\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I started looking for my playmates. The surroundings started getting darker, but still, I found none of them. After minutes of continuous seeking, I still didn\u2019t find any of them. I was chilly, so I went home.<\/p>\n

I was sulking a little bit. My\u00a0bolayoka<\/em>\u00a0tricked me on my first day here after all these years. I\u2019m heading back home feeling disappointed.<\/p>\n

But suddenly, I heard some heavy footsteps following me. I resisted wanting to look back. I walked quickly, and so did it. My body started trembling, and I got teary-eyed. But after a while, the footsteps were gone. I looked back… there was none. I continued walking, and…<\/p>\n

“Where could he have gone?\u201d said Omie. \u201cAydow, da ngawn tharowa a baling bo gagaan<\/em>?\u201d my Grandma asked. \u201cI told him, but maybe he got too excited,” Omie replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbie iyan, hanapin natin si Khaliq.<\/em>\u00a0It\u2019s already Maghrib, but he has not come back yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKhaliq! Khaliq! \u201d\u201cWhere are you? \u201cAydow, watakulay<\/em>!\u201d, both Omie and Grandma cried.<\/p>\n

\u201cKhaliq! My son!\u201dAbie keeps on screaming.<\/p>\n

Abie saw a person lying down. He rushed to it, thinking it might be me.<\/p>\n

\u201cKhaliq,\u00a0watakulay?!<\/em>\u00a0\u201d\u201cKhaliq is here! Subhanallah, \u201cWhat happened to you, dear? \u201dAbie spoke word after word out of worry that I might be dead.<\/p>\n

I woke up lying on our couch. My whole body hurt as if I had been punched several times. I was bedridden for weeks. I got thinner, and I looked pale. I lost my appetite, and I could hardly take medications. I spend days thinking about what I\u2019ve done to deserve this.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, I remembered what I saw in my dreams before coming here. I saw a huge, red-kneed man with blood dripping from his knees. It was the same man who attacked me when I was looking for my playmates. The only thing I could remember was when he held me tightly leaving me passed out.<\/p>\n

This must be what Omie has been constantly telling me. I have to go home before dusk or the call for Maghrib, as\u00a0mariga i lb<\/em>\u00a0will be roaming around looking for a target. Whoever gets caught will be inflicted with an incurable disease\u2014 the warning that I just let pass through my ears.<\/p>\n

Omie and Abie decided to have me hospitalized and undergo some check-ups. The initial finding was that I was having a series of hallucinations. The doctor said they might have to do another check-up in the following weeks for possible symptoms of schizophrenia. Omie grew impatient and just took me to a local healer to identify what had been inflicted on me.<\/p>\n

Omie\u2019s hunch was right. What I\u2019m going through is not a mere hallucination. I was cursed. \u201cMiyakasaphr a wata iyo aya. Miyadakp aya a mariga i lb!<\/em>\u201d Omie stood in shock, having mixed emotions. But what could she do? Nothing but to cherish the remaining time left for me.<\/p>\n

What was supposed to be a five-day vacation to start afresh became days that have turned into weeks and later into months of frailty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joross Michael D. Bongcarawan Aircon… ON. Electric fan\u2026 ON. Zainab is slurping an iced tea. Ali is enjoying some ice cream treats. Zulaikah is taking a shower and has been there for about 20 minutes now. Everyone is coming up … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3911,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3910\/revisions\/3911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangsamororeview.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}