Of Ghosts and Angels

Although most ghost stories send shivers down my spine, there are a few that make me believe in the presence of "good" spirits.  My parents fondly refer to them as the bantay ng bahay, spirits that watch over our house.   There have been 3 incidents in our house that I like to share:

(1) The Door and The Light

Years ago (they've migrated to greener pastures now :)), my mother's family (brothers, sisters, and their kids) would stay at our house every holiday and practically every other weekend.  It was a tight squeeze, so two of the families would usually crash in the living room. 

My 4-year-old cousin was wary of two things whenever he and his parents got stuck in the living room - the door and the light.  The door being the one that led to my brother's room; the light the one that hung between the blades of the ceiling fan.  The door always creaks open in the middle of the night - even when everyone could swear that there was no wind - while my cousin always imagined that the light would eventually fall amidst the fast spin of the fan blades.

That night, my cousin pestered his father endlessly, insisting that the light was going to fall.  At the same time, his mother was disturbed by the continuous creaking of the door.  Fed up, my uncle grumpily stood and shut the door, making sure it was firmly in place and couldn't be moved by the wind.  A few seconds later, the door slowly opened with a loud creak, jerking them awake.  They all scrambled to move their beds as far away from the door as possible.  To my cousin's delight, they were quite far from the light as well.

(Incidentally, one of my aunts was sleeping so soundly they decided not to wake or move her.  She was furious the following morning.)

In the morning, I stepped out to find them all still asleep.  On the ground was the light bulb that used to hang from the ceiling fan.  It apparently did fall sometime during the night, but by that time, everyone was far from the range of its descent.  Odder still was that the bulb was in one piece - not a scratch or crack on it.  We expected it to break given the height of the fall.

Given how young my cousin was at the time, we also chalked up this incident to the presence of guardian angels.  I like to believe in such angels and hope my little one has someone watching over her as well :)

(2) The Woman in the Room

We came home late one night from a family dinner to find the maid waiting for us in the garage - an unusual occurence given the late hour.  She told us that she went into my parent's room and saw a woman in front of my mother's dresser.  Scared out of her wits, she ran out the house and waited for us to come home.  We could only surmise what she was up to, going to my parent's room late at night while we were out.  A few other maids have claimed to see that mysterious woman.  My grandma used to say that that was the ghost of her late mother, watching over us.

There was one incident that I'm sure was not caused by an ancestral ghost. A maid claimed to see a white lady walk across the living room at midnight and that this has happened everyday for a week. It took a while, but we figured out that she was seeing my brother wrapped in a bedsheet and making his way to my room to sleep in one of the extra beds. He'd been reading Stephen King that week (this was the time when he still wrote scary novels) and was too scared to sleep alone (not that my brother ever admitted it).

(3) Leave well and well enough alone

This last incident occured shortly after my father died. A new maid saw his wallet, which my mother left in his bathroom, untouched. She opened it and suddenly saw the reflection of my father in the mirror behind her. Terrified, she confessed to us what happened. When we asked what compelled her to open the wallet, she said she was merely curious about my father.  This is highly doubtful given how my mother lined up several ID and passport sized pictures of my father by the bathroom sink, next to the wallet.  (Yes, we have told my mother repeatedly that this was a disturbing shrine to my father that freaks out all our houseguests. It's still there and has become a running family joke though.).

Helper Horror #2 The Early Years

My earliest memory of a helper horror story was when I was 4 or 5 years old.  The events are quite hazy in my head already.  But I recall quite vividly the maid hiding me behind a couch and giving me the set of house keys.  She told me to stay there and hold on to the keys.  I did as I was told.

A few seconds later, I hear a horrified shout and see my brother (11 or12 years old at this time) running through the living room where I was "hidden".  Hot on his heels was the same maid, brandishing a large pair of scissors.

The rest of the story I got from my mom as I honestly don't remember what happened afterwards.  Apparently, my brother (yes, he survived unscathed and is still the bane of my existence or mayhap the other way around? lol) escaped to our neighbor's house.  Our neighbor rushed back to our place to secure me as well.  My parents came home to learn their kids were at the house next door.  They got the full story from us and the maid was promptly dismissed.

Learning Points:

(1) Be sure your children know what to do and who to run to in case of an emergency (assuming neither parent is available).

(2) To be fair, my brother was an utter brat and very disrespectful of our hired help at the time.  Of course, he did nothing to warrant being skewered, but it's always good to teach children to respect others - especially those who are caring for them.

Helper Horror #1: Threats, Lies, Thievery

Helper horror stories?  I've got tons of these!  This series of blogs will chronicle our worst, personal experiences as well as our learning points. 

Our worst experience thus far was a maid/cook we hired via an agency.  She stayed with us for a little over 3 months and was quite competent.  She quickly became a family favorite, well-liked and trusted by everyone.  One day she expressed agitation over her baby (not yet a year old) upon hearing the news that he had been admitted to a hospital due to a high fever that had already been raging for 3 days.  My mother gave the maid her wages and advised her to take a leave already instead of waiting for her scheduled leave 2 days later.  Oddly enough, she wasn't in a hurry to leave (I'd be panicking if my baby was taken to the hospital without me!).  It took quite a bit of prodding to get her to rush to her baby's side.  She reluctantly left in the afternoon.

A few days later, she asked for a loan of P5000 to pay for her baby's hospital bill.  We usually don't agree to loans until a maid has been with us for at least 6 months, but due to the emergency, we agreed and sent the money via LBC. 

Two weeks had passed and she still continued to request for extended leave - and more money!  We contacted the agency by this time to explain that we badly needed a maid and requested for a replacement with the following conditions:

(1) Our current maid would be given a job elsewhere as soon as she was able.  The agency claimed there were a lot of openings and this wouldn't be a problem.

(2) She may keep the initial P5000 we lent her as our aid to her child.  We will give her more based on her latest plea for more money, which she could pay back in installments once she was working again.

The maid did not take to this well.  She started sending threats and curses via text messages.  Alarmed and confused at her rage and as to why she'd want to go back (most would be thrilled at not having to pay back P5000), we questioned our other helpers.  They told us that the maid kept a locked drawer that no one was privy to.  We jimmied it open and discovered stolen items including health cards belonging to myself, my husband, and my daughter; and a picture of my baby.  We also found a pack of MSG, which we assumed she'd been putting in our food.  It would explain the sudden spike in my mother's blood pressure (she's allergic to MSG, hence, we ban it from our kitchen) that couldn't be explained or controlled despite medication.

We reported the incident to the barangay office.  Later that same day, the maid also went to the barangay to claim that we hadn't been paying her wages!  We had no proof save for the testimonies of our other helpers.  Thankfully, the maid's story had a lot of loopholes during the hearing and she refused to sign the documents presented by the barangay, so her complaints were dismissed.  We still have the option of taking her to court for thievery.

Learning points:

(1) Keep a logbook and have your help sign every time you give them their salary. 

(2) Make sure your hired help (especially if they come from an agency) can present an NBI and barangay clearance.