That Woman In The Kalachuchi

This experience happened in our town, a province of Leyte, Philippines. Me and some cousins from the city were having our summer vacation there, also in time for the coming town fiesta. Our town is one of those typical "still conservative" type, and me and my cousins are just eager roaming around, sight seeing ancestral things, and meeting people.

One night, we were watching a cultural show held by school teachers in the town plaza. It was fun, very nostalgic. After the show, around 9PM, we decided to go home. Our grandmother's house were just not more than 100 meters from the plaza. There were 3 of us that time and we were just walking, passing through the now already sleeping old houses, closed stores, some empty stalls in the market, and some few groggy-drunkards. Though there were still few people near by, the town is almost at its full slumber under the gloomy moon.

We were busy talking when suddenly, out of nowhere, we noticed there was a woman in front of us, we could say she's walking, in a long white dress and long black hair. Though we can't see her full details, it's definitely a woman. There she was in front of us, just some 5-6 steps ahead.

We never really thought of anything rather than maybe she's just one of those neighbors who fetches water on a public water pump nearby. She then made a turn to the left between some couple of tress, just beneath a Kalachuchi (Plumeria Acuminata). Just when we also looked, she was not there! Nobody and nothing was there! The area was empty and dark.

We were shocked, looking at each other, couldn't react for a moment. It's just impossible if she'll be gone that quick or instant, yet, all the three of us saw her. Then suddenly a thin cold wind blows, and the scent of Kalachuchi just wraps us; that's when we got our senses and the nerve to run.

Our house was not so far away, we ran fast and couldn't even remember that we just jumped over the fence! Inside the house, some servants were still awake. They were asking why we're so scared, sweating and catching our breaths. We told them that we were chased by dogs and helped us to calm down. We hardly fell asleep that night, shocked and scared.

In the morning, we went to that area again, it was a vacant lot, some couple of trees, and with remains of what it looks like a house beneath a clouding Kalachuchi tree. One neighbor approaches us with a grin saying, "Ah, you guys seen her?" Answering with just a nod, she told us that there was a woman who hung herself in the Kalachuchi. It was said that she lost her loved one. They were about to get married when her man was then forced to marry another woman. Later there was a house, and was destroyed because nobody wants to live there, because always haunted by her.

After learning her sad story, that scary feeling was gone, only pity. But we never really didn't see her again. We asked some relatives and other people, and the story is the same. Up to this time, there's still that Kalachuchi tree, and some says they sometimes saw her there.

Every time I smell a Kalachuchi flower, I could remember that experience.

Thank you for reading.