It was a Friday, the last PABOLASTIK day. I had just won 2nd place at the 4K Fun Run sponsored by NPC (I just had to say it ;-P) . My energy was up and nothing was going to get me down. I went to Stella early to help out Weng when and where needed. I was a tremendous help as I ended up fanning her up to cool her down while she calls out and juts down “Class 4-Masigasig - Papel, 2 kilos; rejects, .3, plastik, 4.2…”
Pia, Criscini and Josephine along with her husband Flor (I’m pretty sure it’s short for Florencio or Florentino and not Flora) came a bit later at the Grade School Building where Weng and I were “working”. They were supposed to explore and take photos of the different areas of the building as part of the AVP for the homecoming celeb. I wanted to go “sightseeing” so I went along with them. Main stop, I was told, was the auditorium. Scary and exciting!
As we started our tour, I was excited to go around and see what has become of our grade school home. We visited the clinic and saw that they still had rattan folding beds to lay patients on. The dental chair looked pretty much the same one used while we were in grade school. It was probably as old as us! Amazing!
Next stop was the library at the end of the hall. The door was open but there was nobody in. We looked around and the library was quiet and everything was neatly arranged in place. We went further in and found the door leading to the backstage. The knob was unlocked. We opened the door and found the backroom dark. I put on a brave front and went in and climbed the stairs thinking they’d follow suit and be right behind me. I looked back and they were just peeking through the opening of the door waiting for God-knows-what to happen. I stayed at the top of the stairway while Criscini tried to get a picture of the backstage (or least the steps leading to it). The light of the camera flash went on but the camera won’t budge…it won’t take pictures! Criscini’s camera never acted up like that before! We finally found the light switch and Criscini’s camera finally worked. Big sigh!
Off we went to look at the kindergarten rooms. Back then, our rooms were located at the ground floor of the high school building. Now, they’re not just situated where they’re supposed to be but they’re also air-conditioned. Wow! Ang daya!
Off we went to our main stop…the dreaded auditorium. We all were trying to brave it out as we entered the room. Then we were transported back in time as we recalled those days of singing and dance contests, of spelling bees and skits, of oration contests and other such activities. Somehow, I remember the auditorium to be bigger. I guess I was just smaller then and the place seemed gigantic to me at that time. I focused on those fond memories to keep me from freezing with fear as we went all the way in.
Three Grade 3 boys came in with us. To them, going in the dark, big room was exciting. I guess it was! They certainly made enough noise to keep us distracted. But little boys can have such big imaginations. One boy said he saw something move at the backstage. I wanted to Gibbs-slap him at the back of his head to make him stop! We told them what adults always tell children about ghosts and white ladies - that it was all just their imagination. In short, we told them a big fat lie!
Criscini took a lot of pictures of the place from all angles. We posed with the kids and made short talk with them. But the kids soon got bored with us and left us to ourselves. More “kodakan” went down as we took centerstage and danced, took our bows and shared more of our thoughts and recollections of all we did in that place. We were no longer scared….until Criscini’s camera acted up once again and refused to take one last photo. As we hurried out of the place, Criscini, Pia and Josephine shrieked in fear, “Aaaaah!” I looked back to see and ask what the commotion was all about.
“Whaaat?!? You didn’t hear that?” they all gushed. “Heard what ?“ I asked in fear and wonder. “There was this loud clanging sound that seemed to come from somewhere in the auditorium!” they were all saying excitedly at the same time.
Suddenly, out of nowhere , we heard this tiny voice say, “Ay sorry po! Kami po yun! Nahulog po kasi yung isa naming kasama sa upuan e!” We looked up at the top of the third floor stairs and saw the three Grade 3 boys looking down sheepishly at us.
Look who has a big imagination! Big sigh and a big smile! Haaay!
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