FN Blog - Seven heads are better than one!

Instead of writing about what things scare me with their mere possibility of happening (losing loved ones, getting eaten by a zombie, etc.) I’ve decided to write about my scary experiences. Real events that made me feel chills up my spine and sent me into a panic. Read on and be afraid. Be very afraid…

1. Moomoo!

Back in college, I used to sleep early, like 7:30 pm, and wake up at 3 am to study for exams. One early morning, while studying in the dining room, with all my handouts strewn in front of me, I felt a presence pacing back and forth behind me. It was common knowledge that we had other entities in our house so instead of going into a panic, I calmly said: “Wag po ngayong gabi. Kailangan ko po mag-aral for my exam tomorrow.” After saying this, it stopped moving and just stood behind me. I had very long hair in college and it was all gathered to one side on my right shoulder. All of a sudden, I felt a cold hand graze my neck and all my hair was moved from my shoulder to my back. I stood up and ran to my parents’ room. I failed my exam the next day.

2. Tsunami!

I was on an Asian cruise with several fashion and media people, a few months after the tsunami tragedy. I was rooming with my good friend Ria P. In our cabin one morning, while the ship was docked off the port of a Thai resort town, we suddenly heard the ship captain announce over the PA system: “A tsunami will hit the ship in 10 minutes. Please stay tuned for further updates.” Did he just say tsunami? Ria and I looked at each other, both of us just wearing tank tops and panties, and suddenly started dressing up to go outside. We were lost in a flurry of clothes and after two minutes, we were dressed in near-identical outfits! We smiled at the cuteness of each other’s outfits and then Ria pulled out her blush, “just in case we get shot by BBC or something. We shouldn’t look pale on TV,” and so we headed out of our cabin in cropped jeans, smocked tube tops with pinkish cheeks. When we got to the deck, we couldn’t find any of our Filipino companions. We called them on their cell and we found out they were at the pool area, eating ice cream while praying the rosary. O-ha. I pondered on calling my loved ones back home, but what would I tell them? That a tsunami was about to hit our ship and not to worry? So I just sat down with everyone else, ate ice cream off of someone’s bowl and prayed.

The tsunami never did reach us. And up to this day, I marvel at how we all managed to calmly face the possibility of death with pink cheeks, ice cream, and prayer.

3. HELP!

This happened just a few nights ago. I was roused from sleep by the sound of something falling downstairs. It was quite loud and so I decided to go out of my room and check on it. When I peeked out from my bedroom door, I was shocked to find all the lights off downstairs. I always leave the lights on in the living room and by the gate outside. I closed the door and looked out the window to check the lights in the front yard. They were off too. The house was in complete darkness. My husband was away on a business trip and I was left alone in the house with our two female househelps and my two kids, aged four and 1 1/2. I was faced with the possibility of having a robber in the house, with no real weapon to defend my family with. I woke up one of our maids and told her to keep the kids together as I shouted for help from my bedroom window. I was hoping our neighbors would hear us but no one came. I called out to my two giant dogs outside, and they just casually walked over and looked up to my window. I called my parents, who lived 20 minutes away, and asked them to come over. We were scared to go down and check the ground floor. I didn’t want my kids endangered by a possible confrontation. I also called my husband and told him what was happening.

When we finally found the courage to go down, holding a heavy metal wrench and curtain rods from my bedroom, we found no one downstairs. Apparently, the circuit breaker automatically switched the lights off downstairs after detecting a faulty electrical connection in an outlet outside. I breathed a sigh of relief to find all the doors still locked.

I was lucky that night, but the fear I felt was real. I was unprepared for the possibility of fighting off a possible attacker and protecting my children. I have decided to buy an alarm system for the house to help us feel safe and ward off burglars.

I can now tell these stories with a bit of humor, but as I found out after experiencing all these, when you’re faced with the possibility of dying or having to confront an attacker and protect your children, your heart races, but your spirit gets stronger. You feel scared, but somehow, you feel a strange comfort from knowing that a greater force will keep you safe, or at least help you get through it.

Now if only I could stay this calm if I ever have to face one of my greatest fears, which is to be chased and eaten by zombies, I’d be really proud of myself.