We are not alone

A couple of years ago at around this time, I had a high fever. I bought groceries at The Landmark on a Monday evening, and had to haul a couple of heavy bags to the jeepney stop at Park Square 2. This was for a party at home that night. It was drizzling then, and I was tired and sweaty from the weight I was carrying. By the following morning, I was already running a fever.

I was so sick, I had to take a leave of absence the rest of the week. My temperature was running into the 38 - 40s, that by Thursday night, my friends brought me to the Hospital. And then the strangest thing happened. As I was sitting at the lobby waiting to have for my urine test, I felt better. So much better in fact that the doctor said I only have a slight fever and I was able to go home a little past twelve midnight.

When I got back to our apartment, my fever immediately ran into the 40s again. Weird, huh? I felt the fever gone when we were at the Hospital, but was back by the time I sat on our sofa.

The following day, my friends accompanied me to a faith healer a couple of blocks away from home. We entered the house, and I was greeted by a multitude of religious images of the Child Jesus and of Him on the cross, as well as those of the Virgin Mary.

An old man greeted us and my friends informed him of my health condition. He then took a basin with water, lit a candle, closed his eyes as he mumbled a prayer, and let the molten wax drop freely onto the basin. He then took a look at the images formed by the hardened wax and declared that we have other, unseen residents in the apartment.

The old man said that before man-made structures and streets lined our neighborhood, there was a wide expanse of marsh, where 'laman-lupa' (must be a form of dwarves) lived. When houses were constructed, they did not go away, but rather stayed with the humans. Our residents must have been angered by something I've done. We might have been turning up the music too loudly, or we ourselves were creating too much noise. Guilty as charged. I love playing my music loud, likewise when watching movies or playing video games.

He pointed at the wax figures again. He said there were at least two 'laman-lupa' who were angry. We were then advised to make an offering to appease them. Put a couple of hard-boiled eggs on a plate, set it on a place near a door, and inform our unseen residents that it was our peace offering, and hope that they would no longer afflict me with sickness.

By Saturday afternoon, I was feeling much better. By Monday the following week, I was able to go to work.

Just one of the many reasons why I believe we are not alone.