The strangest thing just happened to me (Part II)

I looked at my watch. It was 9:30. It wasn't because I was going to be late that I wanted to hurry at that time. I was on flexi-time anyway. It's because I was paid by the hour. The earlier I get to the office, the more time I could spend for work which means bigger pay. I was so running out of cash I couldn't pay my rent. I really needed to hurry. Maybe I should've gotten in an Ikot jeep.

I noticed the old man with the umbrella not going the same way as the construction workers. Instead of following the road towards UP Press, he followed a hidden path behind a tree across the street. Perhaps I could save some time going that way.

Grass has covered most of the half-buried cement blocks that made up the obscure path. It didn't seem well traveled which was probably because it was cleverly hidden behind a tree. I've walked that road a hundred times but this was the first time I ever noticed it, thanks to the old man. One would wonder if that path was hidden on purpose. Perhaps it led to some secret tambayan where students would smoke pot and snort crack, or maybe couples would go there at night and do..umm..chingky stuff.

The path led to the narrow gaps between large nondescript buildings that I never knew existed in UP. As I walked between the moldy cement walls I encountered several forks and a lot of twists and turns until I lost my sense of direction. Great. Now I surely won't get to the office until past lunchtime. I'll have to spend the night again in the office to make up for the lost time. Spending too many nights staying up late gives me pimples. I wouldn't want my chingky to see my face looking like the surface of the moon. That would be 10,000 olats points for me.

Eventually I found myself on a dirt road cutting through a field of tall talahib grass. It was noon already. Tree sparrows perched on nearby power lines chirped incessantly and it annoyed me. I had this strange feeling while being there. It was like I've been here before, walking on the same dusty path. The feeling wasn't good. I felt the urge to scream. Suddenly I leapt to side of the road, trying to see what's behind the wall of grass, the blades of the talahib cutting through my clothes, nicking my arms and face. My heart burned at the sight of what was behind the grass, a scene I was totally unprepared to see...

It was an entire plantation of gnarled, woody shrubs of cassava.





To be continued...

The strangest thing just happened to me

I wasn't really sure of where I was going. A couple of hours ago I thought I was walking towards Benton Hall, the place where I worked. The next thing I knew I was trodding on a cassava plantation...


I clearly remember waking up early and having a bad headache that morning. That's usually a warning that I'm going to have a bad day ahead of me. I was going down to take a shower when I saw the landlady waiting for me in the hallway towards the bathroom. She's going to remind me again to pay my rent that's for sure, I thought and that's what she did. A bad day it was, alright. I just told her I'll see how much cash I can come up with next week and she let me off. That's what I always told her anyway everytime my rent is overdue. I wish times weren't so hard these days so I won't have bad days like this.

It was drizzling when I came out of the house. Something was odd. People were usually busy in the morning in the old neigborhood of Krus na Ligas, but not today. Not a single soul was out. Perhaps it was the weather. It was unusually cold. The Angel's Burger stand near the plaza which was usually open 24 hours a day was closed. I passed by Sarah's and crossed the street. Not a single car passed C. P. Garcia Avenue. Could it be that aliens have abducted all the people in Krus na Ligas? The old landlady and I being the only people left in the neighborhood wasn't a very pleasing prospect.

The heavy downpour started when I was already near the UP Press building. I ran towards the nearest waiting shed where I saw two men talking to each other. Great. At least my alien abduction theory didn't turn out to be true. I surmised they were construction workers from how they looked. They were talking about a fire near Pook Palaris that happed last night. There was also an old man there carrying a big blue umbrella. The two workers and the old man went their own ways as the rain abated.

To be continued...