The Old Lady in the Mysterious House

Author's note: Please read Part II

In the mysterious house’s backyard, I pitched the rope onto the window so that it flung onto the hinge. I pulled down both ends and tied them together. Then I rappelled up while Collette was watching out for someone who might see us. I reached up the window and, prudently; I peeked my head in. The first and only thing that got my attention was the fine shards of glass on the ground. It looked like ants dumped white sugar granules in a straight line. My whole body trembled with worry and stupefaction. I almost let go of my hold. It was awful. It was unbearable to think such a gigantic mirror is as delicate as a wine V-glass.

I rappelled down. “We broke it,” I said the obvious.

Collette attempted to go up, but I disallowed him. It would just worry him more.

No one saw it was us. I was definitely sure of it. I told Collette to shut his mouth forever if he didn’t want us to go to jail. I knew it was not a crime, though. Besides, minors would never end up in jail for a crime. They end up in the DSWD. I also warned him that if his disciplinarian father would learn about it, he’d get spanked many times.

When Sunday came, I didn’t have any interest in attending the mass. I knew Collette had the same feeling, too. However, Father compelled me to, since I had missed one already.

Before we got inside and sat in our regular chair, I craned my neck among the attendees to search for the old lady. I didn’t see her. I didn’t feel relieved at first, for I thought she might be just late or might already have taken a seat somewhere not visible from my location. I looked through the crowd of attendees again before the visiting priest started the hymn of Glory to God. She wasn’t there. And Collette too.

Throughout the mass, I thought about the old lady. I felt guilty for what we’d done. I knew it was the first time she missed the mass. I also thought that the broken mirror could be the reason she didn’t attend the mass. She might have reported it to the police authority in town. After the mass, I dropped by Collette’s house to tell him about her absence. He was amazed, and a bit relieved.

The next Sunday came and the old lady was still not in the mass. I asked Collette if he would like to join me to venture again into the mysterious house. He agreed with me.

The gates were chained just like the last time we left the house. The hibiscus had grown a lot, eating the cyclone fence. That made us hard to climb and get into the backyard. We got rashes from the newly-grown twigs.

In the backyard, the plant seedlings in the containers had wilted. Weeds contested to spring about. The lower part of the sky-blue walls had been thronged with thick specks of dust caused by heavy rains in the past few days. We strolled around the backyard and I went up the window using father’s rope. The dust had almost covered the fine shards of glass. The house was empty. No trace of shoe prints was visible on the ground. The door was still bolted. I thought the old lady was gone.

We had unanswered questions. Why do we no longer see her? Where was she now? Was she coming back? We concluded she would never go back into the mysterious house. Maybe she had an accident and died. Or maybe one of her family members had passed away, and that she was the one to take care of him or her. Or, maybe she just took a rest for a while, a vacation in Boracay.

We waited for another Sunday, but again she didn’t show up at the mass. And another Sunday, but the same people we saw. No old lady in a black gown.

Weeks and months flipped by and we no longer saw her. Its owner had totally abandoned the mysterious house. It stood still amidst the rice fields and, I thought, would remain standing until we grow old. Other kids had learned about the forever-absence of the old lady, so they made it through the mysterious house and played inside. The barangay captain made it a temporary daycare center. He hadn’t been able to contact the relatives or friends of the old lady. No one had ever claimed the house, so the local government claimed it. It eventually became the barangay hall.

Collette went to school, and we had little time to play. Time made us forget the old lady and the mistake we did.

Two years later, Father decided we go back to Cebu City. Life in San Roque was a little fun, but he realized that family income was not enough to sustain daily needs. We spent no to our wants. In Cebu City, Father would have to work as a jeepney driver and Mother would sell cooked vegetables in Mercado.

The night before our travel, Mother asked me to pack up my clothes. By chance, I saw the silver tube in my cardboard box. It glittered against the electric bulb on the ceiling. The old lady played back in my mind. I saw her scolding eyes. They told me to return the thing I was holding. I flinched the memory of her. I examined the tube by turning it on my palm. I noticed a tiny rectangular button in the middle. I looked at the edges. One edge had a glassy ball, which made me think it looked like a tiny deodorant roll-on. The other edge was covered. I was holding it like it was fragile. I drew it near the light to have a clear look. How does this thing work? I asked myself. The tube also seemed to be a flashlight, looking at it from a different angle. I tried pushing down the rectangular button, but it didn’t click. I tried again and again impatiently until it slid forward.

I was startled. A blue beam flashed from one edge. I dropped the tube on the bed. The beam pointed to the wooden wall, projecting a clear picture of a newspaper Frontpage. The image was clear even if the light bulb was on. It was clear as a glass of drinking water. It amazed me that the beam projected a vivid picture on the wall. As though the picture was alive.

The texts read:

Leyte State Star. Dated September 10, 2135

Dome 5, losing O2

Dome 5 seeks help from Dome 8

Death multiplied because of solar radiation

Dome 5 Prime Leader Flores approves Bill 2550- total birth control.

An outbreak in Sector 6 spreads

Flores: Only time travel can save Mother Earth.

Below the last news title I read was a statement, probably from this Flores person, saying, “We travel back in time not to change the past, but just to get flora species to save our dying planet.”

I picked it up and moved the slider back. The next page of a newspaper showed up.

Catholic devotees’ wake in Dome 4 continues

I was confounded.

Mother called me out for dinner. I moved the slider again, but it didn’t turn off. The picture on the wall kept on changing. Worried that mother would learn of it, I hid it under my clothes inside the backpack and scuttled out.

I was eager to go back to my bedroom to read the strange news, so I rushed my meal.

Father gave me a look to slow down.

“I need to finish packing up my things,” I said.

“Matt’s excited to go back to Cebu,” mother commented with a gentle smile.

I got back to the bedroom and drew out the silver tube. The beam was gone. Pointing it to the wall, I moved the slider. It flashed once with a message “Needs Charging” and suddenly went off. I moved the slider back and forth repeatedly, but I just got the same effect until it was probably battery empty.

In the following days, when we were already in our newly rented house in Cebu City, I was trying to figure out how I could get the odd device charged. I put it outside over the roof under the sun’s heat, thinking its power might come from solar energy, but afterward, it still didn’t work. I even tried to open it inside, but I couldn’t. It’s a concrete, metal tube. I wouldn’t rather hammer it or hit it hard against the cement floor just to break it open. If I do that, I might break it forever. I supposed I know why the old lady left the mysterious house.