1 A Spirit's Love

"Mrs. Nenita, your kid doesn't respect our authority, he was caught climbing the fence to skip school, and least of all he doesn't pay attention to the class." the teacher slides the report card to the worried mother. "I do understand that you work as a bartender and a single mom but you are needed in his life. I can only do so much to help your son grow but with that attitude, I think he is not going to make it without your help."

Nenita reads the card and sees his son's grades are barely passing except for his P.E. Her face shows everything and with no words to say about this matter or tears to shed, she just nods in silence. "Thank you for being patient with him. I will have a serious talk when I get back home."

Nenita gets up and walks from the school with her head full of problems. She thinks to herself about how she can properly raise her son. She knows this is the part every parent dread, the age when their kids are problematic and emotional, a teenager. Her walking took her along the riverbank. Her worries weigh on her head and gave a pause to take a breather. She wonders how her husband would handle this if he was here.

Once Nenita gets home, she found his son watching TV and shouting across the room. She can see just across them the dishes are unwashed, and their clothes in the dryer. Nenita had enough. She unplugs the device and gave her son a stern look.

"I was in the middle of –"

"Washing the dishes? Drying the clothes? Nicholas! You are 15 years old, and you are still acting like a kid! I was gone hours ago to get your card!" Nenita slams the report card on the table. "All you do is watch TV!"

Nicholas stopped and holds his breath. He knew if he speaks, he will never hear the end of it. He stared at his mom with empty eyes. All her words just run through his ear and exit to the other. She won't understand since all she saw was him watching TV. What she didn't see is Nicholas was on the TV watching his idol competing in a swimming match. He tried to fit in school but he never had a liking for the subjects they teach. One day, he saw an ad on his social media account where a swimming athlete is giving free online lessons on how to swim properly.

As his interest grew in swimming and that manage to help him maintain a good grade on P.E. Nicholas became a fan of this athlete and religiously watches his matches. This was the day his idol got into the nationals but as the match was about to start it was cut short. His mom realized he wasn't listening and slammed her hands on the table and yelled at him for wasting his time. Nicholas can't handle it anymore; he let his emotion take over and yelled at his mom.

"It wasn't a waste of time! You don't understand me because you're not here! Every morning I am at school and when I got back to work you are busy preparing for work. We barely speak!"

Nicholas is right. Nenita can't remember the last time they spoke to each other. She shakes her head and explains that she was doing this just to meet their needs. Nicholas looked at his father's portrait. "And would you think dad will agree to this?"

"He won't agree with you, that's for sure. I am busy, but I am doing this for us. All I ask from you in return is to study hard. I don't want you to end up being a lazy bum!"

Nicholas gets angry at his mom for misunderstanding his passion. He turns around and locks himself in his room. Nenita was left alone in the living room and picks up his husband's picture.

"Dear, I am not sure if I can do this on my own. I wish you are still here with us. You never did have the chance to see him grow. . ." She shed a tear and prayed for her husband to somehow help her fix this.

It's 11 PM and a cold wind wakes Nicholas from his sleep. He leaves his room to find the source of the cold wind. He enters the living room and sees the table filled with juice and snacks. His stomach growled. Realized he never left the room and ate for dinner, Nicholas begrudgingly ate the mom's cooking. But after each bite, the food gets better. He can't seem to stop eating and wonder if this was his mom's cooking, since she was never been a good cook.

Filled, at last, he sits back on the couch planning on where he can watch the replay of the swimming match, but his thoughts were interrupted again by the cold wind; he looked around and saw a purple smoke in the corner. This smoke grabs a hold of Nicholas and drags him across the room. He tried to shout to call his mom for help, but the smoke holds him tight and pins him to the ground. A black figure emerged from the smoke and reaches for Nicholas' face.

Nicholas closes his eyes and prays that this is just some bad dream.

He opens his eyes and he found himself in a green forest. A beautiful girl in a white dress shakes him to wake and smiles, "Nicholas, I presume?" She helps him to get up.

Nicholas panics but the girl calms him down and explained that this is Limbo, the place where souls wander. Nicholas tries to reason but the girl shuts him down with her sweet smile and assures him that all is fine as their worries from the living should stay in the living, and now they should enjoy themselves in Limbo.

Nicholas realized there was much more than he can do. He died so young and left the world by being killed by mysterious smoke. "But do tell me your name and how do you know me?"

"I am Whitney, your people call me a White Lady" she ended it with a smile, and with that, his worries vanished. She strokes his black messy hair and hugged him. Nicholas blushes as he was never hugged by a girl of the same age before. He thinks to himself that this isn't a bad place after all. Whitney's voice rings in his head, "Of course it's better here since we can do anything we want. No rules will hold us down!"

Nicholas was taken back from this. She giggles and reached her hand and invites him for a tour around their world. Nicholas somehow felt at ease with her as he finally found someone that he can be friends with. No more people shouting at him what to do or boring him with things he doesn't need. But he feels Whitney is different and understands what he wants and if this is the afterlife, he felt it's just right to be carefree!

Whitney toured Nicholas across Limbo. There he sees creatures he heard in bedtime stories from his mom. Kapre and Tikbalang are racing across the grassy plain, Diwata resting above the top of the hill eating berries, Syokoy having swum across the river, and he can even see other spirits having fun without a care.

Nicholas and Whitney came across a pond filled with ducks of assorted colors; she dives into the pond and startled the ducks. As they fly away, the water showers their area and reflects the sunlight, creating a rainbow above them. Nicholas' heart beats with excitement and jumps into the pond with her. This carefree feeling is so liberating that Nicholas' worries are replaced with happiness and his fondness for being a spirit. Whitney and Nicholas played on the pond for hours without realizing he is slowly getting attached to her.

A group of Syokoy saw them swimming and asked them if they are interested to compete in a swimming race across the pond, first to reach the end of the pond will receive a giant pearl by the end. Whitney eye's glitter with excitement and seems to want the pearl for her. Nicholas joined the race to win it for her. Thou he swam with such great speed and determination, he was no match for a Syokoy's speed on the water.

Nicholas returns to the land and pouts; embarrassed by his performance, he runs away from Whitney. The group of Syokoy laughed at him and even comments that humans seem to be always weak compared to the other spirits and elements. Whitney was about to defend in Nicholas' stead but he returned to the pond with some equipment on his foot and arms.

"I'm ready for round two!" he shouted as he jumps back in the water.

"What are those trash you wearing? Some sort of lucky charm?" one of the Syokoy mockingly asked. Nicholas just nods in silence. Little did they know he made makeshift flippers and will be applying all the things he learned from his idol, he is sure to beat everyone in the water.

As the race starts, all the Syokoy manage to swim ahead, then here comes Nicholas speeding his way and manage to beat every one of them.

"What kind of lucky charm is that?! No fair! We demand a rematch!" a Syokoy shouted. Nicholas smirked and agreed. And no matter how many times they tried, they can't seem to win and ended up giving the pearl to Nicholas.

Nicholas handed the pearl to Whitney and asked if this is a sufficient gift. And before he can get a reply, Whitney rushes over to him and gave him a big hug. She thanked him and exclaimed this is not like the other gifts she received before. Nicholas hesitated but with her demeanor, he felt relaxed and put his hands around her shoulder and hugged her too.

Whitney then asked Nicholas if he finds Limbo to his liking. She adds if he stays here, there will be no responsibilities for him. Intrigued by the notion, he reconsiders staying if he can pursue his passion for swimming or better yet peruse a new life.

Whitney then placed her fingers on Nicholas' lips. "I can see your thoughts: you're not ready to commit but you seem to be enjoying your time here. Mind if you spend it with me instead?"

Nicholas nods and the next few days, they agree to play over Limbo. They tested their skills as they run with the Tikbalang and Kapre, and compete in singing against the Diwata and have fun without a care in the world. Their time spent together was like a passing moment for Nicholas and at this moment together, he manages to slowly fall in love with her.

As they lay down on the rice field, Whitney offered Nicholas to rest and while she cooks rice for them. While Whitney is cooking the rice, Nicholas looked at her and suddenly said, "Yes, and wanted to stay in this world and set a new life here with you".

She smiled, gave Nicholas some cooked rice with black grains on it. "I hope you enjoy my cooking! Thou I burnt some" but Nicholas refuses to eat them and says he still feels full. Whitney tilts her head and pouts.

Nicholas tries to calm her but the scene suddenly shifted as he found himself is standing in the middle of a clearing with a huge greenhouse in the middle of it. Whitney waves at him and invites him to enter her home. Confused about what just happened, he blindly follows her and thinks that it was just the rules of this world shift without warning.

Whitney grabs her by the hand and leads him into the living room. Old Spanish-era décor fills the room and wooden bamboo floor. A cold breeze relaxes them in a moment of silence. Whitney holds Nicholas's hands and he in return looked at her eyes. His heart pumps with a rhythm he didn't know he would feel.

"Is this what love feels?" he thought to himself.

Through physical contact, Whitney reads his mind and replies, "I spent my living moment in misery as I was sickly. I died young and found myself here in Limbo. I was never able to move on since I never got to experience a lot of things . . . that includes finding someone I love."

"To be honest, the days we spent here are the best moment of my life. I was never happy when I was alive but here with you? I am happy to be at your side for eternity."

Whitney pulls him closer to his face. They can practically feel each other's heartbeat as they slowly dance in tandem. Whitney tilts her head and leans close to his lips but barely touching them. Nicholas was going for the kiss but he remembered his mom. Now he is dead, he can't leave without a goodbye.

Sensing his thoughts, Whitney holds him tight. "Nicholas, I am happy we found each other, but if you leave Limbo you cannot return here! You will be stuck in the realm of man as a lost soul. Don't go!" Nicholas holds her arm and says that he cannot leave his mom without it; there is so much he needs to say to her.

Whitney smiled and holds his hand tighter. She tilts her head to the flood and filled the room with a maniacal laugh. The walls of her home began to crumble and the décor deteriorate in an instant. The walls shake as slowly dripping black and red ooze.

A familiar cold breeze surrounds Nicholas and holds him in place. Whitney's beautiful face cracks into something hideous, filled with death and decay. Her eye turns black, streaming with blood and this turns her white dress red. "Argh, this illusion was for nothing! If only you took the black rice, this will be much easier. No matter, once I am done with you, there will be nothing for you to go but my stomach!"

Realizing this is all an illusion, Nicholas tried to wake up and felt his body still lying in their living room, but his consciousness is still stuck with Whitney. He tried his best to break free, but Whitney is quick to react and retaliated by draining his soul. The cold began to take a hold of his body. His warmth and strength were waning as his soul was slowly being sucked out of him. At this point, only his face and left hand are the only ones he can move.

Tricked on what he thought was his true love, his anger and survival instinct kicks in. He slams his head to the floor and wakes up in the living room. In a daze from his action, he is now able to see through the purple smoke's illusion; Whitney's true form is a Black Lady. Nicholas remembers his mom's stories that a Black Lady is the worst kind of spirit. Vengeful and jealous of the living, they will do their best to drain their victim's happiness and leave them an empty husk of what they once were.

Nicholas looked around the room for what he can use; there he sees the portrait of his dad just above his head. He used all the strength he can muster and punched the end table. He hoped the picture falls to the ground to create a noise to call the attention of his mom but instead it hit his head. Whitney laughs as she mocks Nicholas' futile attempt.

But her laughter was cut short when a ray of light shines from the dark corner of the room. A specter emerged from it and drags Whitney off Nicholas. The specter stands in front of Nicholas, guarding him against Whitney. The two ghostly figures began to fight it out! Pillows flying everywhere, the plate on the table breaks, and the curtains twist into a knot. Finally, the specter manages to punch the Whitney square in the face and out of the house.

Nicholas is relieved that this specter managed to save him from Whitney. The specter carried Nicholas and helped him back to his room.

"Thank you! I don't know how I can repay a spirit for saving me." Nicholas says to the specter. His vision still recovering from his concussion but he tried his best to make out the specter's face.

"Well, Nicholas, why don't you start by apologizing to your mom and be a man?"

Nicholas' vision adjusted and sees his father sitting beside him. No words can convey what he is feeling. Excited, happy, sad, and other emotions began to fill him. Before he can move, his father hugged him.

"I hope you realized I will be always with you both, no matter what." Nicholas began to cry. He didn't utter any word and just enjoy the moment with his father was the answer.

"That black rice offered to you was almost your certain death! Good thing you enjoy the food I prepared earlier!" Then a white light shines in the living room.

"Well, it's time for me to go." He gets up and gave his son one last smile before leaving his room. Nicholas looked at his arms and felt the warmth his father gave him. He looked up and gave him a big smile, "Thank you Dad for reminding me what love means."

Nicholas opens his eyes and the next thing he knew it's morning. He returned to the living room and sees all tidy except for his father's picture lying on the floor.

Nicholas picks it up and knocks on his mother's room. His mom opens the door and Nicholas smiles ready to mend their relationship.