CHAPTER 3: GHOSTS

I opened my eyes and I see the blue skies.

I can hear the waves of water, its soothing sound, and the smell of the breeze of the ocean.

All you can hear is the water and the wind.

But ...

Where am I?

My head slightly aches and I'm still a bit dizzy.

I walked a bit more around the shore to know exactly where I am.

There are no people around, and you can't even hear a human noise.

Are there other people in here?

"Wait, fuck, maybe I'm dead?" I mumbled.

Why am I talking to myself?

Remembering what happened last night, I can still remember how my acquaintances turned their backs on me, how those guys punched and kicked me, how it hurts, and how my body almost felt numb.

'I haven't recovered from his blow yet ah! What's his name again?

And ...

And I can still remember how I became a human light bulb.

Human light bulb. Human bomb. Crazy as it seems, but it actually happened.

I walked towards the water as it touched my feet, stopped from walking, and take a look on my reflections.

Ripped-faded jeans and nothing on top, huh? I guess my clothes burned. But I didn't have any burns or burns on my body, just wounds, and bruises all around my face and body.

I looked at both of my hands and stretched them straight, on the level of my chest.

How did I do that?

Behind my hands is a view of the horizon, sky blue above, and ocean blue below. Everything is blue, except for these guys walking above water.

Wait.

Guys? Walking above water? You got to be kidding me. I'm not drunk. My eyes are playing tricks on me.

I tightly closed my eyes and opened them.

"AAAAAAH! Ghosts! OH SHIT. SOMEONE'S WALKING ABOVE WATER!" I ran back to the sand, looking for help. "OH GOD! I JUST SAW GHOSTS! THREE GUYS! THEY'RE WALKING! HOLY--"

My face landed on the sand.

I tripped. Tanga, eh.

Panicking, I stood up and looked at the rope that caught my feet and a boat that is tied to it, with humans.

Humans. FINALLY, HUMANS.

"My God! You look upset! What happened to you?" One of them spoke.

"Manong! There are ghosts, I swear!" I pointed at the direction where I saw those guys.

They gave me a confused stare and they all looked at each other.

"I am not crazy!" I shouted.

"The ghost isn't real, if you're also one of the young people there ... what do you call it again? Prank? Yes, prank! If you're pulling a prank then screw you!" One of them stated.

"How can I go home if I don't know where I am?! Ha! Tell me!" I was about to grab any one of them to punch his face when I started shining again.

Great. What is happening to me again?

"Stay away from me!" I shouted and ran away from them. Forget the ghosts, I don't want to burn properties.

Everything is not under my control, again.

And this time, I feel more the warmth of the light surrounding me. Maybe I don't feel this way the first time around because I'm drunk?

Before the darkness crept in, I still saw a glimpse of those fishermen who are standing still and looking at me as if what's happening is not a strange thing.

<In a great hall, all the Gods gather. The young man saw a group of three handsome men who seemed familiar to him. Suddenly he smiled at them and smiled back at them. A creature enveloped in light approached him, as he had seen in his previous dream. Again, he whispered the words: "it' coming soon." >

•••

The next thing I knew is that I'm lying on the ground, with trees and grasses around.

There, I saw 3 men, and based on what they were wearing, it was as if they came from a group of natives who wore bahags.

Wait. They were those men from my dreams! They're also those fishermen from ...

This must be crazy.

"I saw you. Who are you? What's happening to me? I don't know what's happening, please, tell me. I feel like I'm just being played. I don't understand. Am I still alive? You're in my dream, and there's this light who keeps on telling me that it's close. I don't know anymore. I know you know something about what's going on so please just-- "

"Paul, you are a God," one of them finally spoke.

I burst out laughing. "Geez, I really thought I was the only crazy here. Buang hahahahahaha!"

"You don't really fully understand it yet. You, the only Sun God, are Apolaki. You have the ability to shine. And the light you mentioned earlier, is your father Bathala, the truly omnipotent one." he said while just staring at me.

"But you didn't answer all my questions. I'm still confused. Who are you?"