The Mysterious Passenger

Once I rode a taxi along Kalayaan. I was going to Caloocan at that time to visit my girlfriend. I told the taxi to take Kalayaan Avenue instead of the usual EDSA route just for a change .

Unfortunately, when we reached U.P. compound, the taxi ran out of gas. I had no choice but to get off and find another taxi.

But before that I helped the driver push his taxi by the side of the road. After that he took an empty gallon at the back of his taxi. And then he started to walk to find the nearest gas station.

It took me a while to get another ride. It so happened that there were very few taxis passing by at the time.

My next taxi was driven by a man around 50. Let's call him Mang Karding.

Mang Karding was a chatty guy. He asked me what I was doing on that remote road.

I said my first taxi ran out of gas because he did not check his tank. So I was forced to find another ride.

He was the typical taxi driver who likes to engaged his passengers in a conversation.

We talked about a lot of things. We started from politics. Then he shared about his children and their education.

And then he remembered the area where he picked me up.

He asked me."Do you believe in Ghost?"

I laughed and I said, "Manong. I believe in spirits but I don't believe in Ghost."

He smiled back and said, "You know. I used to be like you. I used to tell myself that ghost are just pigments of a wild Imagination. Until I experienced seeing one."

"Really?" I asked. "So Manong, where did you see this ghost".

"Near the place where you flagged me."

"Oh." I said surprised. " I do here a lot of ghost stories about U.P."

And then he began to tell his story.

It was three in the morning. He was driving along Kalayaan. There were a lot of other vehicles on the road even though it was very early in the morning.

But when he entered the U.P. compound he noticed that his taxi was the only one on the road. And the atmosphere seem to become more dreamy. Like he was driving along another world.

As he was driving along he noticed a young woman waving at him. She seemed to be a college student.

He stopped. The woman opened the door then got in.

Mang Karding asked the girl, "Where are you going?"

The young woman replied, "Just straight ahead manong."

Mang Karding assumed that she must be going to one of the dormitories in UP.

Mang Karding started to drive.

And when they reached the nearest dormitory, Mang Karding turned back to the young girl, "Is this your place?"

But his passenger was gone. He felt he heartbeat started to race.

Me being the skeptic that I am, I interrupted him in the middle of his story.

"Manong maybe you were just sleepy." I laughed. "Did you really hear the girl open the door and close it?"

Mang Karding said he did.

"Really? So what did you do afterwards." I was curious.

He said he drove as fast as he could until he reached the nearest gas station.

The gasoline boys rushed to him because they noticed he looked pale and he was breathing heavily.

"Manong," They inquired. "Why are you panting?"

"What happened?"

Mang Karding between breaths related to them how he picked up a passenger. A young
woman. He brought her to the dormitory. And when they reached the dormitory, she disappeared.

He thought that they would laugh at his story. But instead, they told him that he was not the only taxi driver saw the girl.

They said she was a ghost of young student who got raped in the area.

And then Mang Karding recalled to me how that when she was waving at him. There was something strange about her wave.

Like there was no life to it and her movement was very slow. Unlike us living people, when we wave at a taxi, we wave vigorously and there is so much life to it.

"So Manong. When someone waves at you like that, I assume you won't stop again."

He paused then smiled. He seemed to be remembering the incident for a while. And then he said, "Never."