Short Stories for Kids

DRIVING

By Janet L. Rodriguez

My friend, Ben love driving, in fact, he would gladly agree to drive all the way to Baguio for an errand for his mom or sometimes, to simply go and drive up to the land of the Pines to buy his mother fresh flowers and fruits.

It was why, one boring Saturday, I was not shy to ask him whether he would like to accompany me to Baguio to visit some of the famous ukay-ukay shops there. “I’ll pay for the gas ‘tol, ano, go?” I asked him. “No problem, ikaw pa?” he said automatically like I knew he would.

So off we went, happy and \feeling so great, we were on the top of the world- add to that, we really bundled up well with lots of Lay’s potato chips. Chips-ahoy, Toblerone, Choc Nut, chicharon, peanuts, etc, etc. and lots of fruit juices, Chuckie drinks and mineral water. “ Hindi kaya sumakit naman and tyan natin sa daan nyan,” he teased me about my supplies. “Well if you don’t want to eat, fine,” I joked. “Sosolohin ko na lang ‘to.” “Maimpatso ka sana,” he continued teasing. And we laughed crazy hyenas.

So it went we’re having a good time, the time of our lives in fact. We were carefree and so happy that not even the bad traffic dimmed or joy. Once during the trip, we even chanced upon travelers whose car overheated and I offered some of my mineral water stack to help their unprepared-for-travel car. “Ang bobo naman. Alam na ngang magba-byahe ng malayo, ‘di pa handa,” Ben, a great mechanic as well as driver, whispered to me when the driver of car-the dad, one would guess- thanked us ever so profusely. “Okay lang po, “I told him, trying to shush his mountain of ‘thank you’s’. “Sige po, okay na yata. Una na kami.”

Ben rushed to our own car off we again went. The traffic and good Samaritan deed delayed our trip so it was nearing dusk when we reached the climb that was Kennon Road. As usual, Ben was a cool customer and it was no sweat even when darkness colored the roads and the sky. Whistling, he even munched on a cookie while his head swayed to the rhythm of Linkin Park blasting from the radio. I was half-asleep by then though.

As we reached a curve, the traffic slowed. Our car was hanging precariously on an incline so we had a good view of what was happening in front of us. “Okay ka lang?” I asked Ben, pertaining to the tilted car. He looked at me like I had insulted him. “ I know how to drive, “ he boasted. So I busied myself with the sights outside the side of my car window wanting to be fully awake to give Ben good company. All I saw at first were cars and mere inches of dirt road before the dead drop of nothingness. And then I saw a man… a very, very big man.

“Um.. yung mama o..,” I started to speak to Ben, but I didn’t get to finish what I was going to say because my eyes took over all my senses. In the dusk, I saw a man sitting on top a huge stone beside the road. He was a few cars in front of us and from my vantage point, he seemed very large, very hairy, too, his hair was uncut to reach past his neck. But aside from his size and hairiness, what struck me most was the lack of clothing needed to protect him from the cold… and what was he doing sitting there? “ Nakikita mo?” I asked Ben who nodded. “What could he be doing there?” He said as our car crawled slowly to where he was situated.

When we reached the area where the car would be directly in front of where he was sitting, I felt the hair on my arm and neck stand. Oh no, oh no. “Ben, Ben, nakikita mo ba.. oh no!” I clutched the lock of the car hard.. for self-preservation. “Hindi siya tao,” I murmured silently, feeling like I was going crazy. I bunched my body near the driver’s side because “the man” was nearer my door. And the man was no man. He was all hair and, sitting down, he was bigger than the car. All one could see were two holes that jutted out from his face. Eyes that looked like they were swimming in fresh blood. Ben was so quiet, it doubled my fear. He should be brave! The only thing that probably kept us sane at that moment was the fact that the traffic kept moving, if slowly. As we passed “the man” and turned another curve, I felt myself hyperventilating. “Ben, hindi ako makahinga.” And then, suddenly Ben’s car conked out. Heat rose from the hood. “Whatta!” He mouthed, his voice edged with apprehension. Fear.

He guided the car a little to the side and unwillingly, unlocked his car door, went out and checked what was wrong. Scared, I followed him out. “There’s nothing I could see wrong ,” he said. “Pwede mong i-start kung pwede na?” He asked me to go to the driver’s seat. “What?” My brain refused. “Okay,” I answered. I had no choice. When I ripped the car door open, a gush of wind slapped my face. Somebody was there, I thought. I ran back to Ben and hurried myself to his side. “Look, we could go together and check together, right? I’ll sit beside you in the passenger seat while you bring the car back to life. Isara mo na yung hood. Okay na yan.”

So that was that. He agreed. We were again sitting side by side, silent for a change, while he tried the ignition. It roared to life miraculously, as if heat had not come out of the hood just a minute ago. “Ang weird,” were the only words Ben could utter at frist. “Ben, natatakot ako,” I returned. “Alam mo, parang meron lang nanloko sa makina. Well-condition kotse ko eh,” he explained. “Di kaya yung nadaanan natin…? “Let’s not talk about it,” I said quietly. “Have you thought of the possibility na…,” he started. “… na ano?” I asked, not liking the conversation. “Hindi kaya pinatigil tayo para sumakay siya sa kotse?” I could have killed Ben that moment… When he mouthed the words, I felt cold fear slither to my every pore. I felt pinpricks of dread. I wanted to close my eyes but feared I would sharpen my other senses and feel a presence. But there was a presence, I thought. I felt it. I wanted to jump out the window, shout to the other cars, turn on the car light to check the back. The back… “Ben, the back…”

Like a badly choreographed move, Ben and I simultaneously looked at the back mirror to check. And it was there. The man! The being! He was inside the car! His bloody eyes looking back at us.

I didn’t know how we got to the nearest civilized spot to dump the car and rush outside but it was a crazy drive from the time we saw the creature to the time we jumped out of the car. We rested at a gas station for a while, talked to the gas attendants, explained what had happened. We were only “forced” to go back when one gas boy jested. “Marami na’ng ganyang istorya. Isipin nyo na lang na wine-welcome kayo dito sa Baguio.”

Oh, but what a welcome. It was one unforgettable trip to Baguio for me and Ben. After that, we still returned to the City of Pines. But we usually go at early light and always with a group. We refuse to make any stops on the road and I’ve stopped looking outside my window when passing Kennon.