Do you believe in ghosts?

When I was growing up, the older cousins used to tell us ghosts stories about Aunt P's houses. Aunt P's houses are really spooky. Maybe it's because they're so big and it has just have that eerie feel to it. People spoke in hushed voices even if Aunt P's not around.

The house in Lupon. They said that doors open and close on their own and footsteps can be heard upstairs. They said that, sometimes, you can hear a baby cry in the middle of the day coming from the downstairs bathroom in the movie house. The theory goes that it used to be a clinic and maybe a baby died there. A house guest even reported hearing this unearthly scratching in his door and when he opened the door, he saw a wrinkled hand with very long nails.

The house in Sikalig. The workers said that often they see Uncle B looking out of the window (what's spooky about this is, of course, it wasn't Uncle B) and most times they say that late at night they see a lady dressed in white walking around the grounds.

The house in Davao. My favorite story goes, they would hear a knock on the door around 6 PM. Upon opening the door this headless nun would ask if she can have something to eat. If you open the door wide enough, the nun would walk in and simply vanish. How's that for spooky?

I don't know if the stories are true. I lived at Aunt P's house in Manila for a good many years and I have one story that is kinda spooky.

Back when I was still studying in Mapua, I spent long hours into the night on school work. Sometimes, if I need a bigger working space, I'd head downstairs and work on the dining table. It happened in one of those nights where I was in the dining room. I woke up to this tap on my right shoulder and realized that I fell asleep in the middle of my assignment. I woke up and finished up. As I was putting away my stuff, it dawned on me. Who woke me up? Everybody was asleep. I tried to remember just what woke me up. Was it a dream? And as I closed my eyes trying to recall what happened, I remembered. I remembered the tap. That spot on my shoulder felt heavy like a hand was still there. I told myself, "Don't be scared, just relax, it's just your imagination" over and over again. I pretended to yawn and said something aloud like "I'm so sleepy.", slowly walked upstair and when I reached my door, I ran to the bed and put the covers over my head. Even today, much as I like to think that it was just a dream, I think it really did happen and even as I'm typing this, I can still remember just how that tap felt.