Tyo Rap was one of the sugarcane workers in the remote hacienda where I was raised as a child..My grandfather was the contractor that provide workers for the whole hacienda.
My youngest uncle was the bookkeeper and the other uncle was the "kabo" or the one that watch over the workers,their performance and progress of their works.
The owner was very kind to our family, this is also the place where my encounter with the unknown happened that later on i've learned to be what the locals call as "kapre"...
But let's go back to Tyo Rap,one of the workers that we also treat as one of the family.He had been with my grandfather for more than 20 years,that was before I was born.His wife works as laundrywoman and his kids was our playmates.
For weeks, workers was working late because they have a schedule and qouta to meet.
That was friday, at dawn and Tyo Rap was working very late.He is too tired,
all he wanted to do was go home,take a bath and sleep soundly.
When he got home, he bring a pail to fetch water from the well where everybody in that hacienda depends for their water supply..
The well can be found at the back of the bodega or stockroom of the crops like rice and sugarcanes.
The well was surrounded by different kinds of trees like mangoes,guava,bananas and many others trees which is very useful as shades during summertime....
Again let's go back to Tyo Rap,as he leaned down to get water from the well someone tap his behind.It's 12 a.m.,he was half naked, just
wearing a brief made of flour sack.
O my,I had forgotten to mention that Tyo Rap was very big, dark and huge man,he is seems a giant in my childhood point of view.
He is 6'2," not a typical filipino height, and no undergarment will fit him that's why his wife sew a flour sack for his brief.
"Maring,please, i'm tired and I want to be able to freshen up and be able to go to sleep"..without looking back he said.
Again when he lean to get water from the well he felt another tap on his behind.
"Maring, stop doing that" irritation can be sense on his voice..without looking back he focused on his goals.
For the third time he felt the tap on his butt,
he angrily looked back to where his supposedly wife was, but he almost lost consciousness when he found a dark,huge,
hairy with cigar on his mouth looking back at him, standing and laughing at his back...
The giant can't stop the humurous reaction he had just staring at his agitation and discomfort...
He is a big man, but the giant almost 9 feet much ,much bigger than him. He couldn't stop the bizarre feeling, he was so scared that he ran leaving behind his pail with water.
His wife Tya Maring was very surprised when Tyo Rap hurriedly enter the door.
"Maring, hurry up close the door!", he ordered his wife.
"What happened?", Tya Maring ask.
"Wait" for he was heavily breathing.
"Where's your water?",another question
from his wife.
"A minute please",still grasping for breath he motioned to his wife.
"Okay, i'm just wondering because you said you want to take a bath before you go to sleep, but it seems you leave the pail outside",
as Tya Maring observed her husband.
When he is calmer, he told his wife what happened and what he saw in the well.
"Now I know they really exist!",he exclaimed til the the day he died no one can persuade him that what he saw was not true...