Ding-Dong Ditch

I will never play ding-dong ditch again, especially at the abandoned house in the corner of Pomelo Street.

It all started on one sunny day in October. Classes were cut short because of some United Nations costume program, and being the good high schoolers that we were, we hopped over the school's back fences just so we could leave the campus.

Pumunta sa computer shop, gumala sa mall, tumambay sa park—we had lots of options, but because we were broke teenagers, we settled with going to one of our friend's house to watch a movie she pirated online.

Mahaba-habang lakaran bago makarating sa bahay ni Barbie, pero hindi namin ito ininda. Bukod sa nasasayangan kami sa pamasahe, pare-pareho kaming mas nasisiyahan sa paglalakad nang magkakasama. Unlimited ingay at kalokohan, kumbaga.

There were five of us, all girls—Barbie, Shane, Chelsea, Honey, and then there was me. All four of them were born and raised in the city of Westpring. They grew up together. Meanwhile, I just moved here two years ago, and they were nice enough to adopt me to their friend group.

Dressed in our all-blue school uniforms, we moved without a care in the world. We kept poking fun of one another, laughed at some trivial things we noticed, and just had fun in our own little ways.

If I remember it correctly, I think it was Honey who started it.

Honey was the most unpredictable among us. Pilya at maraming kalokohan, minsan tuloy natatawag siyang bad influence ng ilang teacher o mga magulang. However, to us, she was just some fun-loving girl. After all, wala namang napapahamak sa mga kalokohan niya.

Naglalakad lang kami, patawa-tawa habang nagkukuwentuhan, nang bigla na lamang lumihis si Honey sa sidewalk at tumakbo patungo sa gate ng isang bahay. Nagulat kaming lahat nang bigla niyang pinindot ang doorbell.

Nagkatinginan kaming apat, pare-parehong laglag ang panga at nanlalaki ang mga mata. Pero nang biglang kumaripas ng takbo si Honey, tumakbo na rin kami.

"Hoy!" Narinig naming may sumigaw kaya nagtilian kami hanggang sa ang tilian namin ay nauwi na sa tawanan.

We kept running for a few blocks until Chelsea began to slow down, complaining that she couldn't breathe from running and laughing so hard. We followed her lead and stopped running as well. Just like her, we were also left gasping for air. Sa kabila nito, patuloy pa rin ang tawanan namin, lalo na nang sinabi ni Barbie na parang naihi raw siya sa bilis ng mga pangyayari.

And then it just happened . . .

As we continued to walk our way, one of us would just randomly approach a gate, press a doorbell and dash—which made the rest of us run away while screaming and laughing.

At the back of my mind, I felt guilty for the homeowners we disturbed. However, I guess the joy of fooling around with my friends outweighed my conscience.

"Hala, bakit dito tayo sa Pomelo Street dumaan?!" Shane was the first to notice that we were entering the notorious street that only had a couple of homes. Most of the area was occupied by tall grass and trees. 

"Bakit naman hindi?" Barbie laughed. She was the one who was leading our journey.

"Why? What's up with this street?" I asked, oblivious to whatever the hell was wrong with the place.

Inakbayan ako ni Chelsea at siya na mismo ang sumagot sa mga katanungan ko. And truth be told, bigla akong kinilabutan sa mga narinig—skeptic pa ako sa lagay na 'yon.

Do you know how every city has its fair share of haunted places and urban legends? Well, for Westpring City, it has Pomelo Street in its belt.

Sabi nila, isa raw napakalawak na lupain ang lugar na ito noon. Nang mabili ito ng isang mayamang angkan, they were able to develop the area into the subdivision that it is now. However, Pomelo Street remained underdeveloped unlike its neighboring streets.