Haunting Past

Yesterday I was visiting with my Lola (my grandmother), and we swapped the weirdest stories…

I had stopped by her house after school, and we were talking over dessert. She had baked this delicious cassava cake, and I was commenting on how much I loved her cassava recipes. She replied that she had learned to make lots of different things with it when she was living in Ecuador. Ecuador? Well I know Filipinas use cassava in their cooking, but I didn’t know her recipes had Latin origins as well.

She said she had sometimes vacationed there with her aunt and uncle in Quito when she was a teenager. Funny, I had never heard stories of it before. I asked her why she never mentions that we had family there, and when was the last time she visited?

My Lola fell silent. She said she hadn’t been back since she was 17. She said Quito was a strange place, and she dared not return. What about our family? She said she loved her aunt and uncle very much, but after her visit in 1949, her parents never let her go back.

I asked what happened, and what I heard next made me feel very uneasy.

She said it had started out as a typical vacation, and she was staying with her aunt and uncle in their apartment near the Central Plaza. As the capital city, there was always something to do in Quito, and she never got bored. She said it was a busy city, and her aunt and uncle always took her out.

It was February 12, and the three were relaxing in the living room after dinner. They would always turn the radio on for entertainment, and tonight there was going to be a special performance by some famous artists. As they were enjoying the music, the broadcast was interrupted by an urgent news bulletin. To the family’s horror, the announcer started to describe how aliens were attacking the city in the form of a large cloud. Their landing was proposed to be 20 miles away.

Without skipping a beat, Uncle Roberto demanded that the ladies pack up a few things and evacuate the house immediately. Terrified, my Lola grabbed her purse and jacket and was ushered out of the house with her Aunt Lucia holding her tight. The three stumbled onto the sidewalk only to find that the main square was mobbed with people. Some families, like hers, were bundled up with their children dashing away down the alleys, while other men were brandishing weapons and yelling for everyone to stand up and fight. Uncle Roberto, the bravest man she knew, refrained from joining the mob, though several of his friends urged him to help defend the city. Knowing he had his niece to care for, Uncle Roberto swept the ladies away from the square, fearing the chaos would consume them before the Martians would.

Uncle Roberto didn’t know much about extra-terrestrials, but the fog that had descended upon the central square was undeniable. So strange and mysterious - they had better keep moving. As they were rushing away, more men with torches were rushing towards the main square, yelling their intentions to burn the radio station for being in cohorts with the aliens. Everyone was panicked and confused – some people were saying that the broadcast was a hoax, while others were determined on violence.

My Lola never saw the radio station burn down, nor witness the people dying in the fire, but it happened. She said it was a dark night for Quito, and she had never been that afraid in her whole life. Uncle Roberto had managed to avoid the riots and hide them out in the country, and as soon as it was safe again, she went back home to Manila - never to return again.

My Lola said the experience shook her, and ever since then, she has believed that aliens are out there. In turn I told her my story, and she only shook her head. She said she was too old to be worrying - if they will come, they will come.