The Forever Friend

Personal Experience by Taylor Mae

This story starts around the time I was in Kindergarten. I still remember him, quite vividly. His name was Joey, and he was my first friend. He never left my side, he was always there to play with me, and we laughed our way through the first year we were together. I no longer played with him by the time I entered first grade. The reason for that was because I moved schools. And also because, I was too old for imaginary friends. As I remember him, he was just a shadow on the wall. I don't recall when I first started talking to him, or why I called him Joey. I've always hated plain names like that.

By the time I was 13 my two youngest siblings, the twins Gavyn and Olivia, were Kindergarten age. I remember the first time it happened quite clearly. My step-mother, Liz, and I were making dinner (she was cooking, I was taste testing) my brother was outside with a friend, my father was watching television after having just come home from work, and my sister was upstairs playing. The walls in that house were very thin, as it was a decently aged place. From my bedroom upstairs I could hear most people's conversations and if I listened closely I could sometimes hear Liz washing dishes.

So it wasn't completely implausible that we could hear my sister upstairs. She was talking to herself, as she sometimes did while she played with her dolls. This time though, the context felt different. Like she wasn't just talking to herself, but having a conversation with another person. And then the unthinkable happened - we heard somebody reply. Liz gave me a look that said 'go make sure she's okay.' I didn't need to be told twice. I have a deep connection with all of my siblings, especially Olivia (at the moment she's in that stage where she worships me because I'm a teenager and therefore everything I do is cool). If there was somebody there who shouldn't be there, they could count on a fight from me. Nobody messes with my siblings.

So I walked into the living room, passing my oblivious father on the way, and peered up the staircase. She was in the hallway, clearly visible. As usual, she had a doll in each hand, making them converse with each other. I asked her who she had been talking to. She told me, "My friend Joey."

I went back into the kitchen, glad that I had been the first to witness a memorable part in my sister's life - her first imaginary friend. Liz and I laughed it off as our imaginations, and for the next few weeks thought nothing of it. Later though, when we visited my grandmother, both the children were playing upstairs and I heard her say his name once again, "Joey!" My brother asked her who that was and she explained it to him. He got mad, I think because he couldn't see Joey as well. 

Construction Worker

As a call center worker of three years, I have been guilty of what others might call "call center hopping" This story takes place during my work for my third call center in Davao. Callbox is located in the Landco Building which has been known for its ghost stories.

During breaks, we like to hang out in the fire exit. Most of my friends and co workers sneak out there to smoke cigarettes and we normally enjoy a good laugh about clients in there. One night, we were noisier than usual and having taken our usual spot on the base of a set of stairs facing the fire exit door, which was halfway open at that time. That door opened into a dimly lit corridor which had a dead end. Given that this was 2 in the morning, we didn't expect anyone to be there. My friends and I were discussing the recent elevator scare that left one of my co-workers going up and down from the second floor to the seventeenth floor and upon reaching the 17th floor the elevator would go on a free fall and stop on the second floor and start its climb again, we discussed his scary ride which lasted for 45 minutes. What was weird about this was that building engineers checked the elevator and there was nothing wrong with it. 

My co worker threatened to sue the building but they still stood by their findings that nothing was wrong with the equipment. Our discussion became noisier than usual and I who was positioned beside the half open door, noticed movement. I looked just in time to see a man splattered in what I thought was paint glide by. It took me half a minute to step out of the door and into the corridor, again just in time to see the man disappear into the wall. No one but me saw it, so I rejoined my group and said to my friends that it was getting late and we should return to our stations. They agreed and we headed up. 

Biringan City

About

This story was featured in the GMA Channel 7, Mel & Joey, hosted by Mel Tiangco and Joey de Leon. According to them, this city appears to be somewhat a kind of portal from and going to the other world.

Have you heard of a city of wonder, which appear and vanish  at the same time?

Anyway . . .

In the Province of Samar, the Philippines, the mention of “Biringan” evokes awe, fear, intrigue, knocking on wood and innumerable signs of the Cross.

What is Biringan? It is reportedly an undefined location somewhere between Calbayog City and Catarman, Northern Samar, where a mythic city(ies) of indescribable grandeur is/are said to exist, unvisited by ordinary mortals, known only by magnificent folk stories that refuse to die despite the advent of television and the internet. Other reports extend its area to as far south as San Jorge, Samar.

Biringan’s “now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t” quality indicates it is not of the usual land and water terrain in which we live in. It seems to exist in a different dimension, which explains why its boundaries can overlap with known towns and cities of Samar island. On moonless nights, seafarers aplenty have reported seeing a dazzling city of light. In a few minutes, though, the manifestation is no longer visible. Obviously, Biringan is not likely to be shown on any map or atlas. But specialized (infrared, ultraviolet, etc.) satellite mapping photography have reportedly turned up a shining area in the reported general location of Biringan.

The Choking Doberman

This urban legend comes from Sydney, Australia, and features a bizarre story regarding a choking Doberman dog. One night, a couple who had been out for a few too many drinks came home to find their dog choking in the living room. The man panicked and fainted, but the woman decided to call her old friend, a vet, and arranged to drop the dog off at the vet clinic. 

After dropping off the dog, she decides to go home and get her husband into bed. It takes her a while to do this, and in the meantime, the phone rings. The vet screams hysterically that they need to get out of the house immediately. So without any clue as to what’s going on, the couple leave the house as quickly as possible.

As they come down the stairs, several policemen run up to meet them. When the woman ask what the problem is, a policeman gently tells her that the dog was choking on a man’s finger. A burglar must still be present in their home. Soon enough, the former owner of the finger is found unconscious in the bedroom.

Source: http://listverse.com