"The 6th Shadow"

"The 6th Shadow"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

There is a place near our ancestral land that is rumored to be a portal to a different place. Many supernatural disturbances have been reported there like the appearance of strange beings or very large animals. This place is the Imburnal , it is a simple drain pipe that crosses underneath the road to the other side.A single lamp post marks the area during those times. The only lamp post for some distance all around.

My experience happened when I was 13 years old during a summer vacation. After a really great time in the town plaza I was with My Tita Bing and Uncle Rey  , my cousins Vincent and Jimbo walking merrily back to our house in Dapawan. The rice fields on both sides were swaying slightly with the wind. We were chatting noisily and had arms on each others shoulders. We were walking in step with each other.

From the distance there was some lightning  , sure signs of a summer rain. We even commented that we would sleep much better with cooler weather.We continued to chat until we reached the Imburnal.It was there that I noticed something strange when I looked at our shadows. To the right was a shadow and it had no head. No freaking head!!!

I started to count us. There were only 5 of us. And there was a 6th shadow with no head to the left. I asked my Tita Bing to look and she freaked out. We were all freaking out and decided to make a run for it to the house where we said nothing. We were so freaked out and we hoped that the 6th shadow did not follow us home. I said a prayer and had a very shallow sleep despite the cold weather.