This story happened to me when I was young. Really can’t remember exactly around what age (being the hyperactive kid I was) but if it helps I believe it was somewhere around the year 2001 when I was 16. This happened in the Philippines, in our home province in Tarlac.

It was a summer vacation, school’s out and around that time, our parents (who all grew up in Tarlac) would take us children to our ancestral home in Manaois (ma-na-wees). We usually sleep in our great grandparents’ house (which was owned by their predecesors and so on..). This house of course have that rustic look. My cousins and I having been born in the city (Manila) consider this house to be semi(?) haunted (coz it ain’t THAT haunted like no flying furniture, stuff like that, except for the occassional spooks and fright we sometimes, in fact, frequently encounter)

I have heard it all, from people seeing a lady wearing all white, a long-haired woman being caught combing her hair at night by the old vanity, to the mysterious man that peeks by the windows. Now I am saying all these coz I myself have not experienced any unusual phenomena in this house.

Except of course this one.

Being the rambunctious kid that I was once, I usually play and run all day til I tire myself at night and simply fall asleep til high noon. By the time I open my eyes, the room is empty and my other cousins have already gone out to eat breakfast or simply went about their daily lives. I prefer to wake up late (it’s summer, why not?) One particular day, I was awoken earlier than usual by the sound of the bass from the stereo system in the living room. I guess one of my cousins was trying out the CD player my aunt bought. So I got up, fixed myself breakfast and went to read the Funnies (I don’t know but reading the newspaper comics strip has always been my thing). So I went by the “middle” living room, the living that is smaller than the other living room located by the entrance. I found a nice old chair there made of rattan and sat down to read. I would be facing the stereo and about 6 steps from it.

Then I noticed the volume started to increase a bit. At first I thought “hmm, well, could use some sounds around here” and went on reading. But after a short while, the volume simple kept on increasing. Now I started to feel irritated by this and pleaded for “whoever” is increasing the volume stop. Probably one of my cousins got hold of the remote and is playing a joke on me.

But it kept increasing until it is at its maximum setting. Now being a few steps away from it, the noise became too much, even with the open windows and all the sound was just too loud. So I yelled for them to quit. I finally got up and tried to shut the volume down, but as I near the CD player the noise just went ear-shattering. In my irritation I turned it off. Not giving mind to whoever is listening. Then I shouted “What’s wrong with you people?!” They, who were outside by the gardens looked thru the window all looking confused. “What are you talking about?” they said, “The remote, whoever has it, stop with your silly shenanigans, it’s not even funny!” They all shuddered. It would have worked, that whole “prank” coz my great grandparents’ black and white portrait was hanging right about the CD player, and let me tell you that portrait had its own stories. (but that’s a different story)

Then I went back to my seat, and when I finally picked up the newspaper from the table, I saw the remote on there. I dashed outside in disbelief with my heart pounding fast. Nobody was giggling outside so I figured none of them could have done it.

But to this day, I am convinced “something” did.