skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My name is Josh Esguerra Molina. I was thirteen years old in 2021, and I thought our family’s story had finally found peace. Mommy Brenda and Papa Franz had been together for a few years already. Bernadeth, my little sister, was turning five. We lived in a small but happy home in Quezon City. From the outside, we looked like any normal family. But I knew better. I remembered too much.
I was born in July 2008. My real father, Rich, died before I could even know him. Papa Franz stepped in and became my dad in every way that mattered. He was there when I took my first steps, when I said my first words, and when I cried at night missing Mommy Brenda while she was working in Qatar. He never treated me like I was someone else’s son. He was just… Papa.
One Saturday afternoon, I was in the living room playing on my phone when Bernadeth came running in, holding an old photo album. Her eyes were wide with curiosity, the way only a five-year-old could be.
Kuya Josh! Sino ‘to? she asked, pointing at an old picture of Mama and Papa Franz when they were much younger.
Si Mommy Brenda at si Papa Franz ‘yan, noong bata pa sila. Maganda si Mommy di ba? I smiled and pulled her onto my lap.
She nodded excitedly
Oo! Tapos si Daddy Franz, ang tangkad! Bakit parang ang lungkot nila rito?
Her question caught me off guard. I looked closer at the photo. She was right. There was a sadness behind their smiles, the kind of sadness that came from carrying too many things for too long.
Marami kasing nangyari sa kanila noon, Bebe. I said gently, using the nickname I gave her.
Bernadeth tilted her head, not fully satisfied.
Pero Kuya… may secret kayo? Bakit minsan kapag magkasama si Mommy at Daddy Franz, parang may iniisip silang malalim? May something ba na hindi niyo sinasabi sa’kin?
Masyado kang curious, ha? Bata ka pa para malaman lahat. Basta alam mo, mahal na mahal ka namin ni Mommy at Papa Franz. I laughed softly, but inside I felt a small pull.
She pouted cutely.
Hindi fair! Gusto ko rin malaman ‘yung kwento niyo! Sino si Tita Myra? Sino si Tito Rich? Bakit minsan naririnig ko silang nag-uusap tungkol sa sumpa? Ano ‘yun?
Balang araw, Bebe. Kapag mas matanda ka na, ikukwento ko sa’yo lahat. Promise. I hugged her tighter.
That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about her questions. At thirteen, I was starting to remember things I had pushed away for years, the hospital, Mommy's story she was crying beside Daddy Rich’s bed, Papa Franz’s sad eyes after Tita Myra died, and the strange dreams about 1907 that sometimes visited me.
I didn’t know it then, but Bernadeth’s curiosity would soon open doors we thought were closed forever. The hidden book. The curse. The truth about our family. Everything was about to come back. → story continues in Chapter 2 Live on August 8!
Some stories don’t stay buried. They wait for the right person, sometimes a curious little sister, to dig them up and finally set them free.
— Josh
Updated August 5, 2026 from original post date July 13, 2020.
