FRIENDS TRY TO ROADTRIP IN THEIR GRANDFATHER’S OLD VAN BUT WHILE THEY’RE HAPPY SINGING INSIDE, THEY SUDDENLY STOP IN A REMOTE PLACE BECAUSE OF AN OLD MAN STANDING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH AN OBJECT

At 3 a.m., a blue L300 van is traveling along a zigzag road in Quezon province. The vehicle is old, they call it “Kiko,” which Gab inherited from his grandfather Tasyo who passed away last month. He is accompanied by three close friends: Miko, who is noisy, Lester, who always falls asleep on the road, and Jay, who shows the way using his cellphone with a weak signal.

The plan? Sell the van to a buyer in Bicol because Gab desperately needs money to treat his mother who has kidney disease. Gab felt heavy inside because this was the only memory of his grandfather, but he had no choice.

“Dad, are you really sure about this?” Miko asked as he turned down the radio that was playing Eraserheads. “The engine is still nice, it doesn’t seem to want to give up.”

Gab just nodded, holding the steering wheel tightly. “It’s necessary. You know, Mama, our dialysis savings are running out.”

While they were in the middle of a dense forest, the rear tire suddenly blew out. Gab swore and pulled the van over to the dark side of the road. There were no street lights, only the van’s headlights served as light among the tall trees.

The four of them got out. While changing the tire, Jay noticed an old woman standing near a large ballet tree. She was wearing an old dress that looked like it was from another time, and she was holding a small wooden trunk.

“Hey, there’s someone,” Jay whispered, his eyes widening. “Maybe it’s a white lady.”

“Gago, what white lady? You can see the shadow,” Lester replied, already waking up from his nervousness.

The old man approached the group. They thought he was going to scare them, but he smiled sweetly. “Little ones, can you come with me? Only until the other town. I’m just going to visit someone.”

The friends looked at each other. It was dangerous to give a stranger a ride, especially at this time and place. But Gab saw the old man’s eyes—they looked exactly like his Grandfather Tasyo’s eyes. Gentle and humble.

“Okay, Grandma. Get in,” Gab’s nanny said.

The old man got in the back next to their belongings. It was quiet as they drove. A few minutes later, the old man spoke.

“You know, this vehicle is familiar to me,” the old man said in a raspy voice. “This is where my wife and I first dated in the 1990s. This is where we also fought, made up, and dreamed.”

Gab looked in the rearview mirror. “Really? This is Grandpa Tasyo’s.”

“I know,” the old man replied, raising the four of them’s eyebrows. “I’m Elena. Tasyo’s ex-girlfriend before she was forced to marry someone else because of their family’s debts.”

Page: SAY – Story Around You | Original story

Gab suddenly braked. “Elena? Are you the one in the old love letters I found in Grandpa’s things?”

The old man nodded and slowly opened the trunk he was holding. “Son, it wasn’t an accident that your tire blew out earlier. And it wasn’t an accident that we met. This van… it’s not just any car.”

Grandma Elena handed Gab an old key from the trunk. “Under the driver’s seat, there’s a small compartment covered in cement. That’s the key.”

Out of curiosity, and despite the fear of his friends, Gab did as the old man said. He felt under the chair and felt a small hole. He inserted the key. Click.

A small drawer opened. Inside, what was revealed was not gold or jewelry, but a thick bank account book and a land title. Land in Tagaytay that is now commercial and worth millions.

“That’s for you, Gab,” Grandma Elena said with a smile as tears welled up in her eyes. “That was Tasyo and I’d saved up for our future. But when your grandfather got sick and found out he was dying, he looked for me. He gave me the van but I told him to keep it there for his future grandson who would need it someday. He knew this day would come.”

Gab was stunned. The van he was about to sell for a hundred thousand had hidden treasures that would cover not only his mother’s medicine, but the future of their entire family.

“But Grandma, why did you give it to me now?” Gab asked, also in tears.

When they looked back… Grandma Elena was gone.

The only thing left on the seat was the trunk he was holding earlier. When they opened it, an old newspaper dated 1995 was revealed. Headline: Woman found dead on the side of the road after being hit while waiting for a ride. The victim’s name was: Elena Corpuz.

The friends’ entire bodies went cold. Miko and Jay shivered, but Gab felt a strange warmth in his heart. Not fear, but gratitude.

The ghost of the past did not make itself felt to threaten, but to fulfill a promise. The road trip they thought was to say goodbye to the old van, turned out to be a path to a new beginning.

Gab did not pursue the sale of the van. They returned to Manila with the title and the bankbook. He had the “Kiko” made and made it a family service. Every time he gets in the car, he always looks in the rearview mirror, hoping to see the old man who saved them again, but all he sees is his own smile—the smile of someone whose grandfather’s love has not abandoned him, even in the afterlife.

In the end, they prove that true wealth is not found in the shine of the car, but in the history it contains. And sometimes, the “bumps” on the road are deliberately set by fate to give us what we have long been asking for.