She’s followed me since I was a child. I seem to see her around times of misfortune in my life; a ghost of my past haunting my dreams. She started as innocent and glowing, an image of beauty and kindness. Adorned with a white lacy dress and flowers upon her head, she began with intentions of protecting me, I believe. However, as things got worse, so did she. Her cloak darkened and so did her demeanor, she was never as happy as the time before, and eventually, she got violent. Dreams of a woman that I trusted, enjoying a meal with me in the serene woods for a common check-in, slowly transformed into nightmares of the same woman trying to bring about my death. The same dream has been recurring as the events in my life progressively got worse. Even now I myself can’t determine if she’s meant to be my guardian or my demon. The woman of the pond. My friend. My monster. The White Witch.

Most Filipinos are very superstitious. They share many different urban legends throughout the country that are widely thought to be true and to be taken seriously. One of these popular legends is the legend of the “White Lady.” She is said to be a seemingly European woman in a white dress. No one knows for sure who is she is or why she’s in the Philippines, but stories tell that she may, in fact, be a girl from Europe shot and killed by a deranged taxi driver. Many people see her at times of death or disaster, roaming for a while, then leaving as she pleases, perhaps because of the way she died.

The little girl yawned and stretched her small arms to the heavens above before settling into bed. The window was open and a cool breeze blew in to comfort her slumber. Her mother swayed in to kiss her goodnight and wish her farewell in her dreams. She pulled the covers as the girl’s eyes widened in terror. She shrieked for the dead to hear and pointed frighteningly at a wisp of white in the corner of the room. Bright, pure silk cascaded down from the beings chest all the way to just above the floor as it stood there silently. Watching, waiting. The child was terrified and consulted her mother but got only calm reassurance from her. “Don’t worry child, it is simply the white woman. She brings you good fortune, for you have not been harmed.”