The Portal

The Drive By

Uilani’s ( POV )

I found myself sitting in my fogged up car… wipers swishing back and forth as the raindrops fell onto the glass windshield.

The radio softly played a local island hit song.

The vacant lot I was staring at was now… empty. Covered by overgrown grass and weeds. The only thing left standing was the tall mango tree that my siblings and I would entertain ourselves on.

Ten of us, in fact. Five boys and Six girls. Although one girl had passed, when my mother was in a fatal car crash.

Among the surviving children, the first five was a year apart and the next set of five was spaced out, two years in the age gap. I was the youngest of them all.

There were times we’d swing from branch to branch like monkeys. If we weren’t enjoying the taste of the juicy fruit. Sometimes picking the rotten mango’s to throw at each other like grenades. Splat… without warning… without reason.

Just stupid actions we did to amuse ourselves, I guess.

That tree was also a reprieve from getting away from our punishment. Thinking we could outsmart our parents. Or so we thought…

The saying “What goes up, must come down.” is true. Eventually, we had to come down and face the wrath of our 6’2 father. He was a fright itself. Strict in every way possible.

Boy did we get a whooping we deserved, when we deserved it. Our mother... she was the tiniest 4′9 pure Hawaiian woman… But believe me she could pack a punch of discipline and put you in your place, if we needed it. The thought got me laughing at myself.

This house... was the first out of several I had grew up in. It was the first encounter to the spirit world that would haunt us forever.

I closed my eyes and pictured the white five bedroom two- story house that once stood there.

The layout of the house was magnificent.

A stoned wall stairway led to the porch that made way into the main living quarters of the house…

The first thing you’d notice was a built in glass hutch, because it aligned with the front door to the parlor. It didn’t completely reach the ceiling, and you could see the dining room and the doorway that led into the kitchen through the open gap from it.

What was the purpose of that? It looked out of place... like a small useless addition to separate the spaces from one another.

There were four bedrooms that had adjoining doors between them. I didn’t quite understand the theory of that? (But it did remind me of the hotel rooms my parents would rent, when we traveled. It was a great way to stay connected to each other. We’d leave those open to walk through to the next, adequately.) The only bedroom downstairs was always claimed by my second eldest sister... Yaya.

Downstairs, besides Yaya’s bedroom were four separate garages that adjoined the huge space together, all used for different purposes. One garage was set up as a game room, pool table, dart board and scattered toys. A small section was used as a practice area for my five brothers. Guitar, keyboard and drums neatly surround microphone stands and amplifier systems.

Another section was considered as the fitness area was off to the back of it, which led to a private area for Yaya. The last was a six car garage. But instead of cars it normally housed our fiberglass and Koa canoes that sat on its respective trailers. Kept safe from the harsh elements of the sun and rain.

This description... is still imprinted in my memory.

My childhood home… It used to be beautiful once. Filled with uncountable people. Family, friends and nameless guests’. My parents were island socialites. The best hosts on the island… entertainment, check. All the food you can eat, check. All the booze you can drink, check...check.

They worked hard for everything they did, for us… for them. We had so many adventures growing up there. Owning an outrigger canoe club, several commercial fishing boats and all the sports activities you could think of. We would be active participants and loving it. Man… they created so many good and happy memories for us.

It was in that house that we informally adopted more brothers. But dad being… well dad, his heart cared for those boys who were less fortunate. The ones who wanted to experience all the love and happiness their parents should have given them. Don’t get me wrong… not every moment were all unicorns and rainbows, there were kinks here and there. What family didn’t?

The kinks started that day when a certain hānai brother by the nickname of “Spooky” who decided to mess with the spirit world and perform The Séance.

This window of opportunity for lost and wandering Kepalo, ( Ghost) had allowed the blackest of souls through THE PORTAL.

It started… smack dab in the middle of the parlor of our perfectly happy and loving home. What he had started… would be just the beginning of the paranormal events that we witnessed, from 1975 till today …

It didn't matter where we came from, what we looked like, where we were. They were always there... waiting, lurking in the shadows. Just waiting for the opportunity to present themselves.

The whole moral of this... is if you play with things of the unknown. You'd best believe that they're more willing to play along to your games. Especially, if you give them an invitation to the world you live in. The right to dwell among you.

It doesn't matter to them... The only thing that matters, is if you are strong enough to survive it.