Ouija

The ouija board is a board with letters and other signs on it which people try to use for receiving messages from the dead. Of course, most of us many know that there is a Chinese version too which displays Chinese characters instead of letters. Some argue that the Chinese were actually the ones to invent the ouija board and the Caucasians had merely adapted it to suit themselves. However, most seem to treat it more like a game than a serious means of communicating with the dead.

It must be played by three or more people. Some argued that if less than three people participated, it would not work. First of all, those involved have to placed their index finger on a circular marker placed at the centre of the board, usually an inverted saucer with a line drawn down the side. Then, an invitation had to be extended to any spirit in the area. If a spirit takes up the offer, it will began to answer any questions posed by moving the marker to the relevant characters. When the participants decide to end the game, they must invite the spirit to leave the place. The marker would return to the centre of the board to indicate its departure. Throughout the process, the participants must keep their fingers firmly on the marker until the spirit has departed. The story I am about to relate is about this game with the supernatural and why it is sometimes better to leave them alone. Many years ago, a new batch of recruits arrived on Pulau Tekong to do their Basic Military Training. As usual, there was the hustle and bustle of the first day in camp. They were sent to their respective companies and then brought to their bunks where they spent the better half of the day settling in. There was not much to do on the first day and the recruits were advised by their platoon sergeant to rest early as they have a long day ahead the next day. However, as the recruits of a particular company were getting ready for bed, one of their platoon mates produced an ouija board, a gift from his friend during his send off. A few started to gather around him, and soon the entire platoon was huddling together in the middle of the bunk to watch the proceeding. A thoughtful member went to switch off the lights so that the sergeant would think that they were asleep.

Of the entire platoon, there was only space for eight of them to actually squeeze their fingers onto the inverted saucer. They were namely, Toh, Jeremy, Sean, Cheng, Yeo, Sim, Situ and last of all, Malcolm, the owner of the set. He lighted a candle to provide some light, adding to the already eerie atmosphere of the bunk. Malcolm started the ball rolling by inviting a spirit nearby to come forth to answer their questions. He did it in a purposefully dramatic manner, like the Chinese priests in the movies and that invoked a few giggles from his platoon mates. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The audience looked at each other and burst out laughing. Some of them were even beginning to feel a little silly. When they had all finally managed to regain their composure, Malcolm recited the invitation. When he was halfway through, the saucer on the board began to vibrate. Malcolm stopped midway amidst looks of bewilderment from the observers faces. Malcolm held his breath and posed the first question, 'Spirit, are you with us?' The saucer revolved slowly around the many characters on the board, emitting a soft, rasping sound. Then, it came to a stop on the character 'Yes'. There were gasp from those watching. Toh then asked the next question, 'Are you male or female?'

The saucer moved to the character 'Female'. 'Your name?' Toh asked. The saucer moved to the character 'Siok', then moved to the next character 'Leng' and then became motionless. 'Siok Leng', Toh muttered, 'Your name is Siok Leng'. 'Yes' came the reply. 'My turn! My turn! shouted Jeremy. 'Howold are you?' The saucer shifted again, giving the answer as 'Eighteen'. 'She's eighteen when she died. I wonder how long ago that was,' said Jeremy. 'How long have you been dead/' he asked. The saucer moved steadily and gave the answer as '1932' 'Man, that's a long time ago,' exclaimed Jeremy. Yeo then continued the questioning. 'Where are you from?' he asked. 'Near' was the reply. 'Why does she always answer with such vague terms?' Yeo asked in exasperation. 'Hoe near?' he asked further. This time, the reply was more concise, 'By the river'. 'I know the river!' exclaimed Jeremy. 'It's about 2 kilometres to the east of here. My grandmother even lived there a long time ago. Did you use to live there?' he asked.

'Yes'. 'My turn now', said Cheng. 'What's out sergeant's name?' 'Soo'. 'His full name?' Cheng inquired further. 'Soo Kar Siow', the spirit replied. Suppressed giggles broke out immediately throughout the bunk. 'Soo Kar Siow', someone repeated, 'I'll like to play a few rounds of mahjong with him someday'. They continued asking personal questions about their sergeant, platoon commander and each other. They discovered many hilarious facts; their PF is actually henpecked, and their sergeant goes to Geylang every Saturday, The horde sure had a good laugh at their expenses. Suddenly, the smart Alex among them, Sim, exclaimed, 'Hey, how do I know that its not one of you who has been secretly moving the saucer around, giving us all those ridiculous answers, and here we are, lapping up every single word of it.' 'Why don't you ask the spirit some personal questions about yourself which only you have the answers to?' challenged Malcolm. 'Hey, that's a great idea. Why don't we each ask a personal question about ourselves. That way, we will know that all this game is genuine,' Cheng replied. 'I'll start,' offered Sim. 'What's my baby sister's name?'

The characters showed 'Lim Siew Fang.' 'That's absolutely correct', said Sim, a bit surprised. 'None of you could have possibly known that.' Chen was next in line. 'What's my mom's I/C number?' he asked. The spirit took her time and gave the correct answer, right down to the alphabet at the end. In this manner, each of them took their turn to pose a question, and each time, the spirit managed to give an accurate answer. Finally, all of them were convinced that none of the players were trying to act smart. Malcolm, who was always too curious for his own good, then asked, 'How did you die?' There was an immediate hushed silence. The saucer moved slowly before stopping at the answer 'Violently'. 'Can you be more specific?' Malcolm pursued further. All of them were not prepared for the reply 'Raped and murdered'. The room took on a sombre atmosphere. 'Who did it?' asked Cheng, who was silent all this while. The arrow on the saucer pointed to 'Outsiders'. 'You mean there was more than one?' he asked. 'Five' replied the spirit. 'Man, these people are brutal. They are animals! Where did it happen?' he asked.

Slowly, the saucer indicated the reply 'By the river'. 'When did it happen?' he inquired further. 'Today' it replied. 'Today?' Cheng asked in bewilderment. 'Oh, you mean in 1932? That means that today is actually the anniversary of your death?' 'Yes'. 'What do you mean the people who raped and murdered you were outsiders? Do you mean that they were from somewhere else?' asked Malcolm again. 'Yes', replied the spirit. 'Then, where exactly were they from?' Sean interrupted. The characters indicated 'Mainland'. 'Then, what were they doing here?' he asked. 'Seeking fun', and after a moments hesitation, the spirit added 'and trouble'. Toh then took over the questioning. 'Why did they pick you?' 'Alone' came the reply. 'Why were you alone?' he asked. 'My father's grave' she replied. 'Your father's grave?' Toh pondered. 'You were alone at your father's grave, near the river? Were you there to clean his grave?'

'Yes' she replied. 'So you were at your father's grave when those scoundrels stumbled upon you. They then took you to the river where they took turns raping you?' This time, there was a slight rattling of the saucer, as if the spirit was reluctant to answer the question. It pressed down hard on the board, went around the board, emitting a sharp, screeching sound, before coming back to the character 'Yes'. 'How then they kill you?' asked Jeremy, with a perverse grin on his face. 'Beaten and drowned' was the reply. There was groans of disgust all around. 'Those bastards aren't human', somebody exclaimed. 'Didn't those in your village catch them?' Sim asked in turn. 'They didn't know' she replied. 'Why could they not know?' he asked, genuinely puzzled. 'Body never found' was the reply. 'How come?' he pursued further. 'Cut to pieces and dumped into river' came the reply. Sim immediately felt like vomiting. 'These bastards are really sick', he thought to himself/ 'So those bastards got away scot free?' asked Yeo in anger.

This time, the reply was a quick 'No'. 'What happened to them in the end? Were they sent to prison? But you said that nobody knew?' This time, the saucer moved promptly to the character 'Kill'. 'You mean they were murdered?' he prompted, the atmosphere now deadly serious. Nobody was treating it as a game anymore. 'Yes' replied the spirit. Situ quickly cut in, 'Who did it? How could all five of them be killed?' The instantaneous reply, 'I did', curdled his blood. 'What do you mean you did? You are dead!' This time, the saucer remained stubbornly on the character 'I'. Malcolm was the first to recover from the shock. 'You meant to say that you caused their death, don't you? Just how did you manage to do that?' The spirit seemed to hesitate for a while before answering. 'Unnaturally' was the reply. By then, all of them were scared shitless. 'Let's end this game', said Yeo to the rest, 'its getting was too far'. 'No!' exclaimed Jeremy, with a look of fascination on his face. 'Just how did you manage to do that? They overlooked something that night, didn't they?' he asked the spirit.

'What are you talking about?' interrupted Sim. Jeremy paid no attention to him. Instead, he continued, 'You were wearing something special that night, weren't you? You were wearing something red?' 'Correct' was the reply. 'From head to toe' the spirit continued. 'That's why you were so vengeful, because you were wearing red. But why would you wear red to your father's grave? You had something else up your sleeve, didn't you? You wanted to be noticed, didn't you?' reluctantly, the saucer moved to the answer 'Yes'. 'You knew that those scoundrels were passing by,didn't you? You wanted to be noticed, didn't you?' This time, the saucer swung viciously around the board before stopping on the character 'No'. 'You know you can't lie. You were the one who was trying to have fun, right? Things just got out of hand and you finally got yourself killed, isn't that right?' This time, the saucer did not move an inch. 'So you are not going to deny it anymore, are you?' Jeremy continued. Once again, the spirit refused to answer his question. The group was at a lost for words. The air was thick with apprehension as they sensed the spirit's increasing defiance. They were no longer in the right frame of mint to ask questions, except Jeremy, that was. 'So, how did you manage to get all of them killed, huh? Didn't anybody suspect foul play?' Jeremy asked.

'No' the spirit answered this time. Then, the saucer continued to move, forming the words 'you... are... next'. Suddenly, the saucer went berserk. It began to revolve round and round the board, faster and faster. All of them was trying to keep their fingers on the saucer as it sped around the board. The screeching sound had become deafening. Malcolm was shouting above the din to the rest, 'Don't let go! Whatever you do, don't let go or else we are all dead meat!' Jeremy, who was shocked by the reply of the spirit earlier on, was the first to let go. The others were immediately thrown backwards by a huge force. Some landed on their backs while a few of the others were thrown against the lockers. Malcolm was the first to regain his senses. He half crawled back to the board and, to his relief, saw that the saucer had returned to the center of the board. Apprehensively, he picked up the saucer and flipped it around. A look of terror immediately flashed across his face. There was a solitary drop of blood at the base. He flopped on the concrete floor with a look of resignation. 'We're dead. When you play with the ouija board, you must never release your finger until the spirit has left. Now we are done for. She will never rest until we are all wiped out', he moaned. Reluctantly, the rest of the platoon picked themselves up and returned to their beds. All were fearful of what Malcolm had said. They were especially concerned about Jeremy, whom the spirit had singled out. For the rest of the night, most could not sleep. Those who did had nightmares. Malcolm and a few others even claimed that they had seen the grinning face of a woman starring at them in thin air during one point at night or another. It was a terrifying sight, as there was blood trickling from her eyes and mouth and a bluish tinge in her complexion.

when somebody tried to awoke Jeremy the next morning, he was already stone cold. His face was frozen in a mask of sheer terror. he would never have the chance to tell anybody that he used to have an aunt living on Pulau Tekong with his grandmother, except that she had been missing since she was eighteen.