I Saw You That Night

Maureen and I were very close since we were kids. When her father's business had failed, they moved to Pulau Tioman. We kept in touch through letters, but as we grew older, the letter grew less and less. In the end, we had lost touch. I received a letter from her one day. She told me that she was now married to a man named Jeremy, and had a daughter of age ten. In her letter, she had invited me to pay her a visit. unable to get away then, I could only visit her six months later. When I arrived at Tioman, it was already nightfall. I asked the villagers for directions to my cousin's place, but all they did was to look at me suspiciously before walking away. The house was situated very far from the beach and it was a long walk there. When I reached the house, it was already very late.

I saw Maureen standing at the door. Although we had not seen each other since we were kids, I could still recognize my cousin. She had grown into a beautiful lady. I thought she looked pale and thin, but kept it to myself. Welcoming me warmly, she introduced me to her husband and daughter. They both looked pale too. Dinner was ready, and a strong aroma drifting from the kitchen reached my nostrils. As we sat down for dinner, Maureen took the opportunity to catch up about my family. Dinner was excellent, and when I asked them for the recipe, they looked at each other mysteriously and told me that it was a secret recipe. After dinner, Maureen's husband retired with her daughter. Not having seen each other for so long, we took the opportunity to catch up. She told me about her life in Pulau Tioman, how she met Jeremy and married him eventually. I also told her about my life since then.

Just before dawn, Maureen suddenly looked tired and asked to retire. As we wished each other goodnight, Maureen hugged me as if on impulse. 'You know, I'll miss you a lot and I'll always cherish the happy moments we spent together.' 'Hey, but I'm here now.' I replied, wondering at the strangeness of her statement. 'Yes, you are here now.' Smiling, she bade me goodnight. The next morning, I found myself sleeping on the ground and the house was gone. I was frightened and quickly ran to the island's police station. When I told the officer, he stared at me. 'You mean Maureen and Jeremy? The couple living up in the hill?' said the officer. I nodded. 'They were murdered a year ago,' stumbled the officer.

Shadows

During school holidays, mary and I went cycling along the neighbourhood, around the old racecourse road where we used to live. We had heard that one of the shophouses was haunted. Mary, the bravest among us, wanted to check it out. 'Do you want to come with me?' Mary asked that day. 'Hhhmmm...' I was wondering if I should go. 'I am going even if you are not.' Mary was determined.

Suddenly, feeling adventurous, I agreed. 'Okay, you are on!' Abandoned, the houses along the racecourse road were old, with the paint peeling off the wall. After walking a few miles, we reached the old shophouse. The windows were broken and they looked like the hollow sockets of a skull. entering the shophouse, we ignored the 'No Trespassers' sign and went right in. The atmosphere within was oppressive. Despite the scorching heat outside, there was a damp chill about the place. 'Where is the hanging woman?' Mary asked. 'Don't scare me, I don't know!' I answered tensely. It was so dark that I could not even see the hand in front of me. Losing my nerve, I shouted. 'Mary, let's go back.' 'Coward, I won't go. Not until I see her.' When I was admiring Mary's bravery, shadow appeared behind her. 'Mary! Behind you!' I shouted. Mary turned around, and she screamed. 

Terrified, we ran as fast as possible out of the building but my legs were too weak to carry me. Mary had pull me along. When we turned our heads, the shadow was hot on our trail. We tried to open the door but it got stuck. With no choice, we jumped out of the window and landed badly on the ground below. Mary sprained her ankle while I got a deep cut on my arm. Ever since, Mary seemed to have changed. She lost her courage and became very timid. Both of us never talked to each other about the incident again.

Hanging

'Ah! You see, what's that hanging on the tree!' shouted John. 'It's a hanging dead body!' exclaimed Jason. 'What shall we do?' 'Run!' Both brothers ran as fast as they could. When they reached home, their faces were white as paper. Seeing their haste, their mother asked them about it but they were too frightened to speak. After they had calmed down and told her, the two boys went back to their room and felt asleep in no time.

Both of them had the same dream that night. In their dream, they saw the dead body dangling from the tree. It suddenly came alive and talked to them in a soft feminine voice. they realized that she was crying bitterly. Opening their eyes, the dead body they saw earlier was standing in front of them. it was not a dream. 'Take my ring, and give it to my mother.' The body was holding something in its hand as it held it out to them. 'Take it to No.15, Jalan Tarum. Please help me.' Too scared to say anything, the boys just nodded. Dropping the ring on the bed, she disappeared. The next morning, the boys did as they was told and took it to the address. The lady burst into tears when she saw the ring, and told the boys it belonged to her daughter who had disappeared. The police, after hearing their story found the body later that day. It seemed that the daughter was pregnant when she died. Frightened that she would bother them again, the boys burned 'hell notes' for her, hopping that she would rest in peace.

Revengeful Wife

'Please, please forgive me?' John said in a trembling voice. A strange crackling laughter came from the earth. The earth had split open to revealed a long wooden box, slowly emerging from the ground. 'It was a coffin,' John realized. The cover of the coffin began to lift up slowly, centimetres by centimetres. Suddenly, the windows in the room started to bang against the wall continuously. 'You will die, and I won't let you off!'  A head stretched out of the coffin, and looked at John.

'Please go away, don't kill me. I'm sorry!' John cried out in a panicking voice. The voice from his throat was choked. While he was struggling in panic, pulling back from the skeleton like hands reaching for him, he tripped and fell. The hands clamped around his neck. he tried to pull them away, but they were too strong. The nails dug deep into the flesh of his throat and blood oozed from the punctured wound. Slowly, life was squeezed out of him. He struggles had weakened, and the body had grown limp. Slipping from the fleshless bony hands, John's soulless body landed on the floor with a loud thud. The next morning, the police came to the house, having come up with enough evidence to arrest John for the murder of his wife. When they entered the house, there was no sign of John. The bedroom was locked. When they forced open the door, they found him dead on the bed. His throat was ripped out, and there was words cut into his chest. On a closer look, they read, 'I deserved to die.'

Close Call

It was around half past eleven at night. Granny would be going home soon, after a game of cards with her old friends. her friends were living near the cemetery of Chua Chu kang. At the roadside out in the open field, there were many trees. Many people had complained of sighting a ghost wondering around the area. It was hideous looking and many had named it the ugly ghost. Her friends warned her not to go home using the shortcut, which passed through the cemetery, but she would not listen to them.

As she walking along the road, she saw a man walking very slowly towards her. Granny did not bother and just walked past him. As she passed him, the smell of rotten meat filled her nostrils, and she felt like retching. She turned around to look at him, and got the shock of her life. The man was covered in blood, the flesh all over his body was rotting, and worms were crawling out from his body and head. to my Granny's shock, the 'thing' started to disintegrate in front of her, the body parts started to fall from his body. Granny wanted to run but her legs seemed rooted to the ground. The 'thing' got closer and closer. Granny almost fainted. When it was almost onto her, it disappeared into thin air. granny realized that she could move but she was too frightened to. When she could summon enough courage, she tried to go back home as fast as she could. From that day onwards, she dared not take that shortcut home anymore. 

Evil Faces

My classmates and I organized a chalet in East Coast Park last December holidays. We were there to celebrate because we did very well in our end of year examinations. My air stewardess sister had booked the chalet from her company. The place was very beautiful and it was near the beach. During the day, it was very crowded in the chalet when everyone was around. when nightfall came, only a few of us were left as many had left for home. After the barbecue, we got bored and started telling each other ghost stories. 

After telling more than five stories, the girls were scared and did not want to listen further. We all decided to go to bed. By then it had started to rain heavily. The sudden downpour caught us unaware since we were so engross in the story telling session. The rain beat down onto the roof, creating such a din that it scared us at first. It was a heavy thunderstorm, with lightning flashing all the time. The girls, being typical housekeepers, had to go around the place, checking that the windows and doors were locked, and rain could not get in. While checking, one of the girls screamed. When we reached her, she had already fainted. The next morning, we asked her what had happened. Without a single word, she went to her room to pack her things. It was after much pestering that she told us that she had seen a bloody face pressing against the window the night before. We did not believe her though. Another thunderstorm occurred that night and the same thing happened. Another girl saw it this time. By now, we were all frightened, and no one was able to sleep that night.

In the morning, we told the man in charge what had happened. he did not seem surprised but instead, he smiled at us and said, 'It is very normal when it rains!' The hair on the back of our neck stood when we heard that.

Possessed

It all started that Tuesday evening. My grandmother had just returned home from her grocery shopping. She walked straight past the living room, ignoring all of us and went straight into the kitchen. Even before my brother and I could even enquire about the blank expression on her face, my grandmother walked out of the kitchen  and out of the main door. She slammed the door shut and went off. My brother and I were curious. We looked at each other and realized that something was amiss. Putting down our Tamagotchis toys, we all ran after our grandmother, and saw her some distance ahead of us.

She walked briskly, clutching her little coin purse tightly. We were shocked as we realized that she was heading to a Chinese wake that was taking place at the void deck of our block. we never knew that our grandmother had a close Chinese friend in the block. All her friends we knew were Indians. She walked in from the back, and stop in front of the picture of the deceased. to everyone's surprised, she picked up three sticks of incense,  and lit them. For a minute she stood still, paying her respects. Ignoring the looks from the people there, she pulled a red stools from one of the tables and settled down. All the time, her eyes were fixed on the photo of the deceased as she sat there quietly. Not sure on what to do, we waited. 'Chicken! I want to eat that chicken!' My grandmother burst out suddenly, once again in a tongue foreign to us. Still, we could figure out her actions, as she pointed to the plate of chicken on the altar. While shouting, she had stood up and was about to help herself to the plate of chicken. If we had not rushed out to our grandmother's side, she would have taken the chicken. That action would have rudely shocked everyone present at the wake. We ran to our grandmother and started to pull her away.

'Let's bring her home. Come.' My brother pleaded. He was still shocked that our grandmother would actually make a scene at someone's funeral, especially someone she did not know. Strangely, our grandmother stopped shouting when we touched her. Instead, she looked dazed and lost. We managed to get her home without much difficulty. As we entered our living room, I guided my grandmother to the sofa where she could rest. She did not respond to our questions along the way, but kept staring blankly into the space while keeping her silence. My brother and I were a little apprehensive. 'Maybe we should just pray, Cynthia. We can pray for help,' my brother suggested. 'Yeah, let's do it,' I agreed, not able to come up with a better solution. I held my brother's hands and together, we were getting ready to enter into a chain prayer. 'If you dare to pray, you'll be sorry! I'll not leave you in peace!' Startled, I had to let go of my brother's hands unconsciously. I turned to our grandmother. She had said those words in the voice of an old man. I was truly scared out of my wits, and unable to control myself, I burst into tears. I felt really helpless then. Cynthia, ignore her. Maybe we cannot pray now. Give me the phone,' my brother said. He seemed to know what was happening. Without hesitation, I handed the telephone to my brother. 'Hello, Father?' 'She is possessed, my son. let me handle this.' The father spoke. He had just arrived and the moment he entered the house, my grandmother started to scream. It took my brother and I a long time to calm her down. The Father stood at a corner and observed her. 'In the name of the Lord, I command you, the spirit with madam Santha maria to leave now! leave now!' The Father commanded as he pointed a cross at our grandmother.

'Ahh!' Our grandmother screamed. She fainted. I crossed my fingers and waited. It took her an hour to wake up. I was holding onto a rosary when she came to. 'Cynthia, my dear, is that you? What happened? Why is our Father here?' She appeared puzzled.

Voice Of Doom

'Girls, don't say that I did not warn you. Your test is coming up next week and I want all of you to pass it.' Miss Goh's voice increased in pitch. 'Now, let us revise the previous topics today. Matter can be categorized into solids, ...' Her voice trailed off as she turned to write on the blackboard, her back facing the students. 'Shasha, Sash...' Helen nudged Sasha's elbow. Helen hated the subject, Science. Now that her teacher's back was facing her, it was certainly a good opportunity to start her usual chit chats. 'What la, Helen? What now? Just because you dislike Science and Miss Goh, it does not mean the same for me. Shh!' Sasha commented, as she gave Helen a rather irritated look.

Sasha stilled. She seemed to have focused her mind on something, apart from the lesson. After a couple of minutes, she slowly turned to face Helen. Helen looked at her knowingly and smiled. 'Well, did you hear that, Sash? Thats why I wanted to ask you earlier. So did you hear it? Someone singing 'Que sara sara'?' Helen spoke. 'Yes, I do. But who could it be? Helen, it sounds like a little girl, but there are no primary school kids around here', Sasha looked disturbed. 'Aiyah, don't judge a girl's age by her voice', Helen chuckled. 'Anyway, her voice is very sweet, huh?' She continued. 'Yeah. But I still wonder who she is', Sasha said. By now, Helen had already forgotten about the Science lesson at hand. Her attention was focused on the beauty of the voice. Helen was taking voice lessons and she recognized good singing techniques when she heard one. Mesmerized, she could only marvel at the accurateness in the pitch and tone of the singer.

Sasha had started asking other girls in the same row they were seated at. All of them had heard the voice. 'Shh! Quiet, class!' Miss Goh's screeching voice jarred on everyone's ears. The commotion made by the front row girls had now become quite loud. When things were quiet once more, she turned back to the blackboard again. This time, Helen turned behind and called out to Wendy, who was being seated in the second row. Wendy appeared shocked. 'Voice? Singing? No, I can't hear anything.' She said. 'Mm... She is probably deaf', Helen thought and went on to enquire with the rest sitting in the back row. 'good heavens! None of you in the back row have heard the voice? How could it be? All of us in the front row have heard it loud and clear', Helen remarked absent mindedly, quite forgetting about the Science lesson going on.

'What's going on?' Miss Goh turned around, losing her patience. The front girls told Miss Goh about the strange voice. However, the girls at the back could not hear it. They were beginning to feel frightened, yet curious. 'Nonsense! I could not hear anyone singing. Anyway, girls, concentrate in class.' Miss Goh ignored her students complained and continued her lesson. Meanwhile, the crooning in the background continued...

Strange Footprints

Cheryl's ears twitched slightly. Perhaps she had made a mistake? How was it possible? Cheryl focused her deep brown eyes on the digital clock that lay by her bedside. The numerals appeared in lemon green, '2:32'. 'Shit! It still early,' Cheryl sighed. Then she frowned. 'So what had caused the noise?' Her mind seemed to torture her with questions. There it was again. She heard it distinctly. She waited, sitting up in her bed. Within a brief five minutes or so, the noise had disappeared. It had sounded like someone was cooking in the kitchen downstairs, pots banging against each other now and then. It was not the first time that night that Cheryl had heard those sounds. The same thing happened every night since her family moved into the new house.

Cheryl had just survived yet another strange night. This time, she had gone into the kitchen to check the sounds out. The moment she flipped on the kitchen light, the sounds of pots banging against each other disappeared. Puzzled, she went back into bed, but sleep eluded her. 'Cheryl dear, can you come down and do me a small favour? I have to stitch this button onto your Pa's shirt but I am busy. Come down dear. Her mother's voice echoed into her room. 'Wonder what Ma wants this time?' She thought as she went down the steps, skipping two steps each time. Her mother was seated at the sofa, frantically stitching a button onto her father's shirt. 'Husbands they also seem to be the first priority of Asian women. In future, my husband can sew his own buttons,' she grumbled softly as she approached her mother.

'Yes. Ma?' Cheryl asked. 'Cheryl, please help me to pass the plate of flour on the dinner table to the Tengs next door, girl. They need it for some occasion. Please do it now, girl, I think they are expecting us,' her mother said. 'Okay,' Cheryl nodded and ran to the dining table to grabbed the plate of gluten flour. Cheryl had to rush because she had an appointment with a friend in half an hour's time. She had to come back in five minutes to get ready or she would never make it in time. Running to the front door, Cheryl did not notice the stool blocking her way and tripped over it. 'Ahh! Ouch!' Cheryl fell onto the floor, hurting her right elbow. All the gluten flour had scattered all over the floor. 'Damn it. I'll get something to clean up the mess,' Cheryl cursed silently, knowing that she would surely be late. 

'Ma!' Cheryl yelled, drawing her mother to the kitchen. 'Did you walk on the flour while I was fetching the broom?' 'No. I was in the living room all this while. Anyway, I did not know you spilled the flour.' 'Look!' Cheryl pointed to the floor. 'There are footprints on the gluten flour.' As they looked, more footprints appeared on the flour, moving towards the kitchen table. The broom, lying against the kitchen table had began to move on its own. As Cheryl and her mother looked on in horror, the broom swept the floor. Cheryl screamed first, followed by her mother. Terrified, they both ran out of the house. The whole family spent the next few nights in a hotel. Both Cheryl and her mother refused to go back to the house. Left with no choice, her father soon sold the house off. They later found out that a foreign maid used to work in the house. One day, the poor maid had mysteriously disappeared. Her employer claimed that she ran away. No one exactly knew what happened to the poor soul.

Faceless

'Aihui, Aihui! Hurry up! Stop buying your fruitcake! Recess is over. Let's go!' I tried to drill the massage into Aihui. Aihui Tan was my classmate. In fact, I used to think that no two friends could be closer. We had known each other since Primary One. 'Relax lah, Linda. Just a bite only... Won't die what! Anyway, what's the big hurry? We have never been so punctual in assembling straight after recess. You probably have something exciting to tell me right?' Aihui grinned at me. 'Aihui, cut that and listen. Susie claims that she saw someone like... What's that again... ahh, no head! Ha!'

I burst into laughter. I had been controlling myself as I told Aihui. Now was the time to enjoy the ridiculous tales with Aihui. We shared a common sense of humor. 'Headless what? Who... Susie? Gosh, that girl! Did she see flying hands in the air as well? She must have. Only she is capable of seeing such things. Poor us... Not a chance, right?' Aihui laughed uncontrollably and teased Susie, who was standing right before us in the assembly. Susie looked hurt. She was also frightened as well, almost as in a state of shock. 'But I told you the truth,' Susie insisted. 'Yes, yes. You only tell the truth and nothing but the truth...' Aihui teased. She was enjoying herself. I stopped for a while. Something in that look on Susie's face made me feel queer. I felt as if Aihui was getting a little carried away. But I knew that once she started, there was no stopping her. It would only anger her.

'Good afternoon, sister,' Aihui greeted. She could see a lady in a nun's habit sitting at the piano with her back facing Aihui. The grand piano was located in the main school hall. Aihui had left her school badge on one of the chairs in the school hall, the day before, and had now returned to collect it. She had not expected to run into anyone in the main hall. All the students and teachers were to be at their respective classes at this point of time. The nun did not respond. Her head hardly moved at Aihui's greetings. She continued playing the piano. 'Bang!' A sound was heard. It had been loud. Aihui, who had closed her eyes in fear, slowly reopened her eyes. The ceiling fan had dropped onto the ground and it had barely missed the nun! Aihui's mouth opened in shock. The nun continued playing the piano as if nothing seemed to have occurred! 'Sister, are you alright?' Aihui volunteered. The nun stopped playing the piano. 'Why are you disturbing me?'

The nun stood up slowly and turned to face Aihui. 'Oh my god!' Aihui shrieked. Beneath the nun's headgear, in the shape of a human's face, there was only a layer of shrieveled skin. No facial features. No hair. The shriveled skin sagged at the sides. Aihui fainted. A teacher had found Aihui lying unconscious in the school hall. Her parents arrived soon after receiving the call from school. When Aihui gained consciousness, Aihui was terrified and could not stop crying. From what I heard, she suffered from a high fever for a week. That was the last day Aihui attended my school. The next month, she was transferred. Although we called each other occasionally, we grew apart gradually. Aihui did not speak of that day's incident to anyone. It was only now, five years after the incident, the she could finally tell me what had happened.

Dream Of Death

Do you believe that your soul leaves your body while you are sleeping? Like your body, your soul is equally vulnerable. How many of us had dreamt of falling off the building, and had woken up just before we hit the ground? Have you ever wondered what happened if we did not wake up before hitting the ground? When I was younger, I used to laugh at such things, thinking that they are just hocus pocus. However, something happened that changed my mind forever. It happened in June. We had just finished our examinations, and decided to get away for a holiday. Being broke, none of us could afford the exotic getaways overseas. One of us suggested a weekend camp on one of Singapore's islands. All of us agreed and finally settled on St. John island.

That Saturday morning, we rented a bumpboat to take us there. We arrived early, and set our tents up immediately after we found the perfect spot. After settling down, we went on to explore the rest of the island. There were no other campers on the island that weekend. All of us had fun under the sun, splashing about in the sand and surf. At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted. After a short dinner, we soon dozed off. Soon after I dozed off, I was jolted back into consciousness. When I looked down, I saw myself sleeping soundly in the cool night breeze. Strange. Looking around, I could see my friends. They, too were staring down at themselves sleeping. When they looked up, surprise was clearly written all across their faces. 'Let me go over and talk to them, I thought. Unconsciously, I had begun to move closer to them. Rather, I drifted towards them. Looking at the others, their feet were stationary while they moved closer.

'Is this a communal dream or what?' Poh Heng joked nervously. 'What is happening?' Li LIng asked. She looked frightened. 'I don't know. But everything else looks fine to me. Hey, how about a midnight swim?' Ming Hwa suggested. He was the most daring amongst us. Somehow, all of us had unconsciously agreed because we suddenly found ourselves standing on the beach, gazing into the moonlit waters. To our surprise, there were other bathers swimming there. Strangely, we had forgotten about our sleeping bodies and also, out initial nervousness. 'Looks like a party has begun!' Ming Hwa yelled, as he dashed into the water. When I stepped into the waters, it felt no different. The warm waters caressed my skin as I swam. Poh Heng and Ming Hwa went further into the sea. I wanted to join the guys, but Li Ling would be left alone near the shore, for she was not a strong swimmer. In the end, I stayed with Li Ling, playing with her near the shore.

Suddenly, I heard a shout from the guys out there. When I looked out, I saw that they seemed to be struggling. Ming Hwa was the furthest out in the sea. Poh Heng who was some distance behind, was also fighting to stay afloat. Without any hesitation, I swam out into the deeper waters. Li Ling followed me as well. The waters seemed to have become rougher  as I swam further out. I had lost sight of Ming Hwa, but not Poh Heng. However, no matter how hard I swam, Poh Heng seemed to drift further and further away from me. When I looked around, Li Ling had also disappeared. Turning back, Poh Heng was nowhere in sight. However, I could still hear Ming Hwa screaming for help. Following his voice, I swam in his direction. It seemed that my body had grown very heavy. My arms were aching with the strain and I had to fight harder to stay afloat now. I swam with all my might. I must find Ming Hwa. The last I saw Ming Hwa was the sight of him sinking into the waters, his hand disappearing beneath the waves. Strangely, I had begun to feel weak. With the last of my energy, I feebly beat at the waves, trying to keep afloat. Fatigue soon overcome me. As I sank under, I could feel my life going out of me...

I opened my suddenly, and found myself staring at the trees above me. 'What happened earlier was just a dream...' I thought. It was then that I heard someone cry. I sat up abruptly, and saw Li Ling screaming and crying in her sleep. 'Li Ling, wake up! wake up!' I shook her roughly. Li Ling looked at me, dazed as reality slowly descended on her. 'What... what happened? I dreamt that I was drowning, and you were out there saving Ming Hwa and Poh Heng.' Stunned, I looked at her. She had dreamt the same thing. 'Quick, Li Ling, wake Poh Heng up. Hurry!' I ordered Li Ling who sat up immediately, eyes wide open. I turned to Ming Hwa and tried to wake him up.

'Wake up, Ming Hwa. Wake up Ming... Ming! Ming!!' I was shouting into Ming Hwa's ears. Ming Hwa still did not wake up. Li Ling encountered the same difficulty with Poh Heng. Poh Heng just would not wake up with all the shaking she was giving him. I checked their pulse. Their hearts were still beating but they were not breathing. Their skin felt wet and clammy to the touch. 'What do we do? What do we do?' Li Ling panicked. 'Li Ling, do CPR!' and I started to resuscitate Ming Hwa. I pinched Ming Hwa's nose, and blew into his mouth. His lips had tasted salty. No matter how hard I tried, he did not respond. 'Poh Heng's coming around. Look!' Li Ling yelled excitedly, as he started sputtering and coughing up water. Soon after, Poh Heng become conscious. I tried to revive Ming Hwa again. After a while, Ming Hwa coughed out water, but he still laid there, unconscious.

I tried to revive Ming Hwa a few more times. After Poh Heng was all right, Li Ling gave Ming Hwa a try too. However, no matter what we do, Ming Hwa just laid there. We spent the rest of the night keeping vigil. None of us dared to sleep for fear of what might happen again. Ming Hwa woke up after sunrise. He was groggy and he revealed to us that he had a nightmare. He told us that he drowned and died.