Do you believe in ghosts? I do. And why you may ask? Seen them, heard them, caught a whiff of their scent and felt their vibes, that's why!!!!
For some time already, I put off writing about my ghostly experiences but I thought this would be a good time to do it as I am too free and bored from reading too much this afternoon.
These real life experiences are arranged chronologically.
EXPERIENCE NO. 1
As far back as in 1973, I went for my first bungalow stay with my best friend and her relatives from Sungei Patani. Most excited, I packed almost everything I thought I needed and lugged the heavy bag with me to this quaint looking bungalow at Penang Hill. (Sorry - cannot reveal the name in case I get into trouble with the owner.)
That night, after a fantastic dinner, the young teenagers huddled together in the bedroom trying to outdo each other with scary ghost stories. As the night grew darker, we sat closer to each other and soon had blankets wrapped around us as we hugged our pillows tightly while closing our eyes even more tightly while each one of us took turns to tell our tale.
And so this went on till about 1 a.m. despite several reminders from the adults who were not too pleased with our late activity and giggling not forgetting the occasional scream or two. Soon after we switched off the lights, we all went to bed, feeling even more spooked than when we were listening to the ghostly tales.
*Knock knock knock*
"Who's that?" my best friend asked.
No reply.
Very funny and we all laughed.
"Can someone go and see who is at the door?" she asked.
Of course NONE of us budged, each was waiting for the other.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.* The knocks became more persistent and all the girls sat up, eyes wide open and with goose flesh all over.
This went on for some time and in the end, my friend shouted for her mother who came in a huff and a puff. After a brief explanation, we thought it could be the guys playing pranks on us till we discovered that the uncles were sleeping with the boys.
With that, we went back to sleep HUDDLED TOGETHER till the next morning. We interviewed the caretaker who did not answer any of our questions at all. Her silence spoke volumes and we left as quickly as possible the next morning.
EXPERIENCE N0. 2
Four years down the road, I went for another bungalow stay - a training camp to be exact, in a reputedly haunted bungalow that belonged to a foreigner whose son supposedly died while studying in the school where I was doing my sixth form!!!
We all laughed when we talked about the possibility that the place was spooked. But there was a certain eeriness in the hall where the photographs of the father and the son were placed. Somehow, the son had this piercing look in his eyes and it was almost as if the eyes were alive!!!
The first encounter occurred when we were playing in the playground after tea. One of my friends was sitting on the swing and then suddenly she swung up high in the air.
We gasped and scolded her for being so foolhardy as she could fall off the rickety seat, especially since she was quite roly-poly.
Most indignantly, she scolded one of the guys for pushing her and the poor guy proclaimed his innocence. We looked at each other, mouths agape. The guy was actually standing beside us and there was NO ONE standing behind my friend's swing.
SILENCE.
We were all rooted to the spot. Each did not dare to move. Neither did we dare to turn to our right or our left. When one of the girls screamed, all of us ran off to the sitting room and did not talk about it until much later.
That night, an air of mystery and expectancy surrounded us. Taking a bath was a terrible experience as there was no heater in the bathroom. It was very cold then in the late 1970's. Once we finished our bath, our teeth would be chattering and then the goosebumps could be seen on our arms.
After the last session of the workshop, it was lights out at 10.30pm and we all slept quite soundly.
At about 3 a.m., I felt my friend sneaking closer to me. We were sharing a bed in the dorm. Stirring from my sleep, I rubbed my eyes and asked why she was so close to me as I have claustrophobia. As soon as I finished speaking, the sound broke the still of the night.
Tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok
We looked at each other with horror in our eyes. Who on earth was playing table-tennis at that time of the night??????
Then only did we remember one of the tales that a senior had told us....The others also heard it but no one moved that night except for my friend and me....
Till today, we still talk about these two incidents during reunions. Perhaps some of my blog readers are well aware of which bungalow I am talking about. I cannot say too much lest it becomes too obvious.
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EXPERIENCE NO. 3
During my third trip to UK, I stayed in an old 19th century Victorian house that had been converted into a bed & breakfast place . I booked the place because it was centrally located in West End in proximity to the theaters where I wanted to watch a few musicals.
Besides, it was a five-storey building that looked like three-storey from the outside. To save money, I did not take a room with an en suite. The place was creepy.
I had to go to another floor to use the bathroom and up two floors to use the toilet. Gosh - all that to save 30 pounds!!!
The room was pretty basic and I felt most uncomfortable because there was a connecting door. In the middle of the night, I was rudely awakened by someone who was trying to open my room door.
Startled, I got up and went to the door to make sure that I had fastened the safety latch. To my horror, as I approached the door, I saw the door knob rattling and an echoing rattling sound coming from behind me!!!
I turned around and could not believe my eyes and my ears!!!!
Both door knobs were rattling at the same rhythm.
I jumped into my bed, covered myself from head to toe and trembled from fear as I confessed every single sin I had left unconfessed. Being alone, I had no choice but to wait until the next morning to request to change to another room.
The next morning, I looked at my luggage. It was in a different place. The key was in the correct place - right under my pillow. Strange. Getting up from my bed, I walked to my suitcase and opened it.
Horror of horrors. Everything in it had been rearranged!!!
I was so spooked that I quickly rushed to the bathroom, showered, packed and went down to the front desk and asked for another room.
And guess what happened? They changed me to a different room that had a horrible view of roofs and fire escapes. Fine. As long as there was no connecting door, or so I thought.
Walking into the room quite calmly, I placed my suitcase on my bed. I decided not to open the window and proceeded to unpack.
Out of the blue, a cold draught filled the room and it was especially strong at my feet.
I went cold with fear and ran out of the room, down the stairs and promptly checked out and took the next train out to London and went to Bath instead.
Until today, I can still hear the rattling door knobs in my brain - loud, rhythmical and most definitive.
Fortunately, the rest of my holiday in Bath, Lake District and Manchester was free of such ghostly encounters!
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EXPERIENCE NO. 4
The one and only holiday I had with my in-laws was at a golf resort somewhere....Upon arrival, my sister-in-law's family and mine were given adjoining chalets. As we entered the first one, I felt the creeps and opted to stay in the other unit.
The next morning, I saw my sister-in-law and her family looking a bit pale-faced.
"What happened?" I asked nonchalantly.
"Our bed shook for half an hour last night," she replied.
"Are you sure it was not the waves beating against the stilts?" I responded.
"And someone touched our feet once the shaking stopped," she added.
I asked her why she did not call us on our mobile and she said that they wanted to pray through the episode to test their faith.
*faint*
I guess I failed all tests of faith!!!
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EXPERIENCE NO. 5
My father passed away at 3 p.m. about 2 years ago. That night, I came home quite late. After my shower, I went downstairs for a drink. When I reached the foot of the stairs, I was rooted to the spot.
I caught a very strong whiff of my dad's presence.
You know - the smell of sweat mixed with Brylcream...The room felt strangely warm and I could sense the presence of another person in the room.
I did not dare to look to my right for it seemed as if he was sitting there with his head thrown backwards. Then the cuckoo clock sounded. Midnight.
I ran up the stairs and told my husband about it. Mr. Cool sauntered down the stairs and came back with nothing to report.
"It's the shock of losing your dad and also your imagination," was his calm retort.
A week later, I told both my boys not to be scared (look who's talking!!!) if they heard, smelled, saw or dreamt anything about their granddad as many Chinese believe that the departed soul will visit the home on the seventh day.
"Mom, I detected the smell of Ah Kong's hair on the first night after he passed away," said my older boy.
"Er...what time was that?" I asked, trying to maintain my composure.
"11.45p.m.or thereabouts," replied my boy.
Then I told him what had happened and so it was not shock or imagination. We believe dad really came back to see us and he loved my older boy the most. Thus, it was natural that he visited him first and then only me followed by my younger boy....Till today, we all miss him very much.
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I still have a few more tales to share but this has been quite a long post so I will stop here for now.
How about you, dear reader? Do you have any ghostly experiences to share with us? Do leave a comment if you like.
In the mean time, have a spooky oooooops I mean have a lovely evening :-)!!!
Prospective Employer to Applicant: ' So why did you leave your previous job?'
Applicant: ' The company relocated and they did not tell me where!'
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Wife: ' Sir, I would like to call on my husband who left me and brought all our five kids wth him.'
Radio Host: ' Ok, go ahead!'
Wife: ' Sweetheart, please return back all the kids, actually only one of them is yours.'
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Hello! I'm here again. My mind is all muddled up. I just want to ask something. I know that you will be able to help me out. Is BIRD FLU the past tense of BIRDS FLY?
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You were riding a bus, when you suddenly fart. Luckily the music is very loud. Every time you farted, you timed it with the music. When you were going down the bus, everybody were throwing dagger looks at you, and you suddenly realized . . . . . that you have your MP3 player on your ears !
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WIFE: It's a miracle! You came home early.
HUSBAND: I just obeyed what my boss told me to do. He said: 'GO TO HELL', that's why I came home early.
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1st night grandma wore a see-thru dress, grandpa didn't react...
2nd night grandma wore t-back, grandpa still didn't react...
3rd night grandma all naked, grandpa said 'what is that you are wearing, it's all crumpled!!'
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John: It's my wife's birthday.
Peter: What's your gift to her?
John: I asked her what she wanted.
Peter: What did she say?
John: She said annything, as long a there is a DIAMOND.
Peter: What did you give her?
John: Playing cards
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The Irish Ballerina
A very large woman, wearing a sleeveless sun dress, walked into a Bar in Dublin.
She raised her right arm, revealing a huge, hairy armpit as she pointed to all the people sitting at the bar and asked, 'What man here will buy a lady a drink?' The bar went silent as the patrons tried to ignore her. But down at the end of the bar, an owl-eyed drunk slammed his hand down on the counter and bellowed 'Give the ballerina a drink!'
The bartender poured the drink and the woman chugged it down. She turned to the patrons and again pointed around at all of them, revealing the same hairy armpit, and asked, 'What man here will buy a lady a drink?' Once again, the same little drunk slapped his money down on the bar and said, 'Give the ballerina another drink!'
The bartender approached the little drunk and said 'Tell me, Paddy, it's your business if you want to buy the lady a drink, but why do you keep calling her a ballerina?'
The drunk replied, 'Any woman who can lift her leg that high has got to be a ballerina!
Dear reader, my younger boy who just turned 11 last week started writing his short story called "Blakely's Journey to Noblicle" a few months ago during his school holidays.
CHAPTER 1 THE FIRST OBSTACLE - WITCHES & LEPRECHAUNS can be found at THIS LINK HERE.
CHAPTER 2 A DAY WITH THE GORDON can be found at THIS LINK HERE.
Alternatively, you can read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 at the end of this post.
Nicholas finished Chapter 3 Snubby's Quest some time back but I have been quite lazy to type it so this delinquent mother is most repentant and is putting it up in my blog today. Enjoy reading and do leave a comment if you like.
Before I forget, Nicholas wishes to express his heartfelt appreciation to Antares for his very professional critique of his first two chapters which motivated him to put in extra effort to hone his skills, and also to Andrea, Dr. Murali, Angela and other readers for their very encouraging comments which have made him take his writing very seriously. And now without further ado, the third chapter of Blakely's Journey to Noblicle.
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CHAPTER 3 SNUBBY'S QUEST
Blakely calmly took the road that led to Tyrantland. He had heard that Tyrantland did not have any clean drinking water for the ground was covered with cracks and dried leaves shed by the barren trees. He crossed many bridges and hiked many hills before reaching Tyrantland. By then, he was completely exhausted.
While he was walking along a narrow road, he heard the beating of some drums and the sound of some ancient music being played from afar. Scorchio ran straight ahead and Blakely had no choice but to catch up with him. After a few minutes, he was panting and saw a sign that read "TYRANNIA". Then he became quite confused between Tyrantland and Tyrannia so he continued to run after Scorchio who had surged ahead.
At last, Blakely found Scorchio with a group of strange people who were gasping in delight as they gazed at a fire-eater who was juggling a few torches.Blakely then took the opportunity to ask a few of them for some information about Snubby the Imp. He was then told to go to the edge of the town where he lived in his caravan.
Blakely opened his Book of Knowledge to find out what attracted imps. "You must have plenty of water and some honey. They love to gamble with cards most of the time. By then, Scorchio started to have a headache and jumped into Blakely's bag to rest. Blakely remembered the money that Scorchio had stolen . With it, he bought three jars of honey. Scorchio started to whimper when they were at the stall. Blakely suspected something was amiss and turned to his left.
A small dwarf was standing beside him and staring at the bottles of honey.
"For me? asked the dwarf, pleading again and again.
"For Snubby," replied Blakely.
"Get into my caravan and I'll tell you something. Who does not know the famous gambler in Tyrannia? Hah!" laughed the dwarf.
"I am the person you are looking for, Snubby, the King of Cards. Muaaahahahaha! cried the dwarf.
Blakely had no idea that this would happen.
"What I want from you is for you to explain in detail my character as you must be very intelligent since you are such a good card player," said Blakely softly.
"That's kids' stuff for me. Correction - donkey work to be more precise. You are very good when it comes to outdoor activities but you do not have much brains, air head!" laughed Snubby wickedly.
"But you can be very emotional and have great potential to be a good leader," added Snubby with a smile on his face.
"What is my precise task over here? Why was I told to come to Tyrannia to look for you?" asked Blakely as he shrugged his shoulders with a puzzled look on his face.
"Your mission is to retrieve King Alteon's crown. A witch told you that you have to go on my quests for some reward. Alianor never knows how to keep her mouth shut, does she? replied Snubby.
"Well, since you want my quest, you've got it," said Snubby with a sneering look.
"So what is my quest?" asked Blakely again.
"It's quite simple really. But you will need an armour to protect your body from danger. I'll also give you some robes that belonged to a famous wizard of old. Your pet would need something too. I'll give it a solid iron armour that belonged to one of my pets," said Snubby.
"Do you have a changing room in your caravan?" asked Blakely.
"Go straight till you reach the end. The room is on your left. Be careful, though, because the caravan is a bit run down," replied Snubby.
Blakely looked quite odd in the very mythical-looking robes and so did Scorchio in his iron armour that had many Aztec designs.
"Your first quest is to run on the tracks to cross the red swamp which is just behind my house. Climb the mountain and enter the cave where a giant lives. I want you to get me one of his teeth and a strand of his hair. By the way, what's your pet's name?"
"Snubby, meet Scorchio. Please don't pat him as he will bite," warned Blakely.
"You had better set off on your quest before time runs out. The color of the crown is starting to change from green to red. The city of Larousse will become extinct if the crown turns completely red," said Snubby.
"Alright! Off we'll go now!" See ya!" cried Blakely as he ran off with Scorchio.
"Good luck! Remember - the tooth and just a strand of hair.
*to be continued*
Written by Nicholas Khor
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BLAKELY'S JOURNEY TO NOBLICLE - written by Nick
PROLOGUE
The city of Larousse was in danger. The fairy king's emerald crown had been stolen by SBSN (Secret Branch Society of Noblicle). The sun never shone again after that and the people lost their power because of the magic sunshine. Lives were lost when a trail of wagons crashed into the gates of the castle and strange explosions caused a fire that spread through the city. It was bad enough that the city was having drought problems but the Nobgoblins had to worsen the situation with their vicious attacks.
In a bid to defend his city, King Alteon, the fairy king, fought the leader of the SBSN in a hand combat and ended up being pushed out of the window of his castle. Before slipping into a coma, the fairy king put a princely sum for the Nobgoblins' heads. Two months later, he died.
Blakely, a villager from far off near the coast, heard about the reward from his grandfather and decided to go on an adventure to the city of Larousse for more information and to help them.
CHAPTER 1 THE FIRST OBSTACLE - WITCHES & LEPRECHAUNS
"Blakely, you don't have to do it. You will suffer pain and it might be hell throughout the journey," said his grandfather while Blakely was packing his bags.
Blakely did not mind the burden or the challenges ahead. All he wanted was for peace and sunshine to return to the city.
"Grandpa, goodbye," said Blakely while he put his magic sword in his bag. Those were his last words to his grandpa. He walked down the lane that led into the wilderness, where the leprechauns and medieval witches lived.
Soon enough, his intuitive senses told him that something was wrong. Suddenly, there were funny sounds coming from behind him. He turned around and saw something green and yellow moving in the bushes. Blakely was terrified and picked up a rock and walked to the bushes.
A cute little creature popped out from the bushes and smiled at Blakely. He was so relieved that it wasn't any leprechaun that could transform him into a rat with the snap of his finger. All of a sudden, three leprechauns pounced on him and captured him with their "Gravity Force Net".
Blakely was then taken to their hideout deep in the forest. He was tied up with the roots of strange plants and was forced to explain why he had ventured into their territory. When they threatened to imprison him forever, Blakely told them about his quest to Noblicle to retrieve the fairy king's emerald crown.
To his surprise, they all smiled at each other and then one of them said "You, a simple human being, have a good heart. We are happy with you and want you to meet our queen."
With that, they led Blakely to a secret chamber in the cave, a place that showcased the treasures and wealth of the leprechauns.
Blakely gasped when he saw a familiar face. It was a lady from his village who was being pampered by leprechauns and she was dressed in robes of a medieval witch.
"Sheila! What on earth are you doing here?" cried Blakely in surprise.
"My name is not Sheila when I am in this land that I own. You shall call me Alianor. Guards! Make him sit on the chair of heads! You still remember Grimlock, right?"
The guards forced him to sit on the chair and he was tied up again. These were no ordinary guards but Minotaurs.
Obviously, Blakely was not going to enjoy this conversation.
Sheila waved something in the air and soon they were transported into an empty room.
"Alright, Blakely, you want to see the Nobgoblins pay for their evil deeds, don't you? Well, the Gordon you have right now is going to help you to get what you want," said Sheila.
"This is a Gordon? What are Gordons used for?" asked Blakely.
"You will need this book. Although it is quite hungry, it is still useful," replied Sheila while taking out a book from a puff of smoke that appeared before her after she summoned it. Then she gave Blakely the book with a faint smile on her face.
To Blakely's horror, the book was slimy and breathing. "Is this drool from somewhere or someone?"asked Blakely.
Sheila said, "It's the book's drool. Remember - the Nobgoblins are very merciless creatures. Before you go to Noblicle, please go to the red swamp of Tyrantland. Find Snubby the imp and he will reward you with something after you accomplish the mission that he gives you," said Sheila."Farewell my brave friend and I bid you good luck."
Sheila then summoned a ring of fire that teleported Blakely out of the magic room.
Blakely then found himself in the wilderness again. "I'm going to find Snubby no matter what, even if it means death." Feeling tired, he took out his tent which was kept in his bag and set up camp on an empty plot of land to rest for the night.
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CHAPTER TWO - A DAY WITH THE GORDON
Blakely gathered some firewood to set up a fire to keep warm for the night. Before dusk, he started reading the book that Sheila had given him. He placed the book on his lap and all of a sudden, the book began to spit at him.
"I wish Sheila had not given me this idiotic book!" screamed Blakely. He picked up a few leaves and dropped them into the open book and closed it angrily. After a while, he opened the book again and to his surprise, the leaves had disappeared. Instead, there were some digestive juices that stained the pages. Blakely then flicked to the first page of the book.
"Hello. I am the Book of Knowledge and I shall serve you because you have saved me from starvation," said the book. "Flip to page 36 to discover more about Gordons.
The Gordon stood on its hind legs looking at Blakely happily. It had green fur on it back and fluffy yellow fur on its chest.The Gordon also had two legs and a pair of long arms.
Blakely was amazed to find out that Gordons love to steal and to play. However, they did not like to fight. There were various names Blakely could give his Gordons such as Publies, Scorchio, Bluror and Muggary. He named his Gordon Scorchio. At once, it started to act like a warrior and he found its actions very cute.
Night was drawing close so Blakely had his dinner - plain herbs and wild fruits. His meal did not smell so fresh so he left it aside. He was going to starve that night. Suddenly, he heard a zapping sound. Scorchio shot some laser beams from its eyes onto his food and then growled at Blakely. Turning around, Blakely caught the smell of escargots that came from the herbs on his plate. Scorchio smiled at Blakely while he ate the escargots and herbs hungrily. Then, Blakely knew that Scorchio had magical powers. Feeling satisfied after a good meal, Blakely put out the fire and slept in his tent.
The next morning, he took a walk and stumbled upon a house in the woods.
Scorchio growled at Blakely and started to push Blakely into the bushes. Scorchio ran towards the door and hit it hard with its head, causing the door to break open. Scorchio dashed inside and Blakely followed behind.
Scorchio ran towards a chest of drawers and opened one drawer after another, looking for money. It squealed in delight when it found a few gold coins. Blakely quickly grabbed Scorchio and forced him out of the house and then they jumped into the bushes to hide. To his surprise, Scorchio still had a bit of coins in its mouth and it spat them onto its hand and kept them in Blakely's coat pocket.
There was no where left to go and nothing left to do so Blakely decided to return to the tent. Blakely took out his bag, dismantled the tent and kept it in his bag. He decided that the time had come for him to go to Tyrantland straight away.
written by Nick
....to be continued....
