My Longkang

I guess some of you readers must be wondering after reading my ghost stories how I end up like this : so sensitive to the presence.

It all started when I was six years old. At that time I was always afraid of ghosts I didn’t know what they were but I knew they were real to me although others didn’t seem to sense them.

Sometimes ghosts appear in the form of other beings which look familiar to us. I remember, once after the death of a person most loved to me we all had a collective experience.

I was called back to the bedside to offer what comfort I could to a departing soul. Miraculously, after being comatose for months, this person opened the eyes and looked at me for many minutes. Unable to control the eye-balls, but she focused all her attention on me. The nursing staff were all amazed but I was told this happens when a patient reserves the strength for the return of a beloved one. Then it happened. The end of a life.

I was distraught, grieving and unable to face the reality of it all. The next few days passed in a daze as relatives and well-wishes came and went. Soon the seventh day came.

By then, there was a semblance of normalcy back in our lives. We had bathed in flower water as was the custom ( flower petals soaked in a tub of water )

Night came. There were altogether four of us in the house including a blue-eyed, blond man. That night it was drizzling and quite cold. We had all just come back from a late night supper. We all knew the significance of the night. The foreigner was of course totally ignorant.

Late at night, the neighbourhood dogs started howling…as in the horror movies. Not a barking sound but a howling. Slowly the sounds of dogs became nearer and nearer. I was totally alert. The hairs on my body began to stand on end.

I heard the sound of a being moving in the house opening and closing the closets. In our ignorance many of the clothes and personal possessions had been given away to an old folks home.

Then came the sound of washing dishes and the sound of doors opening and closing all over the house..in sequence a few minutes after each other.

Then the sound of my door opening. I was amazed and totally surprised. The being was no longer horizontal but upright. I had got so used to the sight of seeing the being in a comatose position I was momentarily stunned.

I feigned ignorance and kept my eyes closed. I was not afraid: just that I didn’t know what to do. The ‘thing’ looked at me in such a manner. I was saddened and started to cry..real grief and not fear and like a mad-man….hysterical might be a better word.

After what seemed like hours but in reality maybe minutes it left the room..not disappearing through walls but through opening and closing of the door.

I waited impatiently for dawn to arrive. The foreigner and wife left for Bangkok the next morning. In Bangkok, the lady began to get violently sick and couldn’t leave the hotel throughout the whole trip to Bangkok.

There used to be a clinic near the Federal Cinema. I don’t know if it still exists. I was so sick myself for about five days too. I was feverish and almost delirious. Family brought me to see the doctor who was unable to diagnose me other than to say perhaps I was the way I was due to an attack of nerves. I never told any one my experience.

Five days later, the couple returned. Miss International Traveller told us she had been sick and tentatively asked us a question or two but we all kept very quiet. We all spoke in a Chinese dialect of course which rather annoyed the guy whom I shall call Cliff.

“You all are trying to keep something from me”; he said. “I don’t like this place or you people keeping secrets from me….do you know five nights ago I saw a woman enter my room. She paid no heed to me at first and then seemed annoyed by my presence. She walked all over the place looking through our closets. I didn’t want to mention it at first.” he continued.

Suddenly the dam burst. Mr. Senior told us he had followed the being as it went from room to room and spent some time in the kitchen washing dishes as she had done all those past years. He never entered our rooms as our rooms were locked. He had heard strange noises from inside my room and also heard Cliff muttering something which he couldn’t understand. He was earlier awakened by the sound of keys jangling. He said,” lu lang mai kia..ee lai mmm si ai hai lu lang tapi ai lai tui chu cham qua lu lang na si bo ..ee koi tau kek sim…sob sob sob sob” means : it came back not to harm you, do not fear..it just wanted to come home and see you all if not it would be too sad and he started sobbing shamelessly.

Madam international Traveler looked at all of us. She said ‘it’ had entered the room and she was afraid Cliff would be hurt. ‘It’ had touched her almost like a caress just like a breath of wind ….ee so gua chinia kin eh..na kah hong choi..gua kek sim kek sim naka ai si leh..hau hau chin chia lat…tapi cliff tu ehm chai gua hau. She had kept quiet about her experience as she was afraid Cliff wouldn’t understand our customs.

All their accounts paralleled my personal experience. Not one person’s feelings or imagination. The exact dates can be determined by a visit to the Western Road Cemetery. You just have to add seven day after the recorded date on the tomb-stone.

The thing was we never really expected it as she was a Christian. I recounted the experience to a learned guy who said we have to examine ourselves… we must be ‘bad’ otherwise we wouldn’t have seen it. All I know is that the dearly departed was very reluctant to die and died a bitter death.

Since then, others who have been my guests have heard the sound of washing dishes but I tell them the sound comes from the neighbour’s house.