'Ghosts'

I'll never know if you were really crazy, or just craving for the attention. You were scary like that, stories coming out from you the moment you had a listener. You also drew characters which imitated those in comic books that were all the rage then. You were one of the few people I knew who were bribed to draw the naked female form, and said no.

The world moves so slowly now, while I'm tracing my way back to you in a story.

You were a part of the camping committee, one of the juniors and I was reluctantly the camp commander. We were in the school compound having a camp, after everyone else had left for the weekend. Where we had set up we called it the "Siberian Block" simply because it was isolated from all the other buildings, tucked away in the far corner of the school's grounds. The really younger ones were so desperate for food that they ate the noodles straight from the plastic packets. None of us could cook to save our lives. And then we had a game to play.

It was a pretty clear night, so still that I could hear the insect sounds surrounding the classroom where we discussed the night's next activity.

We were supposed to be going round the school; some of the committee members were supposed to be stationed at certain points. We were supposed to be doing some scaring. I was frustrated with how things were going; some of the members weren't paying attention to what was assigned to them. I voiced out my dissatisfaction, insect sounds filling each pause. You were out with my distant cousin, making sure the school was safe before we would carry on with our plans.

You came back white as a sheet, covered in a blanket of cold sweat, barely speaking. It was my cousin who spoke of what had happened. Like so many of your outrageous stories, I would've been crazy to have believed in it but you left me no choice. I listened to your story which was told not in your words:

"We were walking towards the school hall when this guy asked me to stop. He said that there were 'things' there, three of them, just heads and spinal cords hovering about, while everything looked normal to me. And when we tried to retrieve our steps he froze, like his body had seized up."

"What happened then?"

"He said there was another 'thing' approaching us, slowly. And that it was staring directly at him. When it went right through him he shivered."

You were the reason we had to call off the night's activities; the juniors were restless, but I had to make sure that everyone was safe, as silly as it sounds now. Again, you had shocked us to the core of our beings; frightened us with your boogeyman. But it wasn't enough; the night didn't end yet for me…

We were in the old clubhouse and you elaborated on your encounter to me.

"Listen, when the 'thing' approached me, it told me that the Devil would be coming for me tonight. It had the most horrible face. It gouged out one of its eyes in front of me…"

"How did that happen? I mean, it was just a head with no limbs."

"Just imagine invisible hands, I guess."

I prayed for you with my eyes open in that dark room filled with the musky smell of old things and dust. I prayed for you like a brother, because I was taught that evil existed in many forms. I was earnestly frightened for you and for everyone else who was there in the school. I prayed with what words that I had and was relieved when the morning finally came and the camp had ended with everyone still safe.

It's so easy to believe in anything when you're that young.