It Creeps

Iheard 2 stories from an uncle and a cousin before I encountered mine. My uncle told me that he used to go fishing at night near some reservoir. So it happened one night that he had his fishing rod set into the waters as usual..suddenly he saw a white swan like figure that sat on the tip of the rod but it hardly bent as if the thing was weightless! And my cousin who used to do night watches in a prison vicinity spotted a similar swan like creature as he shone his torch at some bushes.And it grew bigger as it flapped its wings. My cousin switched his torch off immediately! It was in November '98. I was in an Outward Bound School camp. We had been kayaking in the sea waters off the mainland for several hours and it was getting dark. We couldn't go on in the dark cos the group was massive but had to put up on a small island called Pulau Sejahat. In a local language, that meant 'little bad island'. On the island, there was a dilapidated and abandoned bunker that stood just meres above the shore. From the graffiti on the walls which gave the bunker a sinister look to it, told us that many others had been there before. My group chose our spot and laid a big canvas mat upon the sandy concrete ground of the bunker and took our deserved rest. I suggested that we told ghost stories and the ball started rolling. Ivan, my friend, told his vast experiences, supposedly he sees ghosts often against his will, kind of a gift perhaps? Of course i had doubts about his stories but kept it to myself. After sometime we retired to sleep. All on the hard cold floor,side by side, compact, trying to keep within the canvas.

I was awoken in the middle of the night, by a strange and loud snore. It seemed to be coming from another group across the bunker. I listened for a while longer and suddenly it occurred to me, it sounded very much like the Quacking of a duck or a swan and immediately the stories about the swan-like creature i heard from my uncle played through my mind. I shut my eyes close and hugged my own body tight as I recited some prayers in my heart. Seconds after, the noise stopped, there was silence. Relieved. But following that was 3 footsteps made aloud over the canvas on the sandy ground. It came from the direction where i heard the snore and it seemed to stop right over my head. It could very well had been staring down at me so i shut my eyes as tight as i could and hugged myself tighter, not knowing what would happen next. And then from my right where my friend was lying, i heard a loud, deep laugh that went like " Hmm..Hmm..Hmm.." I was scared stiff, probably i was so frightened and wet in cold sweat that my whole body felt numb.I could only hold on to faith and kept the prayers going in my head. After that there was silence again, apart from the occasional banging noise that came across the bunker that sounded like as if someone had lifted the kayaks that we had brought ashore into the bunker and dropping it on the concrete ground. It went on for quite sometime and probably from being tensed for so long, i became tired and fell asleep again.

The next morning, to my relief, i woke up in one piece. I asked my mates if any of them heard the strange snore last night and 2 of them did and were awoken. But apparently they were too tired to be bothered about it. So i told them what happened to me and guess what Ivan said, "Last night while we were telling those stories, I actually saw a man standing by that corner.."he pointed "...but i did not want to scare you guys. And you did hear me telling our instructors not to come to this side of the island didn't you?" I was silenced upon hearing that. I guess i shouldn't have doubted him about his 'gift'.

The journey home was safe... But in June this year, the thing came back...to haunt me or the school kids i was in charge during their annual school camp, i dont know. One thing for sure, that night, i kept awake throughout, together with the 2 kids who heard the similar noise...Glad to still be alive today.