The Strange Creatures Where I live
Pakistan
January 2001
The Strange Creatures In the country where I live, Pakistan where the religion has been Islam right from the beginning. It’s not like the religion stops us to believe in ghosts; it is said for us to believe more in one god and in other unseen creatures less. Keeping this in mind, one is likely to believe that ghosts and spirits could, or would, not be present in religious places like mosques where we go to pray. But the experience that I had took directly in front of a mosque.
Up in the snowy mountains of Pakistan, there is a mess for army people. It is a vast area, and half of it is used for military practice. The other half is where people from the army, usually retired, bring their families for vacations. This place is called "Bardian", and was one of my favourite places to "hang" in the vacations.
This one particular vacation that I am highlighting, I spent in Bardian with two of my cousins, and the whole of my family. I thought it would be the best trip ever?what I didn't know was that it would be my last as well.
We set out for Bardian. We had to drive from the busy town at sea level and travel up towards the mountains, which usually takes about 30 minutes. Talking, singing, and basically having fun, we moved towards our destination. When we got there, we just hanged about, talking, then decided to move into our given room, talk a little more, while in the comfort of our beds. My younger sister and I, and one of my cousins were in one of the two rooms that we had rented. My parents occupied the other room. The mess building was directly in front of a mosque. My older sister and my other cousin had decided to walk around the four-roomed mess and check out what it looked like at nighttime. One moment, I was sitting in my room, coloring a picture of the little mermaid, and the next, I had jumped onto the bed out of fear. My cousin had come screaming into the room, and I heard banging which appeared to be coming form the other room that we had rented. My cousin told me that she and my sister were at the back of the building when some weird creature started calling out to them by their names. She said it looked something like a bird with a man’s face. We all jumped onto the bed out of fear. My older sister had not come into the room, and we thought she had probably gone into our parents’ room, as it was closest from the site where they saw the creature. My cousin made a comment about the creature coming in through the door, which lay open. Trying to act brave, I got up to close the door, but I asked my cousin to accompany me. We went, and just as I closed the door, both my cousin and me saw a man who only had a face and shoulders?and no body beneath! We screamed and banged the door. My father came in (we screamed again) and told us there was no such thing as ghosts. He even took us around the place to prove to us so. Then, all us kids were sitting in our room, talking, when a knock on the window caught our attention. It sounded like somebody knocking on the window with a spoon. This time, it was no ghost?it was my mother, trying to scare us. Apparently, she did not believe in things as ghosts!. The next morning, though, her feelings towards ghosts changed.
Early, around six in the morning, the same knock woke my parents up. They at first thought it was the cook, with tea, but then the realized that the cook didn't come until he was called. My father went to investigate, with no luck. We went back the next day, to the town that I mentioned before. Here, my grandfather and all other cousins live. When we told my grandfather this, he told us a couple of stories, ghost stories that he himself experienced. I cannot recall the stories as they were told to me quite a long while ago, but my grandfather is a really religious man and I know he wouldn't lie.
To this day, I do not understand what the bird-like creature was. And I'd heard of beheaded ghosts, but where did bodyless ghosts come from?