Hmong Ghost & Supernatural Stories: The Girl By the Shore

BY: ANONYMOUS

This story happened not long after we moved to California from Wisconsin. My relatives wanted to throw a welcoming party for us and took my family on a fishing and camping trip. They took us to a secluded lake up in the mountains, about one hour from Fresno. During this trip, my sister and I encountered something strange and supernatural.

While at the campsite, my parents and uncles were fishing by the bank of the lake while we kids played nearby. One of my cousins wanted to play “follow the leader” and encouraged all of us kids to join.

At first, the game started at the campsite, but not long afterward, we found ourselves wandering onto a trail that led into the forest. My oldest cousin led the group and would periodically run ahead of everyone, screaming that there was a “poj dab” behind us, scaring and forcing everyone to chase after her. I was the youngest in the group and struggled to keep up with them.

After running several times, I became tired and stopped playing the game. I was too exhausted to keep running, so I asked my older sister to stay with me.

As we both stopped to catch our breath, we could hear my cousins’ laughter and screams echoing ahead. We both rested for a few minutes before we decided to continue on.

We walked for another five minutes before my sister suggested that we turn back because we didn’t know where the trail would lead us. I unquestioningly agreed, and we both turned back.

After what felt like thirty minutes of walking, my sister suggested we leave the trail and cut through the woods instead since we had been walking for a while. Not knowing any better, I agreed with her, and we got off the trail.

It wasn’t until about ten minutes later that I realized that she had no idea where we were going, and we became lost in the woods. I began thinking of worst-case scenarios in my head and convinced myself that we were probably going to die, which made me cry silently to myself. I could tell she was scared by the look on her face, but she played it off as if everything was fine.

Luckily for us, we somehow spotted the lake again not long afterward. Seeing the lake was a significant relief sign, giving me hope to keep going. My sister suggested that we head over to the shore to see if we could locate my parents or someone.

When we approached the shore, I suddenly noticed movements to the right of where we were. I turned to look and saw a little girl playing by the water, maybe fifty feet away. She was squatting by the shore and was throwing small rock pebbles into the water. I observed the girl playing for a few seconds before mentioning it to my sister, who was already staring at her.

My sister and I waved at the little girl, hoping to get her attention, but she didn’t notice us because she was facing the water. Even though she didn’t see us, we were both pleased to see her because we knew we weren’t alone anymore and thought that she or her parents could help us return to our campsite.

After several attempts to get her attention by waving our arms around to get her attention, we got desperate and started calling out to her, but she still didn’t notice us. She was still sitting by the shore, throwing pebbles into the water.

I suggested to my sister that we walk over to where she was and ask her for help. My sister thought for a few seconds and said no, stating that she probably heard us but intentionally ignored us. She then suggested we keep walking by the shoreline until we see someone else or a family member fishing.

Not wanting to risk getting lost again, I pleaded with my sister to let us walk over to the girl and ask her and her family for help. After thinking for a little bit, she agreed to walk over.

As we were about to make our way to the little girl, I suddenly, out of nowhere, wanted to throw a rock into the water. Maybe it was from watching the girl do it, but now I wanted to do it too.

I quickly searched the ground for a rock, picked up the first one I saw and threw it as hard as I could toward where the girl was sitting. My sister and I watched the rock splash into the water between us and the girl. The moment the rock splashed into the water, my sister and I both observed the girl suddenly turn her head to look.

My sister and I both stopped in our tracks from what we saw. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a little girl or human. We both observed a creature or being that was probably about three feet tall wearing what seemed to be some black clothing. Its face and hands were almost entirely black, besides some blue circle spots on its face. It had two eyes that were even darker than its skin and didn’t have a mouth, nose, or ears. It had long fingers and what seemed like beautiful silk-like black hair.

It stared at my sister and me for a few seconds before finally turning its body to face us. It then slowly started to stand up, and when it finally stood up all the way, it instantly vanished.

My sister and I screamed at the top of our lungs and started to run and cry when this thing disappeared. I was so traumatized by this experience that I don’t even remember what happened after that or how we got back to our campsite. My parents said that one of my relatives was fishing nearby, and when he heard our scream, he ran over as fast as he could.

According to him, we screamed like someone was about to kill us, and he knew right away that something terrible had happened. When he located us, we both looked like we’d just seen a ghost. We were so frightened that we couldn’t even answer and tell him what had happened.

A couple of years later, when my sister and I were in our teens, the relative who rescued us told us a part of the story we had never heard before. Apparently, after finding us in a hysteric state, as he was about to lead us back to camp, he heard a loud splash in the water as if someone had thrown a big rock into the water. The moment he heard the splash, he turned to look but could only see the ripples from the impact. Then, a second later, someone threw a bunch of pebbles into the water, which spooked him and prompted him to leave the area as quickly as possible.

Thinking back to this incident, I sometimes wondered if someone or something was watching out for us that day. What would have happened if my sister and I had both walked over to her? Would this being have taken us with her into her World, as my parents believed? Why did I suddenly have the urge to throw a rock into the water? Something or someone must have been watching out for us right?

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