A young girl shares a story about an experience that she will never forget.
By Anonymous
I used to live in Wisconsin in a city with a small population of Hmong people near Manitowoc. Usually, around the end of August, fresh dew would be on the grass every morning, and the roads were quiet where I lived.
I could still remember waking up to the sun slowly rising up, casting the shadows of the trees from outside to the walls in my room. I heard my family rustling and chattering out in the living room while stretching my arms, twisting, and turning my back to get the blood flowing. After listening to them for a second, I suddenly realized something. Oh my gosh! How could I forget that today was my cousin’s wedding, and we were supposed to drive to Manitowoc!
I quickly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, rubbing my left eye to adjust to the sun illuminating the white walls. My feet shuffled on the cold wooden floor, sending chills up to my arms, causing the vellus hair to stand, creating goosebumps all over my body. Feeling rushed, I quickly walked to the restroom and was relieved upon noticing that it was empty. I was always the first to use the bathroom before my sisters or the last one. Luckily, I was the last to use it today, but I didn’t have to wait since they were done already.
While I was walking to the bathroom, from the corner of my eye, I saw my dad sitting on our yellow floral couch. I thought to myself, he was probably getting impatient, waiting for us to get ready with our last-minute touch-ups. I turned on the bathroom lights and closed the door behind me. After flushing the toilet, I turned the faucet on in the sink and waited for the water to warm up. I splashed the warm water on my face and pumped out some face wash, scrubbing every inch, making sure to get all the crevices. I then turned on the cold water and splashed it onto my face, cooling and smoothing it. I quickly wiped the water off and brushed my teeth quickly because I didn’t want to be left home alone. I hastily walked out of the bathroom back to my bedroom and changed into nicer clothes.
When I opened the door and walked out, I noticed that my dad was still sitting on the couch in our living room. He was dressed in a dark royal blue colored suit, ready for the wedding.
Walking by, I noticed he wasn’t watching the TV since it wasn’t even on. Instead, he sat on the couch motionless, staring at the TV as if in a daze. As I approached him, I said, “Dad peb mus os.” (Dad lets go). He didn’t reply as he sat there motionless and unbothered. It was unlike him not to respond; usually, he would nod or make a hmm sound of okay. I thought it was a bit weird, but I shrugged it off and walked out of the house through the back door.
It was now around nine in the morning, and the sun was up. My mom was in the driver’s seat, ready to leave, as my sisters, cousins, and I tried to get situated. I impatiently waited for them to get in the car so we could go. When it was finally my turn to take a seat, I noticed that my dad wasn’t in the car yet. Seeing this, I turned to my mom and asked, “Aren’t you going to wait for Dad?” Everyone suddenly told me to shush up, not to talk out loud, to stay quiet, and it finally clicked that something was wrong. As I was about to get in, my dad quickly came and got in the car. He shut the car door and squeezed himself into the back seat with my sisters. I paused momentarily, confused about why he had changed his outfit. Regardless, I got in the car, and my mom instantly locked the doors.
This weird, eerie vibe slowly engulfed my body. My third sense was alerted, and I understood right then that the thing in the house that didn’t reply to me wasn’t my dad. It was a ghost or spirit pretending to be my dad. The crazy thing about this was that it wasn’t only me who saw it, but my whole family did.
Everyone sat silently as my mom drove onto the driveway; no one said anything. I was scared and startled as I sat next to my real dad. Then suddenly, the thing inside the house ran out and followed the car as we drove down the driveway. It must have noticed that we were planning to leave without it as it chased us down like a wild animal chasing a prey. Finally, it grabbed the passenger door handle and started yanking it, trying to get in. After realizing it couldn’t get in, it began making all these weird noises as it banged on the door.
I was so terrified that I could only shut my eyes tight and hoped it would leave us alone. I did my best to drown out the sound of it pulling and screaming outside the door with utter silence. As the car pulled out from the driveway and proceeded onto the streets, the sun was shining in front of the car, hitting my eyes. Upon feeling the warmth of the light on my face, I began to pray. I prayed hard to the heavens and God to save my family and me from that thing.
Eventually, as we drove further away from home, the ghost or spirit slowly disappeared at the same time. Or so you thought. Whenever you mentioned or thought of it, you could feel its presence around you as if it was hiding and waiting for the right moment to reappear. And when it does, it will be grinning, eagerly waiting for you to come closer to snatch you and take you into its world.
(Important: If you like the story, please help share it with others. We greatly appreciate it.)
Want to share your story? Email your story to contact@hmongtales.com. You can remain anonymous.
Please report any errors and typos by emailing contact@hmongtales.com