Tales of the Supernatural #1 Don't Look Back

If you're a close friend of mine, you'd know that I absolutely love listening and collecting stories of the supernatural. As memory is an unreliable source, I've decided to write down the stories I've heard from people (and some I've experienced myself) to share with my dear readers.

Even if you don't believe in ghosts and spirits, I hope these stories at least provide you some entertainment (and perhaps some chills down your back), as well as provide an interesting look into the cultures of the people who recounted these stories.

First up, I thought I'd start it off with a light one, not too terrifying in case I scare some people off :P

#1: Don't look back

When I was a child, my grandmother used to tell me stories of spirits, and certain superstitious rules that I should follow to avoid getting in some supernatural trouble. One of them goes like this: if you are alone in a room or in the house, and you hear someone calling your name. When you look back there's definitely no one there. If this goes on, and the second time you look back, there is no one there again, the third time you hear your name being called, you MUST NOT look back. If you did, you'd see something terrible, and it may even be the last thing you would ever see again.

One afternoon, I was home alone after school, and was sitting in the living room, doing my schoolwork. I heard someone call my name, and looked back expecting to see my sister coming home from tuition class, but there was no one there. Getting up to go to the toilet, I heard my name being called again, this time much more loudly. I turned back again, but no one was there. Feeling chills creep up my neck, I proceeded to walk to the toilet, and just as I reached the door, I heard it again. My name being called, loud and clear, as if the person was standing right behind me.

I did not look back the third time.

If this ever happened to you, would you dare look back that third time? Let me know what happens if you do.

Inertia

Inertia. The first law of motion, stating that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force.

If a ball stays at rest, it will not move. If a ball is rolling down a hill, it will keep rolling, at the same speed, in the same direction, until some external force, like friction or an obstacle blocking its way, makes it stop.

Human lives are also subject to inertia. When people choose to do nothing, the world doesn’t change. And when we do start something, it keeps rolling on and on, building momentum like a snowball. Here’s a story of inertia, how things can never change, and how things can keep changing.

A girl gets on a coach, heading to the airport. She’s tired and distracted, stuffing her bag in the overhead rack before sitting down with a sigh. A guy boards the coach too, and sits just behind her. He’s on the phone to his dad, telling him he’ll be home in a few hours. The girl overhears the conversation and smiles, as she’s heading to the airport to pick her mum up. She looks for her mobile phone to check the arrival time again, but her phone is nowhere to be seen. 

She panics, and starts rummaging around her handbag and coat pockets again and again, but to no avail. She checks her backpack in the overhead rack, still no phone. As her tears threaten to fall, she checks under her seat to see if her phone was there, and turns around to the guy behind her, asking: “Could you please check under your seat if my phone is there, I can’t seem to find it.” The guy, just finishing his phone conversation, immediately checks and looks around, but no phone was in sight. As he tells this to the girl, he notices her red watery eyes and her distress.

Inertia. If he had left it at there, this story ends just like that. The girl doesn’t find her phone, she cries silently, and nothing changes. The ball stays at rest.

However, an external force starts the ball rolling. He asks her: “Do you want me to call your phone and see if you can hear it ring?” She was so relieved at the offer, and gives her phone number to him. He dials, and at first they hear nothing. He tries again, and she hears a faint sound from the gap between the seats, and finds her phone. She cries in happiness, and thanks him profusely. They smile at each other, and he’s happy to have done a good deed.

Inertia. The ball keeps rolling.

She found her phone, and manages to call her mother at the airport, who had arrived early and didn’t know that her daughter was coming to pick her up as it was a surprise. If she hadn’t found her phone, that girl and her mum would likely have missed each other at the airport, and another sad event would have occurred. That one good deed has spread the happiness and spared two people from unhappiness.

Inertia. The ball keeps rolling.

The girl tells the story of the guy on the coach to her mum, and her mum insists on sending a message to the guy to thank him. She sends a thank you message, and he replies. That conversation somehow lengthened, and they became friends. He told her that he’d gone home and taken some time off because he couldn’t cope with life in university, and it turns out they went to the same university but different courses. She becomes a really good friend, and thanks to her support, he goes back to university, and they graduate in the same year.

That guy is now my husband. On the day of our wedding, he gave me a framed print of my thank you message, the one I sent him all those years ago. “This was the message that started it all, this is where our story started. This time, it’s my turn to thank you, for choosing me, and we’ll continue our story together from now on”.

Inertia. Our story is still going on, like the ball that keeps rolling, until the external force called death comes and parts us. In every moment of life, we hold the power to change the lives of people around us, we all own a force that can decide whether the world changes or stays the same. Love, kindness, and empathy can move people in the right directions; every good deed keeps going on and on, spreading like ripples. Don’t let the forces of anger, selfishness and envy stop the ripples. As long as we keep those ripples going strong, we can make the world a happier place, if only just by a little bit. 

A wise fool

The professor asked: "Does anyone NOT know the answer to this question?" 

I raised my hand. 

I was the only one who did. Everyone else stared; I heard a few snickering. 

I kept my hand straight in the air, and my head held high. The professor sneered and said:"Why do you look so proud to be the only one who doesn't know?" 

I answered: "I am not ashamed to be ignorant because I have the courage to seek knowledge. I pity those who are ignorant and remain so out of shame, and I pray that God may give courage to them. I pray that God bless those who are knowledgeable and give such knowledge to others freely just because they wish others to be knowledgeable too. And most of all, I pray that God forgive those who are knowledgeable, yet they look down upon the ignorant who wish to learn, and take foolish pride in their knowledge."

Silence reigned in the room.

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." -William Shakespeare

A Diagnosis of Love (for medics)

A patient comes in complaining of palpitations and dyspnoea (shortness of breath). She also mentions that occasionally she gets chest pains (stabbing pleuritic pain). 

Past medical history: Had asthma in childhood, but has been well for the past 3 years with an occasional attack once a year. 

Drug history: None. Tried paracetamol for the pain but didn't help. 

Family and social history: Lives alone, working as a nurse. No major illnesses in family. 

On examination, she is tachycardic (130/min), but otherwise fit and well. No other signs is observed. During history taking, she mentions that her palpitations get worse when she is with a certain person or talking to that person, and her chest pain worsens when that person looks happy with someone else.

Diagnosis: LOVE.

Treatment: ?

Doorknob

He has the most peculiar nose. It's really long, but it doesn't grow straight forward, it bends over to the right. His skin colour is very nice though, a sort of burnished coppery gold. 

He's not very young, probably as old as his house, and the years that have passed have left their marks on him, dulling his radiant complexion, but he insists to remain useful to others despite his age. 

He may seem cold at first, but once you get a firm grasp on him, he'll warm up to you quickly. He doesn't talk much, as if he's got a lock on his mouth, but his funny little nose can twist up and down, and that always makes me chuckle a little, so he's quite a pleasant man to be around.

Who is this "he" I'm talking about?

My Doorknob.

Shower

I stood there, every muscle in my body rigid, almost snapping under the tension. 

I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. 

Every drop of water falling sounded like a meteor hitting the ground. 

Every second felt like eternity. 

I took a deep breath. I knew I couldn't stay there forever. 

It was a risky move, and I knew that one small mistake could mean death, but there was no choice. It's now or never, I told myself. 

Screwing my eyes shut, in a flurry of movement I simultaneously pressed the off button and literally vaulted out of the tub into my towel. 

Bracing myself and gathering my courage, I did it.

I got out of the shower.

(P.S. Only people suffering from the freezing cold weather will understand this. My dear Malaysian family and friends, you can stop scratching your head.)

Tinted Glasses

I wish i could see myself from outside myself, to see what i look like from other people's eyes. But then, I would still be me, and I would judge me based on my own biases, which won't help. 

To truly know what other people think of me when they see me, I would need to see not just through their eyes, but through their minds: through their beliefs,biases,principles,experiences and standards. 

Only then I can truly know what they see when they see me. 

It's a scary thought at times, and makes me want to hide, because I fear what they may see. But then again, God sees me always, and sees me as I am. That can be the scariest thought of all, and could be the best thought of all. 

Lonely Imaginations

I always thank my imagination for keeping me company when I'm travelling alone. It makes even the mundane feel magical.

Going through a long dark tunnel in a train makes me feel like I'm floating in the darkness of outer space heading towards an unknown galaxy, like in Miyazawa's book "Night on the Galactic Railroad".

Being the only one awake in a bus (along with the driver, I hope :P) while everyone is asleep reminds me of a scene in an anime I once saw where an entire city fell asleep and only the heroes were awake fighting the enemy, and makes me feel like one of the heroes.

Watching the scenery go by while listening to the soundtrack song from a drama I love brings back my favourite scenes in my head, like my own personal TV running in my mind, putting a smile on my lips.

So as Kelly Clarkson's song says, "Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone"

On another note about loneliness:

Why do people get lonely? Because there is someone whose company they love and yearn for more than their own company. If there is no such person, then you don't get lonely. Theoretically speaking.

“Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment. ”
― Haruki Murakami (one of my favourite authors) in Norwegian Wood

mile emoticon

Reflection turns to Shadow

Today I was your mirror. I was the reflection of everything you did. 
We left our houses, locked the door.
You jangled your keys, and I put mine in my pocket. 
You took out your white earphones, I took out my black ones. 
We put them on at the same time, 
and when we noticed our 'reflections' 
of each other 
on the opposite sides of the street,
we glanced at each other. 

You dropped your pen, we both stopped.
You picked it up and looked at me again, 
then continued walking. 
I let you walk in front of me, slightly embarrassed. 

Now I became your shadow. 
You ran across the road to catch the green light, 
I ran close behind your heels. 
You walked swiftly, but glanced back 
and saw me still behind you. 
Did you notice me becoming your shadow? 

We walked all the way to the same building, 
such a coincidence that I couldn't believe it. 
And then we went our separate ways. 

For 10 minutes of my life, 
I was aware of your existence, 
and you existed in my thoughts, 
and you mattered to me. 

Was it the same for you, Mr Stranger?

Not strangers, yet we walked alone

I didn't run to catch up to you. You didn't stop and wait for me to catch up to you. And so we both walked apart from each other, one ahead, one behind, silently. Even though we were walking the same way, towards the same destination, we walked alone. Was it my fault? was it yours? Or were both of us at fault? I don't know. All I know was that there were two of us, and we were not strangers, yet we walked alone.

Note to My Future Self #3

Note to My Future Self #3

Feb 2013: Joie de Vivre

I love people who work earnestly towards something they love, and live life honestly and eagerly. They truly personify the phrase "joie de vivre". Full of life, vitality and optimism. Always putting their 100% into everything they do. Despite any hardships or obstacles, they forge forward with determination and passion, and remain hopeful in the most desperate situations. Their persistence and strength inspire people around them, and those people then turn into their supporting pillars, and they change those people's lives for the better. People may find my love for anime childish, but one of the main reasons I love anime is that the main characters are often people like the ones I just described: people full of "joie de vivre". And someday, I hope to be one too. Someday, inshaAllah.

Notes to My Future Self #2

Notes to My Future Self #2

April 2013: Travel

I am a traveller, seeking adventure and passion and drama in places familiar and foreign. And I hope to travel all my life, whether on a journey of the body or the mind or the soul, as long as I am travelling, for I am a traveller, and it is what makes me happiest.

Whenever I am travelling, I am either going somewhere I love, or returning to somewhere I love. I am travelling to meet someone I love, or returning to someone I love. I am travelling to find something new and exciting, or returning to something old that I miss. I am travelling alone to rediscover myself, or travelling with someone to create memories with.

That is why I am always happy when I travel.

Notes to My Future Self #1

Notes to My Future Self

April 2013: Being thankful

When I came back home and was unlocking the front door, like I've done hundreds of times, a thought suddenly struck me: how lucky I am to be holding this key, and having a home to return to. To me, it's a daily routine, unlocking my door and coming home, but for some people its a luxury that they may not have, that they desperately wish for.

And every little thing I do now, from drinking a bottle of ice tea, to typing on my laptop, every little thing which seemed so natural and came so easily to me, I see with new eyes. I see that every thing that I take for granted every day, may be something that someone else could only dream of, something that someone had never had the chance to do, and may never will.

And I realize how lucky I am. Not just to have all this, but to actually be aware and realise my fortune, that in itself is such a blessing. Thank you Allah, for opening my eyes. Alhamdulillah, all praise to Allah for all the blessings in my life :)

Shadows

Found a very interesting quote today.

“Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow.

Carl Jung called this his shadow work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. Shadows. Projections. Our associations.

The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, in the bright sunlight.

The camera obscura.

Not the exact image, but everything reversed or upside down.” -Chuck Palahnuik