Ghost in the House

I read Nick's blog and he opened with scratchings from the ceiling. Although it has no relation to this latest flashback, it reminded me of something my friends and I got up to in the dirty bastard teen aged years.

I've told this story many times to much mirth but have not blogged about it for some reason. Celebrating April Fool's Day with this little joke. Mean as it is.

There are a number of factors in this story to consider before getting into the details.

#1. The antagonists. A bunch of us Ipoh guys were in Subang Jaya studying in various colleges. Away from home and out from under the parental thumb for the first time.

#2. The annoying cousin. My friend, Alex, stayed in his uncle's house in SS15 with his female cousin. His uncle had been transferred to Jakarta and wasn't around. Female cousin, MY for this story, once rendered a room full of otherwise very loud boys speechless once. We were once watching TV and commenting on the various female body shapes and builds appearing in the ads. A voice piped up from the back. "Actually my body also quite proportionate one...." She had a body like a beer keg!

#3. The faulty cassette player. When it recorded from it's mic, it didn't erase and record over what was previously on the tape. What was recorded played with whatever was there previously enabling us to multitrack.

#4. The child's pull toy. Remember those things with the string that you pulled and it'd play a song? Very eerie at night in the dark. The idea stemmed from the fact that once one guy pulled on the string in the dark and no one knew what it was and where it was coming from. Having Are You Sleeping Brother John tinkling in the dark with no obvious source was quite unnerving.

#5. The hole in the ceiling. The cousins' bedrooms were next to each other. On my friend's side, an asbestos panel in the ceiling could be pushed out of the way.

#6. The idea that grew. It started with the cassette player and the pull toy and the snoring.

Let's start with the snoring. Joe insisted his room mate, Hoong Chiew snored like an angry beehive to which was regarded by the culprit as fiction. One night Joe recorded it and played it the next day to a room full of guys at the volume he claimed it to be in reality. Much mirth abounded. This was shortly after the Pull Toy Incident. Someone came up with the bright idea of recording the pull toy. On playback, it was discovered that the cassette player was faulty. We had a mix of the pull toy and Hoong Chiew's snoring. After the laughter subsided naturally The Idea emerged and more sounds were put into the mix. Chains rattling. Some clown going 'woooooooooo' in a stereotypical imitation of a ghost. Another clown moaning MY's name. Various moans and groans which built up in volume and number of voices to a climax. Laughter which wasn't intentional but it hard not to in a mob environment.

That night the plan was put into action. The asbestos panel was removed. The speakers put into the ceiling and pushed over MY's room. I'd imagine anyone in the other room would have a very hard time tracing the source of the sounds. All that was left was to push the play button.

What an anti climax. We'd expected her to burst out of her room trailing muslin and hair curlers screaming for protection.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

A number of scenarios were discussed. The first one was that she slept like the dead. The next scenario assumed that she was dead. From a fatal heart attack from the fear. Sam was sent out to moan her name and bang on her door.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

With much disappointment, the speakers were removed and the panel replaced.

The next morning, we were asked if we heard anything 'strange' the night before. Success! Trying to keep the triumph out of our expressions and voices we strenuously denied we did. And the very next day, she brought over her church group from her college (INTI, if anyone's interested) and held a prayer/exorcism. Everyone held hands in a circle in the house. They called on God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to banish the demons and devils in the house....

....not knowing that there were a few devils in the circle holding hands!

Hahahah!