A Ghostly Encounter - Pt. 3

I had hoped that I would see no  more of HD and PH during the Hungry Ghost Festival but it was not to be so.

I was sleeping soundly last night when both of them came charging into the kitchen and woke me up.

"Vege Cat, wake up!" shrieked HD.

I sat up, startled.  "What's going on?"  I mumbled hazily.

Where's my husband?

"My wife!  She's coming here!" screamed HD frantically.

"What?  Your wife?"

"Yes, she's coming here, she wants to share our niche with us!"

"I don't want to share with her, Vege Cat!" said PH, shaking his pumpkin head emphatically.

Now I was really confused.  "What do you mean, share your niche? How can she possibly fit into that tiny hole?"

"How can you be so dumb, Vege Cat!" scolded HD impatiently.  "She's dead!  She killed herself yesterday by driving over a cliff when she heard that her lover had left her for another woman!"

"Oh no!  But ... but how do you know all this?"  I asked.

"I have my spies and they tell me she had been checking all the columbariums to locate me and she's on her way here!"

"Well, aren't you glad to be reunited with your wife?"  I asked.

"Are you kidding?  She's a pain in the neck! She betrayed me, and now that she has nowhere to go, she comes looking for me, that bloody female! Look, can you hide us in your kitchen, she won't think of coming here to look for me!"

I shook my head in exasperation.  "HD, you're a ghost!  Can't you make yourself invisible or turn into a toad?"

"You don't understand how we ghosts work and you can't fool her that easily, that's why we have to hide and it's better that you hide with us, otherwise she might scare you in telling her that we're here," said HD.  "Hey, how about on top of that cupboard?" and without waiting for an answer from me, the two of them picked up my basket with me inside and flew to the top of the cupboard.  We landed with a loud thud and I almost fell out of the basket.  

"Hey, be careful, you guys!" I said crossly.  "I don't intend to join you as a fellow spook just yet!"

"Ssssh!  She's coming," whispered PH.  The three of us froze.  I thought it would be best to close my eyes and avoid looking at her since she would look hideous after being in a car that exploded into flames when it went over the cliff.  I didn't hear anything but could feel a cold draft sweeping into the kitchen.  I kept my eyes closed and chanted "Ah Mi Tuo For" silently in my head.  

After a while, HD said, "You can open your eyes now, she's gone."

I slowly opened my eyes and was so relieved that we had not been discovered.  I could imagine what HD's wife would do if she had found him!

"Lucky you closed your eyes, Vege Cat," HD was saying.  "Her face was a real mess!"

Then suddenly, an old lady came into the kitchen.  She looked like she was in her eighties and was dressed in an old samfoo, typical of those worn by Chinese ladies in the 40's.  

I was surprised when she called out, "Humpty Dumpty! Are you there?"

"It's the old lady, the one who used to cry for her daughter," whispered PH to me.

"OMG!"  I whispered.  "Another ghost?"

"I'm here, Madam," said HD, floating down.  "Are you looking for me?"

"Well, yes," said the old lady.  "I saw your wife just now and she was asking everyone in the columbarium whether you're here.  She's quite a fierce one, I must say.  Lucky for you, no one gave you away and I managed to convince her that she's got the wrong place and that your remains have been thrown into the sea.  She then went off in a huff.  She'll be busy searching the sea now and I don't think you'll hear from her for a long time yet!"

"Oh, thank you so much, Madam," squeaked HD gratefully.  "You're a true angel! God bless you!"

The "angel" winked and said, "One good turn deserves another!" and with that, she sailed off, humming a little tune.

"Head Nun, those two spooks are driving me nuts," I said when I later told her what had happened.  "I'm beginning to regret we took them in."

"Don't worry, Vege Cat," said Head Nun. "From what I hear from you, they're really quite harmless."

"Is it true the spooks will go back to the underworld at the end of the Hungry Ghost month and only return next year at the same time for the Festival?"

Head Nun laughed and said, "I wish I could give you an answer to that, unfortunately no one can tell for sure!"

Well, true or not, I can't wait for the HG festival to be over and for The Palace to be quiet and peaceful again!