A Ghostly Encounter - Pt. 1

It's the Hungry Ghost Month again and I'm sleeping every night with my shades over my eyes and my blanket over my head.  These spooks can be quite cheeky like last year when they played a few tricks on me.  Well, I am better prepared this year and if any of them comes near me, I have a wooden stick hidden under my blanket, ready to do battle!

But last night, I was quite restless and after tossing about for some time, I finally fell asleep, only to be awakened by a tap on my shoulder a short while later.  I sat up, rubbing my eyes and then I heard someone say "Hello" in a squeaky voice, it certainly didn't sound like one of the nuns.

I opened my eyes and couldn't believe what I saw.  Two ugly characters were standing there, one with a green face and blood oozing from his head and the other with a pumpkin for a head!

I immediately took them for  a couple of cheeky boys from the neighborhood, so I laughed and said, "Hey, guys, isn't it too early for Halloween?"  

The one with the bloody head said, "My name's Humpty Dumpty and this here is Pumpkin Head." 

"So? Haven't you guys got something better to do? Go home, ok?"  I said.

"We're from the "underworld" and we don't want to go home," said Humpty Dumpty.

I laughed again and said, "Oh come on, you mean to say you're both ghosts and not two naughty guys dressed up to scare me?"

Both of them nodded their heads (or rather what was left of their heads) and crossed their hearts.

"We swear we're telling the truth," Humpty Dumpty said. 

"You can't be serious!  Look,  I don't have time for jokes,"  I said, reaching for my stick under the blanket.  "Please go away before I call for help."  I took out my stick and brandished it in the air to scare them. Then to my shock, Humpty Dumpty put up his hand and the stick disintegrated into bits and pieces.  I gasped in disbelief as I looked at the remains of my stick in my paw.

As I sat there petrified, a thought occurred to me.  If they were kids from the neighborhood, how could they have entered the temple since it was locked up at night? And I don't think they could destroy my stick just like that.  So it could only mean one thing - these two are real spooks and it looks like they also have bizarre powers!

"We're both very lost and lonely.  We need your help, please hear us out," pleaded Pumpkin Head.

Then they both burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably.  They made quite a terrible noise and I hoped at least one or two nuns would hear them and rush to help me but unfortunately no one came to my rescue.

"Ok, ok," I stammered, goose pimples running up and down my spine.  I pinched myself several times hoping the whole thing was a terrible nightmare but nothing changed, the two spooks were still there. 

"I shall tell my story first," said Humpty Dumpty.  "Well, one day I caught my wife with her lover.  I had a big fight with the guy and in the struggle, I fell off the balcony of my apartment and landed ten floors down.  I lay there for some time before some people saw me and called the ambulance, but of course it was too late.  Meantime I felt myself zooming into the underworld where a number of zombies and ghouls were waiting for me.  They gave me the nickname "Humpty Dumpty" because of my smashed head.  But they were not a friendly lot and most of the time, they made fun of me.  Finally I decided to run away and came back here where I met Pumpkin Head."

"Yes," said Pumpkin Head.  "We've been together for the past one year."

"And what happened to you?"  I asked nervously.

"Well, I owed some loan sharks a great deal of money and was unable to pay them back, so they came after me and took my head as payment.  The guys in the underworld gave me a pumpkin to replace my head but like H.D., I wasn't happy there, so I also ran away."

"I am horrified by what you both have told me. But ... but why have you come here?" I asked. 

"We came across your temple during our wanderings and the good old souls in your columbarium told us to look for you, the cat monk, because you've got a kind heart and would be able to help us," said Humpty Dumpty.  "We want so much to have a home like them where we can listen to prayers everyday and partake of the offerings.  Please, will you help us?"

I was, to say the least, stunned.  I don't often talk to spooks and it was the first time I had received a request from spooks to find a home for them.

"I don't know," I stammered.  "I have to ask Head Nun first, you know."

"We understand.  We shall come back here tomorrow night and get your answer." 

Then both of them melted into the night.

I sat there, still shocked by all that had happened and wondered what I should do.  Then the kitchen lights came on and I saw Head Nun coming towards me.

"Head Nun," I cried, jumping up.  "You'll never believe what happened just now....."

"I know, I know," she said.  "I heard all that noise in the kitchen and opened my bedroom door and peeped out.  I saw and heard everything."

'You did?  Head Nun, why didn't you come and help me?"  I protested indignantly.

"If I did, they might panic and do something to you," she said.

"Were they really ghosts or just some pranksters?" I asked. 

"I know a ghost when I see one," she replied. "You probably don't know but ghosts don't walk with their feet on the ground, they float above it and those two were floating some ten centimeters above the ground.  Some of them also have special powers.  Look at what that one did to your stick, no human could have done that."

" You are probably right, Head Nun.  But what about finding a home for them?"

"Hmmm..... if I remember correctly, there's a small empty niche in one corner of the columbarium, I'll check it out and if it's empty, they can have it."

As it so happened, the niche was empty and Head Nun put up a small sign with the names "Humpty Dumpty and Pumpkin Head, Departed 2022."

Both spooks were ecstatic when they heard the good news and "moved in", so to speak, immediately.  I secretly hoped that that would be the last I saw of them.

Head Nun later told me that many curious devotees who come to the temple often ask her who HD and PH were.  She said she would just smile and say they were "old friends"!

So if you were to pass by our columbarium one day, do drop in and take a look at this special niche for our two ghost friends, that is if you're not too scared to do so!