all strange & weird

I had a funny feeling this week. What is that actually? I’m trying to find out, trying to recall any familiar situation to this. Maybe it’s the feeling of a major exam approaching? Maybe it’s the excitement of going home and to finally relax a bit? Maybe it’s the calm feeling when you got used to your new surroundings. I thought it feels like Ramadhan because of the unusual tranquillity despite your growling stomach (because you’re broke). Or maybe it’s the feeling of failing (or almost) your papers. . I’m not sure. And I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad feeling – but it’s funny alright.

This is the story of one of the strangest things that ever happened to me in my whole life.

When I was 10, I lived in a school’s quarters somewhere in the edge of the city (also the edge of the village). I heard that this ‘edge’ place is worse than the city, even the village, in terms of their youngsters’ behaviours. Maybe I heard this from some teachers I can’t be certain who. One evening, I was taking a stroll in the back part of the school, near the corner of the back fields, towards the little back gate which leads outside the school compound and to a river nearby, with my 7-year old sister and 9-year old neighbour. The place was always quiet and sometimes it had the eerie feeling that someone is watching you. There’s no one in the area, except the nearest villagers who lived nearby the river. The school border on that particular side was always covered with bushes and shady, half-dead trees. Sometimes, we spotted a couple of guys or even girls or both behind the bushes. It’s scary to think what they were up to – we caught a pair one evening! – Sometimes, we spotted a flock of birds of unknown species (which I have never seen in books) scratching for food below the trees. I think they are those species which can’t fly – but they’re not chickens! They are at least as 3 times the size of a rooster. Some are more than four times as large. I drew nearer because I can’t be certain what exactly are those weird black shapes lurking under the trees. When I did, all of them turned their small heads to stare at me and gave that chilling feeling. They were quiet and it seemed that they didn’t feel threatened of people’s presence. I was the one who did.

Well, back to the story now. We were strolling and decided to visit the still river which means, that we had to go through the tiny exit gate. When we were just five metres from the gate, a group of children (five of them I supposed, four girls and a boy – all were little and of almost the same age as us) popped out from nowhere and stood in the middle of our path. They were at the mouth of the gate but still in the area outside the school. We stopped dead in our tracks and looked up at them (the gate was a bit elevated because it was leading to a higher ground outside where the river was located). We were surprised as they were acting weird. They laughed and giggled to us (in a teasing tone) as if we did anything at all. The momentary silence and awkwardness were soon broken when one of them called out a name – my sister’s.

I was relieved when at the thought that they were my sister’s friends and wanted to join us. I turned to my sister, “A friend of yours?” My sister shook her head, saying, “No, no. I’ve never seen them before.” Then the second girl called out the same name. My sister was trying hard to recall the faces that she might have known before. “Maybe your school friends?”, I suggested. “No. I’m sure they’re not anyone I know or even have seen before.” It was a logical answer even from a 7-year old as my sister just started her school in this new place and we lived nowhere near other villagers. “Who are you? What’s your name?”, my neighbour yelled out to them. There was no answer but instead, they kept on laughing and giggling and calling out my sister’s name. We repeated asking for their names and how did they know us. There were no answers, only laughs and titters.

I was a kind of a rebel back then and so I challenged them, saying, “What do you want from us, eh? Don’t try to scare us because we are not! Come and have a duel with me if you want a fight!” I moved forward, closer to them so that they felt threatened. Then, they stop laughing and looked to their right at something (which didn’t know what because our view was blocked by bushes). Then a boy appeared and came striding fast towards us with a parang.

Our eyes were big with fear but I stuck to my ego and moved nearer to the shirtless, slightly older and Chinese-like faced boy with the weapon. I was sure that he would not hurt me because.. that is the story which we can only found in news, not nearby. That was the thought I had. We continue to move forward, closer to one another and when he was close enough to be able to scratch me with the tip of the parang...

to be continued... (kinda too long don'tcha think?)