STRANGE SOUNDS
It was the year 1969. I was ten years of age and was staying with my siblings and parents in one of those wooden huts along
Thean Teik Road, Penang. Everything was fine for a normal and an active or otherwise brave boy until the landlord died. Soon 18 days later my grandfather followed suit.
I have always slept soundly like a log. But after these deaths I would awakened in the wee hours of the morning, for three or four times a week. While everyone was in dreamland I would wake up to strange sounds coming from the living room. In the frightful darkness and lonely silence I would hear footsteps 'click-clack, click-clack', like sounds made by someone walking with leather shoes.Then I would hear drawers being opened and shut, and chairs being shuffled around. These eerie noises would continue for five minutes or so and then suddenly stopped. Followed soon will be the unmistakable sounds of a walking stick which my deceased granddad often used.
Amidst this confusion I would run to my parents' bed but they would assure me all is fine.
I suspect they heard it too but put up a brave front to comfort me.
Luckily a few months later this strange phenomenon stopped.
Today the vicinity where the hut was situated is no longer recognizable. Now the area is well developed with modern shops and houses.
Today it is a part of Bandar Baru Ayer Hitam.
Allan Tan, Kuala Lumpur
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