Spooky

There are two things that are hard to hit and see: that’s a spooky ghost and Muhammed Ali. ~Muhammed Ali

As a child, I was afraid of the dark too. To be precise, I was afraid of what MIGHT BE in the dark. Thus, I can fully understand what my kids are going through when they display similar symptoms towards the unknown. I was prepared to be fully supportive and even thought of ways to alleviate their fears in time to come. However, it’s always easier said than done.

I used to think that the easiest way out is just to declare that there is NO SUCH THING as ghosts or monsters. But somehow, I feel that I was being dishonest. To me, I believe in the possibilities of all things. As a firm believer of telling the truth and nothing but the truth, I decided to take on the lond meandering route. I tried to explain the concepts of paranormals; the chance of meeting one is as slim as striking the first prize in TOTO; not to let the unknown scare us silly; and the sightings from their friends may be delusions. But after the long and tiring sermon, I only managed to convince them one thing: “Ghosts do exist!”

I began to worship the slogan “Silence Is Gold”. Whenever they asked me about the supernatural, I’ll either turn a deaf ear or retorted with “What do you think?” Surprisingly, the older ones will attempt to counsel the younger one with whatever I had tried explaining to them before. Though they didn’t get all the facts right, I didn’t try to correct them either. Remember, Silence Is Gold.

Amazingly, Rachel outgrew her fear as she matured and takes an interest to all kinds of horror tales either in print or telecast. Mervin is still the faint-hearted but had the common sense to avoid anything that could startle him. It took us days to convince him that Harry Potter movie isn’t a horror flick. Angel is afraid of almost anything gory. Sometimes she’ll decide to put on a brave front and regret later. Other times, she’ll try to avoid the whole thing altogether. She used to watch an enactment of a murder on Crime Watch while staying over at her grandparent’s house. After the show, she called me tearfully to request me to bring her home.

Last Wednesday night, Rachel requested to watch “Incredible Tales” on TCS 5 with Angel. Confusing “Incredible Tales”, which showcase alleged real ghost stories happened in Singapore, with “The Incredibles”, which is a cartoon of a family of superheroes, Angel happily obliged.

The aftermath is something I expected. Although she managed to hide under the blanket and cover her ears for 99.9% of the show, after she realized she'd been duped, she was still deeply affected.

Rachel hit the pillow soon after the show ended and drifted off effortlessly. Meanwhile, Angel was turning and tossing in the bed and looking around her nervously.

“Mummy, aren’t you coming to bed yet?”

“I’ve yet to finish working on my stuffs on my computer, dear.”

After ten seconds, during which she was dutifully turning and tossing and glancing around in my bed, she blurted again,

“Mummy, are you done yet?”

“No, dear. Why?”

“Well, I don’t want you to work too long on the computer. You may spoil your eyes.”

I cast her a sidelong glance and gave in.

“Alright, dear. Give me a few minutes to wash up and I’ll come to bed with you.”

I switched off my computer and headed to my washroom. Angel immediately sprang from the bed and followed behind me closely. Her eyes darted nervously behind her and she decided to walk with her back sticking to the wall.

“What are you doing?” I ogled at her and asked while spitting out toothpaste.

“I’m scared there may be something behind me,” she whimpered.

I nearly choked on the toothpaste in my mouth.

Angel finally fell asleep with my protective arms around her. I followed soon after, not before casting a fleeting look behind me as my heavy lids finally gave in.