The Strange Cemetery Behind Where I Used to Go to School
Behind my old high school, on top of a small hill, there is an empty cemetery. I used to be able to see the marble tombstones through the window of my classroom. They were just visible through the weeds and tree roots. There were different stories about where the cemetery came from. Some said it was a mass grave for Japanese soldiers who died during the war, others said it was built during British rule, and some even said they had seen tombstones from the Ming Dynasty.
Even though the graveyard is mysterious, it was thought to be empty for a long time. The graves hadn't been cared for in years, and on Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Form Six students who were finishing would clean up the graveyard, which had become too wild. For some reason, students would sometimes go to the graveyard to study, enjoying the peace and quiet and the plenty of shade from the old trees.
Some people thought that the cemetery's position was lucky, but others didn't believe or care about the mysterious story surrounding it. Four days ago, though, everything changed when a funeral parade walked through our classes, followed by the sad sounds of gongs and suonas from up on the hill.
Talk about the funeral could be heard as we met outside of class. Some people said the box looked smaller than normal, and they said it was for a child. Just because we were interested, we went to the cemetery.
White joss paper was all over the area, making it easy to find the new tomb. The strong smell of incense stayed in the air for a long time after the burial was over. As a sign of respect, we lit joss sticks and said prayers and made gifts. While we waited for our sticks to catch fire, we looked at the tombstone. The gravestone was made of smooth granite and read, "Here lies Soh Wen Shin, female, eighteen years and four lunar months old." There were, however, no dates of birth or death, and something strange was written below her name.
I couldn't help but wonder about the history of Soh Wen Shin and the other graves in the cemetery as I thought about the strange writing. This showed us that even ordinary places can have history and secrets hidden inside them.
I wasn't brave enough to look at the gravestone directly, so I asked him if he could read it.
"Well, let's see..."Kim frowned as he leaned in to look at the people. "Her family is sorry that their daughter died before her time..."May the Jade Emperor (Yudi) forgive her sins and the King of Hades (Tai Su Yeah) recognise her good deeds. Then the Black and White Impermanence (Heibai Wuchang) will set her free."
Another student said, "Wow, that's kind of creepy," and other students agreed with quiet looks.
"Wait, doesn't that mean she did it?" The girl whispered to her friend in worry.
"Shh! "Don't say that in front of the dead..."
There was some tension in the air, and most of our group looked uncomfortable as they quickly finished their prayers and left. When I was done putting my joss stick on the tomb, I turned around to askKim if he was ready to go, but he was still looking at the stone with his joss stick in his hand. This confused me.
Say, "What's wrong?" I gave him a light poke in the ribs and joked, "Are you really daydreaming here right now?"
He didn't move or respond right away. It wasn't until I waved my hand in front of his wide eyes that he blinked and stumbled away from me, looking shocked.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked because I was getting worried about his strange actions. "Why did you just stand there and stare at the grave?"
"I-I was just looking at her portrait,"Kim said under his breath, shaking his head as if he wanted to clear his thoughts. "That smile...She looked like she was at me..."Sorry, don't pay attention to what I just said."
Even though I looked at him funny,Kim had already walked past me on his way to the tomb.
A girl gave him her lighter and said, "Here, you can use mine." The flint wheel started to flicker as he messed with it, but every time he tried to light his joss stick, the flame went out quickly for some reason.
"Oh, I see. It must have dry out." I'm going to get you another one..." The girl stole another lighter and gave it to him. But, just like the first one, it suddenly stopped working after working perfectly moment before.
Kim looked blankly at the tombstone very close to his eyes and said, "It's okay. I'll just pray without the joss stick."
He said his prayer, and then everyone went down the hill and quickly came back to class. I still couldn't get rid of the weird feeling I had aboutKim, but when I talked to him again after school, he laughed it off like he didn't understand, so I didn't think much of it either.
Kim was late for school the next day, which was something he had never done before. Our teacher, Mr. Wei, was worried and asked him if he had slept in the morning by mistake.
I whispered, "No, sir," andKim gently massaged his shoulders. "All of a sudden, I had terrible back
pain on my way to school, so I had to stop and rest several times to get better."
I asked Mr. Wei quickly if he wanted to go to the hospital instead to report sick, but he shook his head and walked over to his place, which was one row ahead of mine.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" I said it in a whisper as he sighed heavily and sat down.
Kim turned his head around very, very slowly and then gave me what looked like a smile to sure me. Still, the intense dark rings around his glazed eyes were very scary to look at.
"It's not important." "All I had trouble with last night was not getting enough sleep," he said. "Didn't you agree that last night was also very hot and stuffy?"
I blinked because I had no words to say. "Do you know that there was a storm last night? To stay warm, I had to use a blanket...
The Graveyard: An Unsettling Meeting
I didn't look at the gravestone directly, so I asked Kim if she could read what was written on it. He leaned in close and looked at the people.
"Her family is sorry that their daughter died before her time..."May the Jade Emperor (Yudi) forgive her sins and the King of Hades (Tai Su Yeah) recognise her good deeds. Then the Black and White Impermanence (Heibai Wuchang) will set her free."
Someone in the class said, "Creepy," and other students agreed. "Doesn't that mean she did it?" a girl asked her friend in a whisper.
Things got tense, so the group finished their prayers quickly and left. When I askedKim if he was ready to go, he looked at the gravestone with his Josef-stick still not lit. He suddenly stumbled away from me, his eyes fixed on the painting and the girl's smile.
A girl handed him her lighter and said, "Here, you can use mine." The light wouldn't stay on, though.
We all left after Kim prayed without the joss stick.
Kim was late to school the next day because he was in a lot of pain in his back. It was cloudy and dark around his eyes. He told me he hadn't slept well because it was too hot when I asked if he was okay. However, there was a storm the night before. What was going on with Kim?
