It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...

 

(WARNING: READ ONLY DURING THE DAY)

After my brief posting in Kuching, Sarawak in 1996, I was relocated to Miri as a magistrate. It was done rather quickly, so I never really had the time to make accommodation arrangements etc. But when I arrived in Miri, I was told by the senior magistrate that I could stay with him. Apparently, he was given permission to stay at the Judge's Mansion along with a clerk and his wife, cos for some reason, the judge didn't want to stay there. 

So during lunch time, he drove me from the courthouse in town to the place somewhere in Tanjung Lobang (picture). It was a beautiful drive as it was along the coast. Then we turned into the area which had a small one lane road, and I could see all these huge government quarters there as well. 

Our place was almost to the end on top of the cliff, and you could actually hear the sound of the waves of the South China Sea from there. It was actually a big half wooden, half brick house with a "kolong" underneath. I was impressed, although it had not been kept well by the current occupants : /

At that time, I really thought: "Damn, I've made it. Never thought I'd be living in a place like this with the sea nearby and everything." 

But when night came, it suddenly felt very "different". The surrounding area was really dark, and the only lights came from the other houses nearby. Immediately I thought: "Oh man, I sure wouldn't want to stay here alone."

To cut a long story short, after a few days, I knew there was something really wrong with the place. And although the senior magistrate and clerk avoided my questions in the beginning, they finally admitted that the house was actually... haunted. 

They've bumped into creatures before (especially in the kitchen) and once, they even fired mercun at a pontianak "hanging around" by this very big tree behind the house. But they said that most of the time, they just made "donno" lah.

Of course I immediately made plans to move out to my own place. BUT before I could, the long Gawai holiday came and everyone balik kampung, leaving me alone in the house. 

On the first night, I told myself I'll just make donno and chill out. I remember sitting on the sofa watching TV and I felt like someone was standing behind me, watching ME. I read whatever surah I could, but it just got creepier.

THEN... (I swear I'm not making this up), a storm came, complete with the obligatory thunder and lightning. That was my cue to get the hell out of the house.

I changed my clothes, grabbed the senior magistrate's car keys (he left it for me to use), and went down to the car. We also had cats, and they were running helter skelter as the storm became fiercer.

I got into the car and turned the key, but (and I swear I'm not making this up too)... the car COULD NOT START. By this time, I felt a presence near me. My hands menggigil and all, I opened the hood of the old (yellow) Toyota Corrolla, and jiggled a few wires, and ran back into the car. 

I closed my eyes, said Bismillah, and turned the key again. This time the car started. I reversed it, and drove out as fast as I could.

I spent the night driving around town and eventually slept in the car. The next day I checked in to a motel and only returned when the holidays were over.

A few weeks later, I moved out after finding a place at Taman Bumiko, and the senior magistrate followed me as well. So that was that. But every Gawai holiday, that dark and stormy night would be the first thing I think about...