The Woman in a Kimono A few nights ago, while driving with a friend on a country road, we saw an old woman in a kimono crouching down and clinging to something by the side of the road. My friend seemed to have noticed her too, and muttered something like, "I wonder if that old lady is okay." Since cars rarely passed by through there, I thought it might be dangerous if she was having a seizure or something, so we decided to turn around and check on her.
When we got back to the spot, the old woman was gone. Instead, whatever she had been hugging was covered with a ragged, cloth-like rag. At first, I didn't know what it was, but my friend said, "That's... the old lady's clothes, isn't it?" Now that he mentioned it, it really did look like it, but no matter how you think about it, clothes couldn't get that tattered in such a short time. Above all, since the old woman was nowhere to be seen, it didn't make sense for her to take off her clothes and vanish.
Feeling eerie, I pulled the kimono away, and underneath was a rather large Jizo statue. The moment we saw it, both of us let out a scream and bolted back to the car. Inside the car, the only things we said to each other were: "That was an old lady, right?" "Yeah." "She was hugging a Jizo, right?" "Yeah." What on earth was that?
My Mother's Pregnancy This is something my mother experienced, rather than myself. When she was four months pregnant, she suffered a threatened miscarriage. Both her life and the baby's were in danger, and she apparently had to be hospitalized for a month. Having suffered a previous miscarriage, my mother was terrified that this child would share the same fate.
Then, a little boy—she had no idea who he was visiting—came up to her and said, "It's okay." He told her, "That child is strong, so it'll be fine."
I was born safely and, although a bit small, grew up healthy. Around the time I started learning to speak, I apparently told my mother this: "Nii-ni patted me, so it wasn't scary in the dark-dark anymore."
My mother intuitively felt that this boy must have been the child she miscarried before. As she cried her eyes out and held me tight, I reportedly said: "So, boys are okay in the dark-dark too! I have a big sister, you know." When she asked, "A boy? Where?" I answered, "I can hear another thump-thump from my tummy. It's a boy."
She went to the hospital even though she had no pregnancy symptoms, and was told she was two months pregnant. My younger brother was a handful when he was little with his atopic dermatitis and asthma, but now he's a fine VIPPER.
Licca-chan This might not be scary at all, but it's a strange story. When I was in the first grade of elementary school, while my older sister was out, I secretly played with her Licca-chan doll. I was playing under the kotatsu and started feeling sleepy, so I fell asleep hugging the Licca-chan doll.
A while later, my sister shook me awake and got angry, telling me to give her Licca-chan back. When I lifted the kotatsu futon to return it, the Licca-chan doll was gone. That day, my sister got extremely angry at me, and my little self cried. In the end, we couldn't find the Licca-chan anywhere in the house.
About two years ago, while organizing the closet, I found a Licca-chan with a shaved head and her face painted black with a magic marker. Honestly, it was terrifying!!
That Licca-chan doll looks just like a burn victim. Better watch out for fires.
Electron Microscope Observation I work at a research laboratory for a certain manufacturer. Two people have committed suicide in the building where my lab is located. It's not a pleasant memory to recall when walking home late at night. And the short story I am about to tell happened on one of those late nights.
One of my duties is observing samples with an electron microscope. We direct an electron beam at the surface of a sample to observe its morphology. However, when the target is organic matter, raising the magnification often causes the sample to deform and shrink almost before your eyes due to the energy of the beam.
At that time, what I was looking at was a circular object less than 1 micrometer in diameter, presumed to be organic matter attached to a substrate. The moment I magnified it to take a closer look, the attached object began to deform and started to reveal a human face. Hollow, hole-like eyes, a nose, and a slightly open mouth. Before my very eyes, the mouth opened wide, and even a neatly aligned row of teeth became visible inside. The face took on a terrifying, death-throes-like expression... And about 5 seconds later, it turned back into a mere smudge on the substrate.
It was a 5 seconds that felt both short and long. I was frozen in place for a while, but I had no intention of continuing my work. In a panic, I packed up my belongings, shut down the equipment, and started on my way home.
Yondorittuwan Sometimes my job takes me to a nursing home for the elderly. There is a floor there that houses severely demented seniors, a quite noisy floor where people shout and cry.
While I was having a meeting with a care worker there, an old man sitting right next to us suddenly said, "Yondorittuwan!" I was stunned. "Yondorittuwan" That was a word my younger brother and I used to make up when we danced around goofily as kids. The word had no meaning whatsoever, and I should have been the one who thought of it. The only ones who knew that word were me and my brother. My little brother, being so young back then, might have even forgotten it. It's embarrassing, but we only did that, laughing hysterically and dancing around like crazy, when it was just the two of us.
The old man stared intently at my face, lifted his hands, and as if dancing, shouted, "Yondorittuwan!" Could this really be a coincidence?
The Colors Are Always Different A story that isn't scary at all and makes everyone laugh when I tell it.
About five years ago, in winter, I found myself thinking that I wanted a pair of gloves with fluffy faux fur, preferably in black. I hadn't mentioned this to anyone in particular.
One morning, when I was about to leave for work, sitting right on top of the washing machine at the entrance of the apartment where I lived alone, was a pair of gloves with fluffy faux fur. However, instead of the black I had hoped for, they were navy blue, so I hardly ever wore them.
Later on, I found myself thinking I wanted a beige mohair cardigan. A few days later, a cardigan was sitting on top of the washing machine again. Once more, the shape was just what I wanted, but the color wasn't beige; it was close to brown.
Since my apartment was right next to a shrine, I told my friends at a drinking party, "Maybe a god gave these to me as a present?" But they just laughed it off with, "That's definitely a stalker, haha," and nobody took me seriously.
Still, even if it were a god, that god seems a little red-green colorblind... The colors are always just slightly off.
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