One day normal as usual,
exhausting classes, blithering teachers, gossiping with friends, Elliot
and Joseph were tired of all these invariable things. While chattering,
they decided to do something different after these tiring classes today
to get some thorough relaxation. Therefore, no sooner than the bell
rang did they grab the keys in hand and rush out of the classroom for
they couldn』t wait to release themselves from the pressure these days.
Riding their motorcycles, they never stopped singing, playing, laughing
until they noticed that they had lost their way. It was a deserted
barracks surrounded by a series of chilling cemeteries where they
stopped. It was eight thirty in the evening, and it was dark then.
Looking around for several seconds, they knew it seemed kind of weird.
With intense fear, they still pushed forward the door and moved softly
and quietly inside. After looking around, there was nothing but some
discarded things, except kind of too gloomy there. 「See, there is
nothing worthy of being afraid of, so what』s going on with your terrible
face? Hey, I am hungry. Go get something to eat, ok?」 Joseph said
and laughed out loud scornfully toward Elliot. Elliot was so sacred
that he could squeeze out not even a word. 「All right. You are scared
to death now, so let』s do something to release your tension, ok?
Listen, it is said that the phantom loves the scent of cigarettes the
most, so let』s light up some cigarettes to show them how respectful we
are,」 said Joseph. After saying that, he took out the cigarette and
lighter and lit it up with a contemptuous smile. Holding the cigarette
in hand, Joseph shouted aggressively while walking around the barracks:
「come on out, you guys. I know you like this, and never worry that I』ll
be scared because I am not a kid who would be easily scared to death.
So just come out and let me see how funny you are.」
At this moment, suddenly, the cigarette in his hand started to burn
quickly, as if it was being smoked hurriedly. They were both so scared
that Joseph could not even hold the cigarette in hand anymore because
they could see nobody near the cigarette at all. They looked at each
other and tried their best not to notice the cigarette on the ground.
But when they wanted to pick it up and looked for it everywhere, they
found that it was gone. 「What? Did you take it?」 they asked each other
nervously for they could not find it anymore. They knew that it was not
normal. After giving each other a look, they knew that all they wanted
to do was to take the keys, ride on the motorbike and never look back.
But what』s most thrilling was that they couldn』t find their keys, which
were in their pants right after they jumped down their motorcycles.
Not knowing what to do, they fell into a serious panic. It was quite
clear in their mind that all they could do was negotiate with the
phantoms they had just made fun of, despite the great fearfulness in
their hearts. Therefore, they tried their best to settle down, repress
the strong feeling in their hearts, and depleted all the courage to
communicate with the invisible phantoms around them.
「I suppose that you』d be quite angry now. And…I』d like to apologize for
my impoliteness, and I sincerely beg your forgiveness, please. Well,
I『d also like to ask you about the cigarette. Do you have any slightest
idea where it is now?」 Joseph said. They stayed silent for several
seconds waiting for the answer. They felt torn. They hoped that
somebody would respond to their doubt, but, at the same time, they were
afraid that if some voice came out, it would mean that there were real
phantoms. At this moment, they heard something drop on the ground, yet
they could not step out to see what was going on. They couldn』t help
shivering, instead. Several seconds later, they went out to see what
had happened. At that moment, they couldn』t believe their eyes. They
saw that cigarette, which was still burning, along with the keys they
had been looking for lying silently on the ground beside a mirror. They
could remember that they didn』t take their keys out, but how come the
keys suddenly appeared on the ground like this, let alone the cigarette
they had been looking for for such a long time. Grabbing the keys in
hand, they ran in the direction of their motorcycles right away, for
they knew that they could not stay there for one second more. On the
way home, they could say nothing at all, and there was only one thing in
their minds, which was never mention or even recollect what had happened
today.
There are many things that we can never find an answer for, just like
many mysteries in this short story. But what』s more important was not
the answer to these questions but the attitude we hold when facing
mysterious powers, such as the so-called phantoms or whatever. As far
as I am concerned, a respectful attitude may usually protect us from
dangerous situations, such as Joseph』s. If he could hold a more
respectful attitude toward those invisible powers at that time, perhaps
things would be much more simple and much less dangerous.