Scary Ghost A Hilarious True Story

This is a true rare story of a Scary Ghost, that turned out to be a rare hilarious story, which happened sometime in 1987. I had just joined the Navy as cadet and we had come to this base for doing a mandatory course. I had arrived early morning by a train. I went straight to the Officer's mess. There was already a few cadets standing in line to get a cabin to stay for the one month course. I recognized the cadets by their mess tin haircut. I too silently joined the line.

I asked the guy standing ahead, "Hi, is this line for cabin allotment?"

He replied, "Yes Pal. By the way, they are allotting each cabin to two cadets. It is so frustrating. One year later we going to be Officers in the Navy. And is this how they treat us?"

I said, "Friend, we were just cadets and can not demand anything. Don't worry. Once we become Officers, we will get single cabins."

He thought for a while and said, "You know, the guys who walked off just now had refused to accept the keys to cabin no 129. They took cabin 130."

I asked, "Any problem with that cabin?"

He said, "I don't know. I just hope, we don't get that allotted to us."

As he said that the two guys standing in front of my friend also refused to accept the keys to cabin 129. Then came our turn and we were allotted the keys to cabin 129.

My friend started an argument with the Mess Quarter Master who was allotting the cabin, "Hey pal, come on, you can't do this to us. We don't want that cabin. Give us Cabin no 132 please."

The Quarter Master said, "May I ask why, Sir?"

My friend had not answer to that. He had no idea why the previous four cadets had refused to accept that cabin and kept looking at him with a blank expression. I named my new friend and to be cabin mate as Pal, because all his talk starts with the word Pal.

Pal said, "See four cadets have already refused the cabin right in front of my own eyes. Why should we take a cabin rejected by four cadets in a row? You can't do this to us."

The Quarter Master who was already frustrated, ignored my friend's plea and threats. He was adamant and allotted Cabin 129 to the two of us. I picked up the key and started walking towards the cabin about 200 meters from the Mess.

My friend Pal was still standing there and argued to get another cabin allotted. I reached 129, opened the cabin and placed my steel trunk which was my only luggage. And behind me entered my friend fretting and fuming after a losing a verbal battle with the Mess Quarter Master.

Pal said as if he was talking to himself, "That sailor doesn't know anything. When I become an Officer a year from now, I vow, I will take revenge on him. I will demote him in rank. Then I will make his life hell. Then I will ..."

I cut him short and said, "Hey Pal, what are you saying man. That guy was just doing his job he has been entrusted by the Mess Secretary. Don't worry. We will go to the Mess Secretary tomorrow and get our cabin changed, if you are so uncomfortable. OK, calm down now."

The cabin had a small room at the enterance and large bed room without a door leading to it, but just separated by a large curtain as high as the false ceiling. The bath room was attached to the bed room.

He said to me, "Pal, I am going to stay in the bed room, you take the small room. I need undisturbed sleep."

Over the next few days, we forgot about that incident. The course was tough and we had to study a lot. We slept late every night.

The True Ghost Story

Four days later, the Mess Secretary was sitting opposite to Pal and I, in his Officers Mess Office. My friend was fully excited and tried to bring up the request for change of cabin. The Mess Secretary seems to have read our thoughts before my friend could muster enough courage to ask him.

The Mess Secretary asked, "I presume you both are very daring guys.?

I said, "Why do you say so, Sir?"

Senior Officer, "You guys are not scared of Ghosts? Everyone who was allotted that cabin 129 in the past, has seen the ghost in the bed room exactly at midnight hanging from the ceiling fan in white naval uniform, the very first night and came to me asking for a change of cabin next morning. You didn't come even after staying in it for four nights."

Pal was curious to know and said, "What Ghost, Sir?"

Mess Secretary, "Forget it. I didn't say anything."

My friend insisted, "Sir, please tell us. We stay in that cabin and we have to know if there is something wrong with the cabin."

The Mess Secretary smiled at us and started, "I have been telling cadets there is nothing called ghost. These cadets are all a scared bunch of idiots. You two are the most daring Cadets I have ever come across."

He continued, "This happened over two decades ago. There was a young cadet who hung himself from the ceiling fan in the bed room in your cabin, and committed suicide at midnight. He was found hanging in his naval uniform the next morning by the Civilian Bearer who worked for him.

Since then, people who stayed there has seen this Cadet in that bedroom at night when they wake up from sleep to relieve themself. I am not sure it this is a true story, but have heard this from many people. After a few sightings of the ghost in uniform, people started refusing that cabin and it was kept locked up."

I said, "Sir someone told me it was a Commander who committed suicide in our cabin and not a Cadet."

The Mess Secretary said, "Oh, that. His course mates are Commanders by now. So they see this cadet also in a Commanders shining white uniform at night. For two decades or so, the Mess had to keep the cabin locked up without maintenance after this ghost troubled a few cadets."

The Mess Secretary continued after a short pause, "Last week we had a Mess meeting where we decided to start allotting that cabin again to cadets since it has been locked up for over two decade now. We have got its maintenance done. We have replaced the fan that cadet had used to hang himself. We actually buried the fan with full religious honor, calling a priest. We hope his soul has finally been released from the confinement of that cabin. Probably that is why you both didn't see his ghost at night."

I was relieved to hear that last two lines and said, "Thank you Sir, for informing us about all the details."

But, when I looked at Pal, I knew my friend was perturbed and surely, it was written all over his face. We finished our lunch in silence after hearing all that and left for our cabin. For the next three nights, Pal won't sleep off early as he does. He keeps talking to me till past midnight probably to ensure that I am still in the big bed room across the curtains.

The Ghost Appears Live

It was the first Sunday since we had arrived. After lunch, I and Pal came back to our cabin as there was nothing to do. We were too tired basically due to our late night study for the past six days.

My friend said, "Pal, I am going to doze off for half an hour. Do wake me up when the civilian bearer gets the evening tea."

He started snoring even before he completed that sentence. I didn't disturb him, because every night he stays awake till well past midnight to ensure the ghost does not return and only then would he sleep off.

I too lay on the bed with a novel in my hand to take my brain off the load of studies for a while. About 20 minutes later, there stood my friend shaking like a tuning fork, unable to speak. My pal actually startled me too. He was trying to say something. But, I could not hear anything except some muffled whispering voice. He looked terrified.

I said, "What happened to you, Pal?"

He pointed towards the bedroom where he was sleeping. I could neither see through the thick curtain nor could I understand what he was trying to tell me. But, I could make out that, there was something there, beyond the curtain, that has scared him half to death and took away his ability even to talk.

I said, "You wait here, let me see what is in there."

I drew the curtain aside and went into the bedroom. My friend's bed was right under the ceiling fan. My first intuition was that he must have seen the ghost hanging from the fan because we have heard the ghost story just three days ago. My intuition about seeing the ghost became even stronger when I saw that there was a trail of blood all around Pal's bed.

Now, fear started gripping me too. But, I had to act brave in front of my friend, who saw my face change. Pal ran out of the room and started looking through the window at me, standing on the road outside.

I went around his bed. There was a clear thick blood trail running all around the bed. It seemed to have come from the bathroom and returned back to the bath room.

I hesitated for a moment. But, for my terrified friend, I had to do this brave act. I looked through the window, managed to give him a smile concealing my fears, and started following the blood trail into the bathroom reluctantly. I was in for a big surprise a second time.

There lay the Ghost almost dead, which had terrified my friend. The ghost turned out to be a Pigeon. It had a small metal arrow in one of its wings and was still bleeding profusely. It made no effort to get away from me as I picked it up holding its legs.

I had seen some small boys that afternoon, playing with a crude bow and arrow and were trying to shoot down Pigeons, when we were coming back after having lunch. I picked up the Ghost, and brough it out of the cabin to show to my friend. By that time our civilian bearer had arrived with evening tea.

Pal was not trembling any more. He looked as if nothing had happened. He was now fully awake and back to his normal self.

Pal thundered to the civilian bearer, like a brave King who has just killed the enemy king, "Go and clean up the blood in my bedroom."

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