My family has a lot of stories attached, from the supernatural, paranormal, and so on.  We have tales of Gods and ghosts, spirits who scare or support us.  And the tales, they are all immediate.  These are the tales of my uncles, cousins, great-grandparents, not far-off ancestors who may not have been truthful.  I'll put them here... They're family stories as mch as ghost stories, so they may end up a little long winded.

This is the first one.

This happened to two of my uncles, on my mother's side.  Last time we went visiting, we actually took the same trip they did, although the path had moved somewhat, so we didn't pass by the actual site.  Uncle still shivers at the memory.

When my mother was growing up, she and her siblings and nearby cousins did a lot together.  They hung out in a group, did activities as a group, had excursions and feild trips, and generally behaved like best friends.  On this particular day, the lot of them had decided to go hiking, they wanted to see some of the caves that were reported to be within hiking distnce, in the nature preserve nearby.  So this day they hired a guide (the place was big enough, maps inaccurate enough, and dangers such as tigers or snakes present enough that every such expidition needed a guide) and went hiking.

According to mother, they were a wild bunch.  If there was a rock in the way, they had to climb over instead of going around.  If there was a ravine, they had to climb down it.  They acted like a bunch of monkeys, mom told me.  The guide figured this out pretty quickly, and he didn't want to take them to the caves, since he was sure they'd want to go exploring, and get lost, and there'd be trouble.  So he claimed he'd gotten a bit lost and wasn't sure where the caves were, and took them by another path instead, going to the river.  On the way there, they saw an elephant.  My uncle wanted the guide to shoot at it, but he refused.  It turned out to be one of a whole herd (so it was a good thing he didn't get them riled up).  But this meant that my uncle was sulking and lagging behind a bit the whole rest of the trip.

They had lunch at the falls, had a lot of fun.  There was a random person on the other side of the falls, who waved and danced about on the wet rocks, (no idea why).  This, of course, inspired them all to respond by waving and clowning around.  And after lunch they started back home.
(Finally, we're getting to the good part)

My uncle was lagging behind, since he was still a bit peeved about the elephant incident.  Another uncle of mine sort of lagged as well, to keep him company.  And they slowly got further and further behind until they couldn't see the guide or the group at all.  It was getting dark, too, (well, like a well-lit dusk) and of course they began to get a little nervous.  It was a releif to them when they saw an old man sitting a little bit away from the path, on a large rock.  He was facing the other way, dark-tanned like any farmer, with whitish-grey hair, dressed in a regular dhoti (simple basic garment) and he wasn't too far away, maybe ten yards?  (close enough to see clearly, far enough to not notice them arriving).  They assumed he was one of the local farmsteaders who lived near the reserve.

Since they were a bit nervous, my uncle decided to talk to him, just make sure they were on the right path.  He called out "Grandfather"(an accepted term of respect) but the old man didn't hear.  He walked a little closer, and called again slightly louder, and the old man started to turn twards them, looking back over his shoulder.  But before they could see even a glimpse of his face - he vanished.

My uncles stood in shock a moment, he was just suddenly not there any more.  Then they turned and ran, and the next thing they knew they were at the begining of the path, having caught up to the rest of the group, covered in sweat and terrified, without even the memory of their panicked flight.  They were too afraid to even begin to explain to their still-exuberant cousins, until they were all safe at home.

Yeah, it is. . .
I wonder if somewhere else in space and time, there's an old farmer whose decendants tell the story of oddly dressed two teenage boy's ghosts, who called him and vanished before he could turn around and see their faces...

After all, it could have worked both ways!

Exactly, Black Rose.  It could happen. . .



OK, Ghost story the second.

Be Careful What You Wish For 
              (or  The Gods Walk Among Us)

This happened to my mother's older brother, when they were younger.  And it (kinda) happened because of Mom, as well! 

Uncle was always very religious.  He always liked to attend the poojas, the religious ceremonies that took place at people's houses, if it was at all possible.  On this particular day, there was a pooja going on in my great-grandparents house (mom and her sibs lived with their grandparents, not parents.)  There was also a performance day at the school, some students put on skits, ar did songs, or danced, and that was going on overapping the time of the pooja.  Uncle would have rather gone to the pooja, but Mom was dancing and he wanted to see her performance first.  However, he was planning to then skip the other acts, so he could get to the house on time.

So, he watched Mom dance, and then he went to walk home.  Now, Uncle had always been afraid of the dark, since he was little.  And because he was going home early, he would be walking alone.  He grew more and more nervous as the light shaded towards dusk, and he was very relieved to see there was a man with a torch who was walking in the same direction.  He hailed the man, and upon explaining he wanted to go home for the pooja, the man suggested they walk together for a while, since they were going the same direction.

So they walked together a while, and made some small talk, until they came to a path and saw walking along it a larger group that was headed for the pooja at his house.  The man said that my uncle could go finish the journey with them, since they were going to the same destination.  So he escorted my uncle near the group, and my uncle went and intercepted them.

They were very surprised to see him, and asked if he hadn't been afraid coming all the way from the school alone.  He said that he'd gotten a little nervous, but he hadn't had to come alone, he'd walked with this other traveler.  And he turned to point out the man he'd traveled with.

There was no one there.  And understand, the area was grassy plains - it was quite flat.  There was no place to hide, or conceal someone, not for a far distance away, and especially not someone with a light.  My uncle was shocked by this, and he turned back around and asked if they hadn't seen the man when they'd intercepted the group, they'd been only a couple yards distant from their pool of light when he'd left to join them.  They told him that he'd arrived out of the darkness, and they hadn't seen a torch or any kind of light for a long time.

That REALLY freaked my uncle out, he walked the wole rest of the way home in the very middle of the group, firmly in the torchlight.  When he got home, he related the whole thing to his aja (grandfather).  What he said was that since my uncle was being pious, and had stayed to support his sister and was going in order to attend the pooja, Someone must have approved and guided him so he wouldn't be afraid.

To this day, my uncle does two jappas (prayers, mini-services) a day, to make sure he keeps the Gods pleased with him.