Tus Kuv Hlub Yav Tag Los/The Person that I Once Loved

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This happened to me back in 2012. I would like to share with you about this experience I had when I was riding the city bus late at night when I worked at the Minnesota Math and Science Academy as an Assistant. I would usually get off work at around 6:00 PM then walk over to my friend's place at an address near Jackson St. Now here's the interesting thing. His house was literally across the street from a cemetery known as "Oakland Cemetery". His living room window would literally be facing the cemetery. Gave me the creeps late at night. And when I had to walk to the bus stop that was on Jackson St and Cayuga at around 11:13 pm, I would still get the cold shivers. Luckily, nothing ever happened to me for a while till a couple weeks later. When I fell asleep at my friends house and forgot to set the alarm for myself 10 minutes before 11:13 PM. My friend woke me up at about 11:43 PM. I had missed my bus stop. The next bus stop didn't come till about 12:13 am. I quickly packed my personal belongings and ran to the bus stop with as much speed as I could. Thankfully I made it 5 minutes early. As the bus approached and opened its doors, I immediately walked up the three steps and keyed my Bus Pass as well as greeted the Bus Driver. I then walked all the way to the back of the bus where I sat down and eventually placed earbuds in my ear. I took a good glance all around the bus and did not see anyone else other than the bus driver and I. Before the bus driver could close the door, we both heard a shout from across the sidewalk of where the cemetery was on. We both saw what looks like a Hmong girl waving her hand at the distance and shouting something. I assumed she was trying to get on the bus. Luckily the bus driver stopped and re-opened the doors. The Hmong girl entered. I looked at the Hmong girl and noticed instantly that she had an older set of traditional Hmong clothes that looked like it was a set from Xieng Khuang, however she was not wearing a turban or hat on her head. I'm guessing she was Hmong Dawb (White). I carefully observed the designs on her clothes and noticed….a white pleated skirt. Her jacket was black and had yellow flower designs on it. She also had a xauv (necklace) on as well. She looked like she was between the ages of 18-24.

Upon her entering, I noticed she took out something from the inside of her black jacket. It looked like it was cash. She stuffed it into the machine and eventually came to sit down in the seat of the middle row. The bus driver closed the door and we then headed the next couple of stops at Jackson St and Rose Ave. The Hmong girl shouted in Hmong at the bus driver, "Tij laug, nres tsheb os!" The bus driver wasn't Hmong so I knew he didn't understand her. He kept driving til I shouted towards the front of the bus to stop the bus. He finally stopped the bus a block after the bus stop. He opened the door and shouted towards me, "Is this your bus stop--sir?!" He said it in an accent. I couldn't hear him clearly so I decided to walk up to the front of the bus and talk to him there.. I passed the Hmong girl whom I eventually took a closer glance towards her face. I was unable to see her whole face due to her bangs covering the majority of her face. But I still continued to talk with the bus driver at the front of the bus. I told him that it wasn't my bus stop. And that it was for the lady sitting in front of me. We both turned our heads toward the back of the bus and noticed that she wasn't sitting at her designated seat no more. Then we looked back at each other with shock in our eyes. At that moment, the bus driver told me to sit down quickly so we could continue to reach my bus stop. I quickly sat down and did not utter a single word. Do know that during this time--the bus that I was in did not have a secondary door to exit. So there was really now way she could've left unless…..she was a ghost. The bus driver quickly closed the door and stepped hard on the gas pedal. He kept driving and driving til I eventually told him to stop at my designated bus stop. Before I could leave, he asked if I could wait a bit while he counted his change from the machine dispenser. He told me that I was his last person for the night so he thought it'd be easier if I kept him company for a while as he counted his change because he felt uncomfortable. As he opened up the lock on the dispenser, we both noticed a large yellowish and gold colored sort of paper. I asked him if I could take a quick look at it. He nodded and handed it to me. I took a closer look at the paper and noticed that it was Joss paper. Joss paper is also known as spirit money to which family members or relatives would burn for the dead so the dead person could live a happy and fortunate life in the afterlife world. I froze for a good minute and quickly handed it back to the bus driver. I told him that the paper he was holding wasn't cash. It was money for the dead. He dropped it right away. He then quickly thanked me for staying late with him and informed me that I was good to go. I thanked him and quickly left the bus. I stood on the side of the sidewalk and watched the bus driver sped off at a distance. I turned around and walked the opposite direction. Upon me lifting my head, I saw a figure at a distance approaching me slowly. As I approached the figure, a cold wind suddenly flew past me---forcing me to rub my eyes so I could get rid of the dirt that went into it. As I opened my eyes again, the figure was no longer standing in front of me. I shook my head and continued walking. Approximately a couple minutes later before I reached my house, I turned my head to the opposite side of the street and saw the figure again. This time, I knew instantly that it was the Hmong girl from earlier in the bus. I shouted towards her the following, "Hey! Tus muam! Koj mus rau qhov twg lawm puas tag?"

The Hmong girl turned towards my direction and lifted up her face. She then gave me a quick stare with her tongue licking her lips all around then disappeared. I stood there for a good minute thinking about what the hell I just saw. I quickly ran as fast as I could back to my house.

That following night, I couldn't get the image of what I just saw out of my head. Until I finally fell asleep and dreamed about something interesting. I dreamt about a Hmong girl with beautiful and shining Hmong clothing. I was holding her hand across a field of grains that were ready to be picked. She had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. We went to the rivers to fill bamboo water containers and played in the water. Her warm fingers touched my cheeks and her head pressed against my chest. As we sat on rocks by the river, she said a few words to me…"Keeb, thaum twg wb mam tau los sib sau ua ib nkawm niam txiv os? Yog tsis muaj kuv lawm ces, koj puas yuav nco thiab hlub tshua txog kuv os". ("Keng, when will we join together to be a husband and wife? If there comes a day where I am no longer living, will you miss and love me like you always have?").

I immediately woke up that morning. I had sweat all over my neck. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was only 4:28 am in the morning. I couldn't go back to sleep. Upon the next couple of days, I continued having all sorts of dreams related to that girl in my dreams. I couldn't figure out who she was and why my name was Keng. Because my name obviously wasn't Keng. I eventually got very sick and lost my appetite in food. My Parents had sought assistance from a Shaman. After explaining to the shaman about my dreams, he told me that he was going to go to his altar back at home to speak with the spirits. After two days, the Shaman came back to our house.. He said, "Son, I have news for you. My spirits tell me that in your past life--Your name was once "Keng". However, your current name right now is "Ceeblooj" (Chenglong). The girl you saw in your dream was a girl you once loved by the name of "Hnub Ci" (Nouchee). You both loved each other dearly until one day, she passed away because of a rare disease. She claimed that she wanted you all to herself and will eventually persuade you to come back to her. Though you both didn't make a blood pledge, she apparently loved you too dearly to let you go on your own" I sat there at the table in shock. I don't really believe in shaman stuff but this story the shaman guy told me was phenomenal but yet sad. I wish I could do something for her so her soul could rest in peace.

I asked the Shaman what I should do next. The shaman told me that we would have to do a ritual ceremony where they would have to change my name to something else and would eventually have to call my spirit back or something like that. Ceremony took a while but after that event, I never saw the girls in my dreams any more after that. However I couldn't get over the fact that she was…"Tus Kuv Hlub Yav Tag Los/The Person that I Once Loved".

The End...