Mother's whisper

"The whispers of the spirits calling out as the sky is about to change its color to the black of night. Sometimes their haunting cries send shivers down the spine, and at times, they play with our emotions by mimicking human sounds. Why do they do it like that?"

"Have you ever heard stories like that? Childhood is a vulnerable time, easily influenced and susceptible to the lure of danger, even to the point of death."

"In the eerie darkness of the early morning, ominous clouds loomed as if hinting at an impending downpour. Glancing around, I saw houses adorned in red, with red roofs leaking a crimson hue. The old houses, facing a wide road lined with large trees on the right, looked intimidating as the dawn approached, even though it was still early morning.

During my childhood, I was very attached to my mother. In the red-roofed house next door, there were two sons, my age separated from my elder brother by three years. I must have been around 5 or 6 at that time. One day, when both my parents were away, and on the same day when something mysterious was about to unfold, I was at home playing with my younger brother. At that age, it was difficult to distinguish between people!

On that day, I was with my elder brother.

"The sound of the television was loud."

The sound of the television echoed from the living room around 6:30 AM, a time reserved for Saturday mornings, a day off for kids before school starts. I had just woken up and headed to the living room to watch TV with my elder brother, who always woke up before me, simply to avoid me hogging the remote control. We had different preferences for TV channels."

"Zed, Zed." The sound of the television was loud.

The TV at home was an old one with static sometimes disrupting our movie or cartoon watching, adding a sense of irritation. Mostly, we tuned in to channel 7 for its classic, ancient dramas, followed by the 9 AM cartoon slot. Watching TV had its peculiar moments.

"Tab."

The lights flickered and flashed, a common occurrence at our house. The lights sometimes flickered, especially in the early morning, attracting various insects from around the house. During these moments, the flickering lights revealed their nests distinctly. It was a quiet morning, oddly unsettling. Strangely, there was no call from my mother for breakfast, although my brother and I walked to the kitchen to find our meals prepared for the day.

"Poom"

My mother's voice called me to wear a white shirt and come to her with open arms. However, the woman seemed different, not my mother at all, and she smiled strangely, reminiscent of a demon in a horror movie.

The final call made me wake up as it was terrifying, and I struggled out of my mother's embrace.

"Fan bpai her nea."

I unintentionally slept for 1-2 hours, dreaming about my mother because I missed her, and the dream was likely influenced by watching movies. My mother's voice woke me up, looking frightening in a horror movie style, similar to a psychotic person ready to stab us with a knife or suffocate us with a tight hug—whatever came to mind. However, it wasn't a big deal as I knew it was just a dream.

But deep down, my fragile soul was being tested by something, and there was an insidious temptation in my thoughts about my mother. I didn't know where she had gone. After playing with my brother for a while, I heard something I wanted to hear from the dream that echoed in the real world: "Mother's voice."

Around 5:30 PM, I played in front of the house because my brother, who competed with me for computer games (we had only one computer at home), kept me out. I slowly scooped up some dirt to play with our first dog, Jojom. While playing under the Ratchaphruek tree in front of the house, which was blossoming beautiful yellow flowers, the wind picked up. The strong wind blew the yellow flowers all over the house and the street, turning them into a marigold carpet for Jojom and me to play on. I felt like someone was watching me. I sensed something during that time, and then the wind came with an odd sound."

"Poo...." A sound like the wind passing through the air.

"Poom..."

I lifted my head but didn't respond. I looked left and right to see who was calling.

"Fewww".... The sound of the wind blowing

I heard a faint sound, almost not audible. It felt like someone was calling, or maybe whispering more than anything. I sensed it, and that feeling transformed into a calling sound. The sound became clearer. Initially unsure who was calling, it seemed like the voice of an elderly man, around 45 years old, before gradually adjusting to a female voice. The sound became louder and clearer when I focused and directed my attention, and it was aimed at me. I became sure that someone was calling me, and the calling sound transformed back into the familiar voice of my mother that we usually heard. I didn't hesitate to respond.

"Mom, where are you?" The sound of my mother's voice echoed repeatedly, getting louder and louder until it felt like she was whispering directly into my ear.

In that moment, overwhelmed by thoughts of missing her, I searched throughout the house but couldn't find her. The voice continued to resonate in my ears. I was desperately trying to trace the origin of the sound, which seemed to be coming from the busy street outside with fast-moving traffic.

In that split second, the voice of my mother became clear, echoing from the middle of the road, inviting me to come to that spot. "Come find me, my child. I'm here," she called.

"Come to me quickly!"

With the confidence that my mother was on the road or perhaps playing a hide-and-seek game with me, fueled by my childlike imagination, I rushed towards the center of the road, shouting for my mother.

"Where are you, Mom?"

"Mom, where are you?"

But her voice disappeared, and there was no response. The surrounding atmosphere became silent, as if I was in a vacuum, not hearing any sound, resembling another world where no voices existed. I shouted for anyone, but there was no one to respond, not even when I called for my older brother to help find our mother. He didn't hear me. It felt like our voices were muted, and our bodies froze, as if under a spell or what we call in our local language, 'being haunted.'

My mother's voice remained silent, and waiting, suddenly a hand reached out to pull my shirt collar. It turned out to be my older brother, bringing me back to reality.

"Right before the almost-death experience,

'ฺWoof!

Woof!' the Jao Jom barked. The black, military-like markings on the old dog began to show signs of my abnormality.

'ฺWoof!

Woof!'

the dog growled threateningly, teeth bared and jaws trembling. The master retreated from me, tail dropped to the ground, clearly frightened by something ahead. Yet, there was nothing in that direction. It wasn't until my older brother noticed the dog's abnormal behavior before he became aware of my own.

The moment he heard the master's howl and threat, my brother noticed my strange demeanor as I played my usual game. Normally, my younger brother would sit beside me and watch.

My brother observed that my younger brother was talking to someone, alone. It seemed peculiar that he was talking to himself, and he seemed unaware that a large pickup truck was speeding towards him. Strangely, he didn't seem to notice the approaching vehicle, as if he was talking to himself and oblivious to the danger. It didn't seem like a coincidence at all, right? Luckily, my brother became aware of the danger due to a previous near-death experience of my younger brother and took precautionary measures to look after him.

Instinctively, my brother rushed out of the house, grabbed my younger brother by the collar, and asked,

Brother: 'What are you doing here? Can't you see the truck?'

Me: 'Mom called me here.'

Brother: 'Mom's not home. She's attending a training in another province.'

Me: 'Really?'

Me: 'Mom called me here. Didn't you hear? Did you see Mom?'

Brother: 'Going crazy? Mom's not home, idiot.'

However, I still insisted that it was Mom's voice. It was the first time I questioned how that voice came to be and it has been the beginning of many things to this day.

My brother warned me not to follow strange sounds like that. He recounted to my mother that my younger brother was talking to someone before running out."

That's the translation! If you have more text or any specific questions, feel free to ask.

"I got beaten according to the rules, genuinely deserving sympathy. It's strange in the times of childhood. Certainly, I'm not a reckless kid running defiantly on the streets, but it seemed like I was.

"Passed through a day of survival from deception, but then we got through it. It raises questions about how those voices happened. Related to the deadly incident before, something followed us. And it probably won't stop just like this... but be cautious!!! Don't underestimate their voices."