Chap 1: Ma lon - The Ghost Can Ritual

… And that faint light slowly faded, and Dũng screamed a piercing cry that shattered the cold silence of the night, which was slowly creeping in. He cursed that day... The day when the usual tin-can throwing game became too boring for the children in the poor neighborhood.

Every noon, as usual, the children of the Old Street, both boys and girls, gathered together, enjoying the time passing under the scorching summer heat. They regretted how quickly the time was flying by; summer would end, and the new school year would bring a heavy burden. The children didn't hesitate to burn their skin under the summer sun. They shouted and played to the fullest, savoring the fleeting moments of the precious summer break...

The sound of a tin can clattering echoed sharply on the empty sidewalk. Ngọc, a girl with fair skin like snow, who was blushing under the midday sun, was the first to speak:

"Let's take a break and drink some water."

The whole group knew that this was the moment when the girl from the Upper Street, the only one from a rich family who played with them without caring about her background, invited them to go get some water as usual. And so, no one had to say a word, they all stood up, leaving the cans abandoned on the street, and headed towards Mrs. Thanh's shop at the intersection, where Old Street met Upper Street.

At the shop, the girl pulled out a large bag of coconut candy from her pocket and generously shared it with the group. The fragrant coconut candy, sticky and chewy, was so tempting that it almost pulled the teeth of anyone eating it, and once finished, they would crave more. The seven children, both boys and girls, all around the same age, had been playing together since they were young. They never cared about gender or wealth; they were as close as ever.

While munching on the coconut candy, and playing with another piece in his hand, Minh, the one who always initiated the games, looked around and asked:

"Have you guys ever played the 'Ma lon' game?"

No one knew exactly when the Ma lon game had become a familiar game for many generations of children in this neighborhood, passed down through word of mouth from one generation to the next.

On summer nights when the neighborhood lost power, the children would often sneak out and gather outside to catch the breeze. Then, they would tell each other creepy stories that they had heard from older kids before them.

The story of the Ma lon game was always the most exciting one they never got tired of hearing.

Who would believe it? On the first moonless night of the month, when the clock struck midnight, and the pitch-black night spread across the neighborhood, just with any used tin can, three incense sticks, and a few pieces of coconut candy, they could summon a vengeful spirit that had never found peace to possess the can and play a chasing game with the children.

That spirit would turn the tin can into a little monster with sharp teeth. It would hop after the children, trying to bite anyone unfortunate enough to run slowly with short legs.

The unlucky child would be possessed by the spirit of Ma lon, and the child's soul would lose its place to dwell, becoming an evil ghost. The spirit would then wait for the day when a new group of children would summon it again, so it could possess another tin can and continue the game of fate, in hopes of gaining back a human body.

Because the Ma lon was too small and had no legs, it could only hop on the ground. But it was extremely afraid of light, so the game always ended with the children outsmarting it by running towards the light of street lamps.

However, the Ma lon didn't want to accept defeat; it still longed for a living body. So, it refused to leave the can and would continue looking for the children who had played the chasing game with it every night.

The children would think that they had won and the game was over, so they would let their guard down. Among the group, one would inevitably be unlucky enough to go outside at night, allowing Ma lon to catch them and possess their body.

It was said that the Ma lon would use the child's body to harm the other children who had played with it... Once someone had played with Ma lon, they could never win. All they had to do when summoning the Ma lon was to wait for their turn to be caught...

"My cousin also suddenly died... He was the last one in the group, and he was about our age, but his hair turned white, his body became thin and frail, yet he still tried to tell my friend's sister about this to warn her not to play with Ma lon," Minh whispered.

"That's nonsense, I don't believe it."

Dũng interrupted Minh's story with a firm conclusion. He always acted as if he were the most mature and fearless in the group.

"Then why don't we try playing and see what happens?" Minh suggested.