A Stack of Old, and Faulty School Tables and Chairs

Confession by Edwina O

This happened when I was about 14 years old, I attended a school in Hougang. Let's call it "B Secondary School". During those days, my parents had the habit of dropping me off at school in the morning extremely early so that I was usually in school before sunrise, where everything is still dark and the street lamps were still on. I would be one of the handful of students who would arrive in school that early. The handful of us tended to just hang around in the canteen together since at that time, the school will still be blanketed in darkness, with all the lights switched off except for the main foyer and canteen area. 

One morning, as I was the class representative, I had to deliver a stack of workbooks to my teacher's pigeonhole. This task would usually be done at the end of the school day. However, on this occasion, I held on to the stack, waiting for a few of my classmates to hand in theirs as well before sending the work from the entire class to my teacher. To me, this was no big issue since I was always early in school anyway. 

All the teachers' pigeonholes were situated behind the staff office in another block away from where the canteen was located. As I mentioned, at such time, the only part of the school that had lights switched on was the canteen area. Which means, naturally the block where my teacher's pigeonhole is would still be in complete darkness. The corner where the teachers' pigeonholes were is also where all the faulty, old and unwanted tables and chairs were stored. These tables and chairs were mostly rusty, dusty, without their proper rubber stoppers on their legs and rocky from the unbalanced legs. Normally this block would be closed and although the staff office would still locked at this time of the morning, there was a separate staircase that could be used to access the pigeonholes.  

It is no surprise that my secondary school like most schools in Singapore, has its fair share of ghost stories and haunting tales to tell. Many of these stories have been passed down from students through the different batches over the years. Some of them were even backed up by the teachers so there must be some basis of truth in them. These made the students believed in all the haunting and scary stories we had heard thus far. I am no exception. Looking at the dark building, it did not frighten me one bit. And as in my previous confession, because I thought I was invincible, and I believed that "they" seems to have eluded me. With that, I did not even think twice before going all by myself to the dark, secluded building and up to a creepy corner where the pigeonholes were. Thinking back, it definitely wasn't the most wise idea to have gone there all lone with no one else looking out for me or even know where I had been and where to look for me should I have just disappeared.

Anyway, so full of confidence, I headed towards the dark building, going towards the dark, empty stairwell at the corner building. This dark staircase is also located at the far corner of the building which is also the corner edge of the school ground. I slowly climb the stairs to the 3rd floor where the staff office and pigeonholes were. Once there, I proceed to locate my teacher's pigeonhole. Now, i order to access my teacher's pigeonhole, i had to have my back turned towards the old and rusty, faulty tables and chairs......... 

Once I had located my teacher's pigeonhole, I dropped the stack of workbooks on the table next to it and open the pigeonhole. Whilst I was attempting to place all the workbooks neatly in the pigeonhole. with my back turned to the stack of old tables and chairs, I suddenly heard the chairs behind me rattled.  I heard it because the chairs had no rubber on their legs. It sounds like someone had just pushed against the chairs. I turned around, but there was no one there. I thought maybe there were rats and I could just scare them off. So, I took one of the chair and shook it around making some noise in the hope to scare the rats away. However, nothing moves. No rats scuffled out from behind or within the stack.

I turned back to my task quickly and pick up my speed in depositing the workbooks. After depositing the books, I closed the pigeonhole with haste and started to make my way back to the staircase so I can quickly return to the "safety" of the lit canteen. When I reached the top of the staircase, just before I took my first step down, I heard a chair being dragged behind me. It was clear and loud. It was no longer just a rattle, or a shake that I could pass it off as rats or even a cat behind the stack that could have cause the sound.. It was clear as day. The screech of the exposed metal of the leg of the chair against the concrete floor is unmistakable and it was right behind me!

At this point, all I could think of was getting out of there as soon as I could. I cursed and swore under my breath and ran down the stairs, hauled-ass back to the canteen. When I finally reached the canteen, my friends were still at their usual places, seated casually around my bag. Then I overheard part of their conversation, "Aiya, the Lunar 7th month has already started, that's why I cannot hang out." And, it dawned on me that day was the first day of the Lunar 7th month.

Since that unfaithful day, it had been uneventful for me for the rest of my school years at B Secondary School from the paranormal perspective. Except, perhaps one last unforgettable incident was during my last year of school, while I was climbing the stairs to the 3rd floor to attend an Adam Khoo Workshop that I heard a voice saying "hello" right next to my ear. I felt the breath, like a gentle brush of my ear and hair but there was nobody next to me. So, that was pretty freaky too.