Story 1 - An Empty Heart

This story was shared to me by a very close friend. Due to the nature of his job and to protect his family’s identity, I will omit or tweak some details about him.
 
I met up with this friend A over lunch and as usual, we asked each other questions like “how’s life”. Most times you would expect the casual responses like “life’s ok”, or the cursory complaints about cost of living. This time he remarked, “My father got admitted to IMH last week.”
 
Shit. Where would the conversation go from here?
 
From the look he was giving me, I knew there was more to what he was letting on. We let the pregnant pause linger between us. I'm terrible at small talk and consolations.
 
But I'm worse at dealing with long silences. “What’s wrong with him?” I asked.
 
“He thinks someone casted a black magic curse on him.” Ah, ok. I can see where this is going already.
“What makes you say that? I feel it's my responsibility to set down this disclaimer that most genuine cases of mental illness can look like supernatural afflictions. We should consult medical doctors before seeking alternative healing.”
 
“Do you really believe in that?”
 
I pursed my lips and wrinkled my nose. I can’t possibly contradict my own disclaimer now can I? I’m a responsible man, so I persevered.
 
“I’m sure many things may look like it can be pegged to the supernatural, but rational people will tell you otherwise.”
 
A interrupted me.
 
“My dad can see things. He said at night he can see paper effigy dolls standing by his bed. One in pink and one in blue. They follow and appear in front of him everywhere he

goes. Initially, we thought maybe the boredom of retirement is causing his mind to run
wild, but then we started finding giant centipedes in the toilet bowl and giant toads under his bed. Where did they come from? Although he sees them at all times of the day, at night it gets worse, and it's been getting even worse. He blames my mom, he blames everyone.”
 
“When did this happen?” I asked.
 
“About 9 months ago. Around July - August, it started right before the hungry ghost festival...”
 
“What happened during that time?”
 
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Dad retired, and started staying home a lot more.”
 
"Does your dad have any enemies? He doesn’t strike me as the superstitious type - and I've spoken with your dad on numerous occasions over the years - why the sudden claim that it’s black magic?”
 
His dad was under observation and the social workers assigned to him wanted more time to assess his behavior before making recommendations. This meant he was discouraged from having visitors which I found to be a small blessing. It would be hard to reject a close friend’s invitation to see his father, and at the same time, I really didn’t want to get too deeply involved in a black magic situation.
 
But… I pointed my friend to a good starting point.
 
“I’m just pulling this out of the air,” I said, “but you might want to poke around your father’s old business. I’m guessing you may find a thread there to tug at.”
 
A week later, A came back with some news. “Dad didn’t retire. He left. He left the entire company to his partner. He just left.”
 
Notes:

1. It was a business deal that went south.
2. They have expanded into some territories that they were advised not to.
   
3. Being Singaporeans they played by the rules, but the locals there were not so kind.
   
4. They owned plots of land in a neighbouring country
   
5. And he suspected that black magic was at work.
   
6. Crops wouldn’t grow. Water was poisoned.
   
7. The (illegal) workers on site didn’t want to come to work out of fear.
   
8. The father had seen things then, mentioned it briefly. No one thought too much about it.
   
9. He came back to Singapore hoping to cut ties and reset his life.
   
10. But whatever that he had been cursed with, had followed him back home.