Will-o-the-wisp?

When the scouts in the tent were taking turns to tell stories about ghostly encounters, I had only one sentence to contribute, “I don’t believe in ghosts,”I declared. Everyone stared at me. They had all been creeping closer and closer to each other from the time the story telling started.

Then, Sam threw the challenge, “Since you talk so big, we dare you to walk into the cemetery”.

“I have walked there hundreds of times,” I boasted.

“Alone? At night?” asked the challenger.

I looked at the circle of faces. My own patrol boys were looking at me intently. I was their leader and if I wanted to keep their respect, I could not back out now.

“Well?” said Sam.

“Let’s go,” I said and got up.

Being a mission school, our school was well equipped for life and death. On one side was a church and on the other, a small cemetery. Sam and the boys led me to the gate. I turned around and looked at Sam.”If you are scared, we can go back,” he said.

“Give me a torchlight,” I said, and one of my litle guys from a secondary one class gave me a powerful torchlight. Sam laid down the rules, “You have to walk to the big tree over there and back, that’s all. We’ll wait for you here,” he said.

I nervously stepped past the gate. An owl hooted and startled me. The guys laughed. “Scared?” asked Sam hopefully. I shook my head and started walking straight on. I kept to the road, my torchlight shining straight at the tree. Actually, the eeriness got to me.l was afraid. I increased my pace and reached the tree and started walking back.

It was on the way back that it happened. I shone my light straight at the boys at the gate. Then, I thought I saw something move over a grave. I looked again;it was a mass of green light, shaped like a man. I began to walk fast, keeping my eyes on it; whatever it was,It was floating after me. I lost all my courage. I opened my mouth and gave the loudest scream I could and bounded towards the gate. I saw my brave scouts running helter-shelter straight towards the camp. I reached them just as they bumped in the scoutmaster – Mr Teo.

“What happened to you? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” he said to me. “I have, sir,” I half- screamed.

“Tell me what you saw,” said Mr Teo. I gave him a graphic description. Mr Teo listened intently and then burst out laughing.

“Will-o-the-wisp,” he said.

“What?” we asked.

“A will-o-the-wisp. Phosphorous escapes in gas form from the bodies in the ground. As soon as the gas contacts the air, it burns with a light green flame”.

“But it chased me,” I interrupted.

“When you move, you displace the air as you 9o. The surrounding air rushes in to fill the space. In this case, the surrounding air included the will-o-the.wisp,” he finished.

Mr Teo was a chemistry teacher so he was prob.ably right. But I am not so sure. It was I who was chased by ... whatever it was.

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