-----
Eight year old Faiz loved school.
He loved his teachers. He loved Math, English and Arts. He loved Phys Ed sessions where he would get to play football or just run around playing Cops and Robbers with his classmates. When the recess bell rang at ten o'clock he would go to the school canteen to have his packed lunch; almost always sandwiches, but then he would spend the RM1 his Mama gave him to buy kuih, fruits or a cool frozen lolly treat.
Faiz liked it when the teachers would come in late, because that would mean some extra time to talk about the latest episode of Power Rangers with his friends, or get a glimpse of the latest comic book a classmate would sneak into school. If there weren't any teachers at all, he loved the fact that they were quite free to do anything they please.
He loved school. He thought he could stay there forever.
The teachers loved him too, which made him love school even more. He was a good kid. A bright kid. He was always polite and never disobedient. With time, once his class-teacher told his parents, your son would be a fine young lad. His parents had been proud, and despite having only a basic sense of pride, eight year old Faiz felt like he was on top of the world. He could do anything he wanted. Just get through wonderful school, and the world was his oyster.
The only exception, however, were school toilets. He hated school toilets. An older child or an adult would have hated the school toilet because of hygiene, or the lack thereof. But Faiz, and his peers, had other reasons to hate the school toilet.
Monsters.
In his group of friends, a collective thought of eight year old minds would exchange tales of unspeakable horror about the Monster in the school toilet. Some said it was humanoid, but with abnormal amounts of hair. Others mention a scaly beast, with sharp claws and fangs. The lowest common denominator, however, was the Monster that lurked in the school toilet had a huge appetite. For children.
Nonsense, Faiz's mother said one day when he mentioned about the Monster. There are no such things dear; you're a big boy now. Don't be afraid of monsters okay?
Okay Mama, he had said, and his mother had kissed his cheek.
Still, he loathed it every time he felt like going to the bathroom during school hours. In fact, he was absolutely terrified. His young mind, clear and innocent, would imagine some foul beast waiting inside the toilets, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting victim.
So far though, he has been lucky. Still, his senses would be on extra alert from the moment he unzipped his pants and started to paint the porcelain yellow or white, depending on his fluid intake. His friends however told him of 'near misses', when they had seen something, or felt something. They discussed this with all the integrity and seriousness their eight year old minds allowed.
Eight year old Faiz, bright Standard Two pupil, loved school. But he feared the school toilets.
So it was on this dark and rainy morning, he sat in class. The clouds were shrouding the sun so much that the skies outside were almost black. Thunder and lighting rumbled and raced across the sky. The fluorescent lights in all the school classrooms were turned on. Rain pelted the tile roofs, the sound almost drowning out the teachers' voices. It was a cold day as well.
"Please take out your text books and open page..." said the teacher in Faiz's class. He took out his textbook and placed in on his desk when he felt his stomach churn. Faiz winced. He put a hand on his tummy as another bolt of pain ran through his body. Slowly he released his sphincter, attempting to ascertain if it was gas or if it was the shits. As he felt a hot wetness on his rectum, he tightened his buttocks.
He felt nervous as he glanced outside the classroom into the rain. It was raining heavily, and he dreaded having to go to the toilet in this weather. His palms felt clammy. But when he felt a contraction in his lower intestine, he knew he had to go or risk shitting his pants in front of 30 other kids. Faiz raised his hand.
"Yes Faiz?” the teacher asked, a bit annoyed.
"Cikgu, may I please go to the bathroom?” he said, stammering a little. His classmate Mahfuz looked at him in awe, no doubt amazed that Faiz would want to go to the toilet in this weather.
The teacher nodded and Faiz walked carefully to avoid an embarrassingly sudden release of his stomach contents.
The school toilets were all situated at the ends of the buildings, separated from the classrooms by stairwells. The one Faiz was heading for would take him about a minute of brisk walking to reach. Faiz walked as carefully as he could, one of his hands pasted to his stomach. As he approached the bathroom he hoped there would be other kids there as well. He would not feel so frightened if there were other kids in there.
Unfortunately there were no kids at the toilet. Cripes, Faiz thought. The lights to the toilet were off. He stood in front of the door and put his hand near the wall, fiddling for the switch. When he found it, he flicked it to the 'on' position. Nothing happened. He tried again, but to no avail. The lights were out. Must be the storm, he thought. Oh no.
He began to have second thoughts. He stared into the dark toilets, which seemed to grow around him. He considered trying to hold it in, or maybe rush for another toilet on another floor, but then he felt something poking out of his bottom and he made his decision. He rushed through the door, went into the nearest stall, dropped his pants and let loose. He closed his eyes as he did so, fearful of the darkness. The storm made haunting echoes which bounced off the walls of the empty toilet.
The rain outside began to fall harder. A curious wail from the wind was heard.
Faiz sighed as his bowels loosened. He breathed through his mouth to avoid the smells. Soon, he finished his shit and reached for the rubber pipe and began washing. Just as he finished a sudden gush of wind from outside caused the door to the toilet to slam shut with a loud bang. Faiz cried out in surprise. Panic began to creep in as he raised his pants and flushed. He wanted to get out of here, fast. He wanted to be back in his classroom, learning to subtract triple digit numbers.
As he zipped his pants, however, he heard the audible creaking of the door to the stall besides the one he was in open. The creaking was slow, almost deliberate. Faiz paused. His heart was beating in his throat.
From the stall beside him, he heard the slow shuffle of feet. The steps sounded wet and scraping, as if the soles of whoever it was were covered in metal that screeched against the tiled floor. Faiz stood still, his feet frozen into place. The footsteps stopped, suddenly. He heard the heavy, wet breathing of something. Faiz saw a shadow fall through the open space below the door to the stall. His pulse quickened. Without thinking, he closed the toilet seat and squatted on it, hoping for whatever it was that was inside the toilets with him to go away. In his head he imagined all the bathroom monsters he had ever been told of were in front of his stall, ready to tear him apart.
Faiz began to weep, but he kept quiet by biting his shirt sleeve. The shadow was still there. He squatted on the toilet, and in his fear he shat himself, but he barely noticed. Go away go away go away, he thought. The shadow shifted, and Faiz could have sworn he heard the grunting of something inhuman. At the same time a smell wafted through; it was not the smell of shit... rather, it was the smell of something alive and wet. And hungry.
He saw the shadow fall beneath his door again. He shook his head, praying to God to keep him safe. Then the shadow moved closer until Faiz saw toe-tips. He counted the toes; eight. He shook his head in denial. Whatever it was, it had only eight toes; and they were tipped with ancient looking, curved and cracked claws.
"Go away", he said feebly. All he heard in response was an animal growl, yellow and inhuman. Faiz saw the door bulge in the middle as the thing pushed it. Then he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see, and screamed "GOOOO AWAYYYYY!!!!!!" at the top of his lungs. The door swung open fast as the lock gave in, but Faiz squeezed his eyes so hard he felt dizzy.
Minutes passed by. Outside, the rain was abruptly coming to a stop. Faiz was still squatting on the toilet as he slowly opened his eyes. He had expected to be grabbed and torn apart, but nothing had happened. He glanced around. The door to his stall was open. But there was nothing there. He glanced to the floor and looked for shadows, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. He got off the toilet seat and peered out. Nothing.
Faiz slowly walked out of the stall, glancing around for any signs of the thing. Then, satisfied, he gave a sigh of relief. It was just my imagination, he thought. I am so afraid of the school toilet that I let my thinking go crazy, he thought. Then he realized he had soiled himself. Thinking as quick as his eight year old mind allowed, he went back to the bathroom stall to wash his ass and get rid of his underwear. He hoped his pants weren't stained.
He entered the stall and closed the door. Then he heard a low, animal growl from behind him. He swallowed hard; again he voided his bowels. He told himself not turn around, but he did. He turned slowly. As his vision turned, he saw his own reflection in the opaque yellow eyes of an unspeakable horror. He froze; he did not even scream as the thing ripped it's claws into him.
--------------
When Faiz did not come back from the toilet after 10 minutes, his teacher thought the boy was probably having a bad case of the shits. But when half and hour passed by, the teacher took it upon himself to go see what was going on. As he reached the toilet the first thing that struck him was the smell. It was worse than ever. He flicked on the lights, which were working fine now.
"Faiz?” the teacher called out. He heard running water from one of the stalls. He went to check it out, and regretted it as soon as he saw the broken body of eight year old Faiz jammed inside the toilet, his knees at his face. The lifeless eyes were wide open. The expression on the boy's face was one of shock and horror, not one of pain. The teacher vomited once; then he gathered himself and went to get help.
---------------
A few days passed by. The parents of young and bright Faiz were almost inconsolable at first. The police and ambulance people could only speculate that it was a bizarre accident. They had no logical explanation as to how the boy had been found in his condition.
The school announced the death as an 'unfortunate accident'. Most of the teachers who were initially shocked decided to put it behind them. The teacher who had found the boy requested a long leave to recover from the shock. Things went back to normal, and nobody spoke of the 'accident' out loud.
Faiz' classmates, including Mahfuz, however, knew exactly what had happened. They sat quietly in class, each of them asking the dreaded question to themselves: will it feed again?
----
end note:
remember when we were kids in primary school, there was always this story of the hantu tandas? this is my take on it. an obvious inspiration for this story is Stephen King's 'IT'
- Muhammad Edwan Shaharir
Eight year old Faiz loved school.
He loved his teachers. He loved Math, English and Arts. He loved Phys Ed sessions where he would get to play football or just run around playing Cops and Robbers with his classmates. When the recess bell rang at ten o'clock he would go to the school canteen to have his packed lunch; almost always sandwiches, but then he would spend the RM1 his Mama gave him to buy kuih, fruits or a cool frozen lolly treat.
Faiz liked it when the teachers would come in late, because that would mean some extra time to talk about the latest episode of Power Rangers with his friends, or get a glimpse of the latest comic book a classmate would sneak into school. If there weren't any teachers at all, he loved the fact that they were quite free to do anything they please.
He loved school. He thought he could stay there forever.
The teachers loved him too, which made him love school even more. He was a good kid. A bright kid. He was always polite and never disobedient. With time, once his class-teacher told his parents, your son would be a fine young lad. His parents had been proud, and despite having only a basic sense of pride, eight year old Faiz felt like he was on top of the world. He could do anything he wanted. Just get through wonderful school, and the world was his oyster.
The only exception, however, were school toilets. He hated school toilets. An older child or an adult would have hated the school toilet because of hygiene, or the lack thereof. But Faiz, and his peers, had other reasons to hate the school toilet.
Monsters.
In his group of friends, a collective thought of eight year old minds would exchange tales of unspeakable horror about the Monster in the school toilet. Some said it was humanoid, but with abnormal amounts of hair. Others mention a scaly beast, with sharp claws and fangs. The lowest common denominator, however, was the Monster that lurked in the school toilet had a huge appetite. For children.
Nonsense, Faiz's mother said one day when he mentioned about the Monster. There are no such things dear; you're a big boy now. Don't be afraid of monsters okay?
Okay Mama, he had said, and his mother had kissed his cheek.
Still, he loathed it every time he felt like going to the bathroom during school hours. In fact, he was absolutely terrified. His young mind, clear and innocent, would imagine some foul beast waiting inside the toilets, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting victim.
So far though, he has been lucky. Still, his senses would be on extra alert from the moment he unzipped his pants and started to paint the porcelain yellow or white, depending on his fluid intake. His friends however told him of 'near misses', when they had seen something, or felt something. They discussed this with all the integrity and seriousness their eight year old minds allowed.
Eight year old Faiz, bright Standard Two pupil, loved school. But he feared the school toilets.
So it was on this dark and rainy morning, he sat in class. The clouds were shrouding the sun so much that the skies outside were almost black. Thunder and lighting rumbled and raced across the sky. The fluorescent lights in all the school classrooms were turned on. Rain pelted the tile roofs, the sound almost drowning out the teachers' voices. It was a cold day as well.
"Please take out your text books and open page..." said the teacher in Faiz's class. He took out his textbook and placed in on his desk when he felt his stomach churn. Faiz winced. He put a hand on his tummy as another bolt of pain ran through his body. Slowly he released his sphincter, attempting to ascertain if it was gas or if it was the shits. As he felt a hot wetness on his rectum, he tightened his buttocks.
He felt nervous as he glanced outside the classroom into the rain. It was raining heavily, and he dreaded having to go to the toilet in this weather. His palms felt clammy. But when he felt a contraction in his lower intestine, he knew he had to go or risk shitting his pants in front of 30 other kids. Faiz raised his hand.
"Yes Faiz?” the teacher asked, a bit annoyed.
"Cikgu, may I please go to the bathroom?” he said, stammering a little. His classmate Mahfuz looked at him in awe, no doubt amazed that Faiz would want to go to the toilet in this weather.
The teacher nodded and Faiz walked carefully to avoid an embarrassingly sudden release of his stomach contents.
The school toilets were all situated at the ends of the buildings, separated from the classrooms by stairwells. The one Faiz was heading for would take him about a minute of brisk walking to reach. Faiz walked as carefully as he could, one of his hands pasted to his stomach. As he approached the bathroom he hoped there would be other kids there as well. He would not feel so frightened if there were other kids in there.
Unfortunately there were no kids at the toilet. Cripes, Faiz thought. The lights to the toilet were off. He stood in front of the door and put his hand near the wall, fiddling for the switch. When he found it, he flicked it to the 'on' position. Nothing happened. He tried again, but to no avail. The lights were out. Must be the storm, he thought. Oh no.
He began to have second thoughts. He stared into the dark toilets, which seemed to grow around him. He considered trying to hold it in, or maybe rush for another toilet on another floor, but then he felt something poking out of his bottom and he made his decision. He rushed through the door, went into the nearest stall, dropped his pants and let loose. He closed his eyes as he did so, fearful of the darkness. The storm made haunting echoes which bounced off the walls of the empty toilet.
The rain outside began to fall harder. A curious wail from the wind was heard.
Faiz sighed as his bowels loosened. He breathed through his mouth to avoid the smells. Soon, he finished his shit and reached for the rubber pipe and began washing. Just as he finished a sudden gush of wind from outside caused the door to the toilet to slam shut with a loud bang. Faiz cried out in surprise. Panic began to creep in as he raised his pants and flushed. He wanted to get out of here, fast. He wanted to be back in his classroom, learning to subtract triple digit numbers.
As he zipped his pants, however, he heard the audible creaking of the door to the stall besides the one he was in open. The creaking was slow, almost deliberate. Faiz paused. His heart was beating in his throat.
From the stall beside him, he heard the slow shuffle of feet. The steps sounded wet and scraping, as if the soles of whoever it was were covered in metal that screeched against the tiled floor. Faiz stood still, his feet frozen into place. The footsteps stopped, suddenly. He heard the heavy, wet breathing of something. Faiz saw a shadow fall through the open space below the door to the stall. His pulse quickened. Without thinking, he closed the toilet seat and squatted on it, hoping for whatever it was that was inside the toilets with him to go away. In his head he imagined all the bathroom monsters he had ever been told of were in front of his stall, ready to tear him apart.
Faiz began to weep, but he kept quiet by biting his shirt sleeve. The shadow was still there. He squatted on the toilet, and in his fear he shat himself, but he barely noticed. Go away go away go away, he thought. The shadow shifted, and Faiz could have sworn he heard the grunting of something inhuman. At the same time a smell wafted through; it was not the smell of shit... rather, it was the smell of something alive and wet. And hungry.
He saw the shadow fall beneath his door again. He shook his head, praying to God to keep him safe. Then the shadow moved closer until Faiz saw toe-tips. He counted the toes; eight. He shook his head in denial. Whatever it was, it had only eight toes; and they were tipped with ancient looking, curved and cracked claws.
"Go away", he said feebly. All he heard in response was an animal growl, yellow and inhuman. Faiz saw the door bulge in the middle as the thing pushed it. Then he squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see, and screamed "GOOOO AWAYYYYY!!!!!!" at the top of his lungs. The door swung open fast as the lock gave in, but Faiz squeezed his eyes so hard he felt dizzy.
Minutes passed by. Outside, the rain was abruptly coming to a stop. Faiz was still squatting on the toilet as he slowly opened his eyes. He had expected to be grabbed and torn apart, but nothing had happened. He glanced around. The door to his stall was open. But there was nothing there. He glanced to the floor and looked for shadows, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. He got off the toilet seat and peered out. Nothing.
Faiz slowly walked out of the stall, glancing around for any signs of the thing. Then, satisfied, he gave a sigh of relief. It was just my imagination, he thought. I am so afraid of the school toilet that I let my thinking go crazy, he thought. Then he realized he had soiled himself. Thinking as quick as his eight year old mind allowed, he went back to the bathroom stall to wash his ass and get rid of his underwear. He hoped his pants weren't stained.
He entered the stall and closed the door. Then he heard a low, animal growl from behind him. He swallowed hard; again he voided his bowels. He told himself not turn around, but he did. He turned slowly. As his vision turned, he saw his own reflection in the opaque yellow eyes of an unspeakable horror. He froze; he did not even scream as the thing ripped it's claws into him.
--------------
When Faiz did not come back from the toilet after 10 minutes, his teacher thought the boy was probably having a bad case of the shits. But when half and hour passed by, the teacher took it upon himself to go see what was going on. As he reached the toilet the first thing that struck him was the smell. It was worse than ever. He flicked on the lights, which were working fine now.
"Faiz?” the teacher called out. He heard running water from one of the stalls. He went to check it out, and regretted it as soon as he saw the broken body of eight year old Faiz jammed inside the toilet, his knees at his face. The lifeless eyes were wide open. The expression on the boy's face was one of shock and horror, not one of pain. The teacher vomited once; then he gathered himself and went to get help.
---------------
A few days passed by. The parents of young and bright Faiz were almost inconsolable at first. The police and ambulance people could only speculate that it was a bizarre accident. They had no logical explanation as to how the boy had been found in his condition.
The school announced the death as an 'unfortunate accident'. Most of the teachers who were initially shocked decided to put it behind them. The teacher who had found the boy requested a long leave to recover from the shock. Things went back to normal, and nobody spoke of the 'accident' out loud.
Faiz' classmates, including Mahfuz, however, knew exactly what had happened. They sat quietly in class, each of them asking the dreaded question to themselves: will it feed again?
----
end note:
remember when we were kids in primary school, there was always this story of the hantu tandas? this is my take on it. an obvious inspiration for this story is Stephen King's 'IT'
- Muhammad Edwan Shaharir
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