Welcome to the third installment of "Scary stories when you understand the meaning" (意味怖 / Imi-kowa / Japanese horror)! This time, we will introduce four Imi-kowa stories. Read the four stories and think about your own answers before checking them in the explanation! Also, please share your unique answers that you came up with in the comment section! As with the previous times, we have placed the explanation at the end of the article so that you can't see the answer right away and can enjoy guessing the answer yourself.
Read other articles of "Imi-kowa (Japanese horror)"
Funeral
I was terribly scolded by my mother for playing hide and seek with my cousins of the same age because my grandfather's funeral was boring.
"We're about to start the procession, sit still!", she said.
Even though they were my cousins, there were many of them, some I had met a few times, but others I didn't know at all.
The other kids were also scolded.
As we all sat quietly, a bus arrived.
"We're a large family with 10 siblings.
We're going to the crematorium by bus", my mother said.
We obediently got on the bus because I didn't want to be scolded again.
There's an aunty who doesn't get on the bus alone.
She seems flustered,
running around calling someone's name.
But the bus has then left.
Is a funeral always like this?
They tell us to stay still,
but adults themselves make a big fuss, so I hate it.
Why do we have to answer all these questions from the police
just because we attended a funeral?
Why my grandfather's cremated remains has bones of two people,
the police asked so, but I don't know the answer.
Family Drive
Ibelong to a family of four, with my parents and a younger sister.
One day, we all went for a drive. I was the one driving.
As we were driving along a mountain road, we approached a long curve.
As I slowed down to take the turn, a car came from behind at a high speed.
The car hit us from behind, and our car fell off the cliff.
While I miraculously survived, my sister and mother unfortunately passed away. My father, however, is still missing.
It seems that the car that hit us fled the scene.
Pretending to be Sick
Today is the sports day I hate so much.
I wish I could take a day off... That's it! I'll pretend to be sick!
Dad told me to take my temperature...
What should I do... Oh, right!! Thermometer, thermometer... Here it is. Our thermometer is such an old model.
...Oops!! This is bad...
Sigh... My daughter is such a handful.
No matter how much she hates the sports day, pretending to be sick to skip it is not acceptable.
When I urged her to take her temperature, she said after a while that the thermometer was broken.
Did she break the thermometer so she couldn't take her temperature? However, she seemed to look a bit pale, so to be safe, I had my wife take her to the hospital.
Ah... the hot tea I just made has cooled down.
The taste isn't good because it's lukewarm.
She really is a troublesome daughter.
Ruins
One day, I decided to go to a deserted building that looked like a two-story apartment to test my courage with a friend.
Since it was still around noon, we went up to the second floor of the building and explored it.
Then, we found a door among the ones lined up that had some writing on it.
When my friend and I approached to check it, in front of the door, it was written:
"I am in the room ahead".
My friend and I opened the door and decided to go inside.
We came across a place with rooms on both sides, and on the wall, it was written
"Head is to the left, body is to the right".
The moment my friend saw this, he became half-crazed and ran away.
But I stayed in that place and decided to muster up the courage to go to the room on the right.
As I entered the room and moved forward, I saw a clean floor with nothing on it.
On the wall at the end, it was written
"My body is down here".
As I was looking down:
"My head is coming out of the room on the left, don't look behind"
I hurriedly jumped out of the window of that room and ran away.
Since then, I have not approached that place.
Explanation (If you want to challenge, think about your answer before reading this!)
Funeral
The point is what the children were playing. Yes, they were playing "hide and seek". The child who couldn't be found at the funeral was probably hiding in the coffin.
And he was taken to the crematorium and was cremated along with his grandfather.
Family Drive
The point is that there is nothing written about 'how many cars'. And the fact that 'father is missing' is unnatural. Unless he was thrown from the car on a mountain road cliff, he would be found immediately.
If there were 'two cars' and 'father was driving the car behind', it would be understood that he is trying to throw his family off the cliff and is on the run...
Pretending to be Sick
The old model thermometer would likely contain 'mercury'.
The daughter, wanting to pretend that she has a fever, put mercury thermometer in her father's tea.
And whether due to clumsiness or bad luck, the thermometer broke and the mercury leaked out.
Mercury is highly toxic, and inhaling its vapors alone can cause pneumonia. This is likely the reason why the daughter's complexion worsened.
And the father, who knew nothing, was drinking the tea mixed with the leaked mercury...
Ruins
There are two developments in this version that make it scary.
One is the focus on the words, 'it was written'.
In the final message, since 'it was written' is not written, it is probably being conveyed by a 'voice' from behind.
Let's consider another development that turn the story scary, assuming that the last one was "written", just like the other messages. This too, will bring out a "contradiction". Yes, on the floor that was until now a "clean floor with nothing on it", when could a message have been written...?
If it's the former, it might be a homeless person living there, trying to threaten from behind, but if it's the latter, it wouldn't be the work of a human...Either way, running away was the right decision.
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