7.30.2008

Whistling After Dark

Informant: Female/36/Filipino ancestry
Location: Wahiawa, Hawaii

When I was a little girl, I never went to summer camp like my son. I stayed home and played with the neighborhood kids. There were only a few of us in the neighborhood but we all had nice yards with swing sets. We would keep playing until it got dark and our parents would yell from the front door to get inside and eat dinner. But late one afternoon I decided to stay out a little longer to play.

I played on the swing and I tried to swing higher and higher. I did chin-ups using the t-shaped post that held the clothes line and I practiced my whistling because I was the only one that couldn't whistle. It was so frustrating because everyone else could whistle and I couldn't. I wanted to be like the big kids so I kept trying and trying. When I finally got it, I was dizzy and it was dark.

I remember my mom telling me to come inside and to stop whistling because it would attract ghosts. I didn't believe her until I saw the bruises on my arm.

There were two bruises. Mom demonstrated how I was pinched by placing her fingers directly on top of each bruise.

After that incident, I never played outside after dark.

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