Shondhi shared a second story, this one about his dormmate Tanim. Visiting his hometown near a major river, Tanim and a local friend decided to take a motorcycle ride along the riverbank around 10 PM, when the area was deserted except for a couple of boats tied up at the dock.
Partway along the bank, Tanim realized he hadn't locked the motorcycle and went back alone to do it, leaving his friend to wait. While he was gone, his friend suddenly cried out in fear; when Tanim rushed back, the friend claimed nothing had happened and denied screaming — though Tanim was certain he'd heard it clearly.
They continued walking along the moonlit bank, wading a little into the shallow water. The friend suddenly caught a fish from the river and began eating it raw. When Tanim objected, the friend caught another and ate that too, saying simply that he liked raw fish. Unsettled, the friend then said he wanted to go home.
Riding back with the friend seated behind him, Tanim grew increasingly uneasy. After a while, the friend asked to drive instead, so they switched — friend driving, Tanim now in the passenger seat. Sometime later, Tanim glanced over and realized, to his horror, that the "friend" driving wasn't looking at the road at all, and wasn't holding the handlebars or brakes with either hand — yet the motorcycle continued moving normally at nearly 11 PM.
Near the friend's house, the friend asked to be dropped off and walked away. Tanim continued home and told his mother what had happened. The next morning, the friend's actual mother came looking for her son, saying he'd never come home the previous night. When they returned to the riverbank to investigate, they learned a young man had been found unconscious there that morning by a boatman.
When revived, the real friend recalled only reaching the riverbank alone after Tanim left to lock the bike — at which point he saw what looked exactly like himself walking toward him from the water, panicked, and blacked out. He had no memory of the rest of the night, and had never actually been picked up or driven anywhere. A local healer later concluded that whatever Tanim had spent the evening with, it hadn't intended to harm anyone — it simply wasn't his real friend.
0 Comments