Atan was a salesman who often travels around the east coast of Malaysia. On one occasion, he was in Mersing, Johor, on a business trip that lasted till nightfall. A local advice him not to take the journey to back Kuantan that very night, giving the reason that the Mersing-Kuantan road was infamous for its geographical hazards. Apparently, along this road, there was a lonely stretch of winding road that ran on a cliff on one side and a steep slope of an undeveloped hill on the other side. According to the man, that stretch of road is very dangerous and an accident-prone area.

Atan laughed off the warning saying that he was used to night driving. Additionally, he had an early meeting in Kuantan the next morning. Knowing that nothing he said could stop Atan, he then said to him in all seriousness, "No matter what happens or what you see on this road, don't stop. Just drive on."

Atan set out on his homeward trip at about 11pm. He came to the stretch of winding road mentioned by the man and Atan slowed down just to be careful. As he was about to turn at a bend, a human figure shot out in front of him, ran towards the cliff of the seaside and jumped down. In a shock, Atan stopped his car by the roadside and looked around him. There was no one around and no cars or houses were in sight.

Just then, the warning of the local flashed by in his mind. He thought, if he man were to commit suicide, he could have been dead anyway. Besides, how could a man got there, in the middle of no where? He quickly put his car into gear and drove on all the way back.

The next day, he called his Mersing acquaintance and told him about the incident. The man then related this tale to him:

"Many years ago, a married couple stopped their car by the roadside along the winding road. It was there that the husband told his wife that he had been cheating on her. A quarrel ensued and the wife, deeply hurt, ran across the road and threw herself off the cliff. Some weeks later, the husband, full of remorse and guilt, followed suit and jumped off the same spot killing himself. It is said that after this double suicide, motorists who ventured to the edge of the road to look for the first figure that jumped off would get a sudden push from the back and hurtle to a horrible bone-crushing death."

Not long after Atan's experience, the authorities put up high concrete barriers on the cliff side of the road.

Next Story: Terror in Our Playland

Owl's Ghost Stories © 2000 by Will Ong Email: penangowl@geocities.com