The White Bed

When I was a little boy, my grandmother used to tell me stories about her past: she told me how she got married, how she used to live, how she ran away from the Vietnam War... But, one day, she told me a different kind of story, a story that I wasn’t used to hearing…



“Come here Khoa, sit next to me,” my grandma said, “I have to show you something.”

I came next to her, like always and she pointed to a scar on her leg.

“What is it grandma? How did you get that?” I asked, horrified.

“If I tell you the story, you will be scared sweetie” she answered.

“Please, grandma…” I begged.

“Don’t regret it later then!” she warned me.

Then, my grandmother began her story: “When I was six years old, there was a house next to mine that had never been sold. We didn’t know why, but it had never been occupied. However, one day, a new family moved there. Everyone was surprised, but we were really happy to finally have a new neighbor to talk to. Rather, it was my mother who was really happy: in any Asian family, mothers love to gossip. That is a fact and that is true. The day after they moved in, my mother and I went to their house to welcome them with homemade moon cakes. My mother knocked at the door, but no one responded. She knocked a second time still, no answer. I looked through the window and I noticed that the house was empty. Everyone was gone. Then, we learned from the neighbors that they had moved in the middle of the night. But, one question hadn’t been answered: why did they move in the middle of the night? No one knew.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept moving in my bed, counting sheep, walking around my bedroom… I just couldn’t sleep. Suddenly, I heard a bloodcurdling scream from “the” house. What was happening? I jumped out of my bed quickly and I ran in front of the house. The door was wide open. I walked slowly up to the door, and it was really dark. I squinted. When I entered the house, something was weird. Something was different, but I couldn’t find what it was. The air was very heavy and I could barely breathe. I went upstairs and the house seemed clean and normal. So, where was that scream from? I looked in every room, but each one was empty: not even a chair or a table. There was nothing. I was about to go home, but then, I saw a door at the end of the hallway. There were scratches all over the door and there were even little holes. I came close to the door, I slowly opened it … Then, a white, clean and dusty bed dominated the room. I suddenly felt really tired and my eyelids became very heavy. I lay down on the white bed and fell asleep. “Wake up! Wake up!”

I opened my eyes and looked around. Nothing was there. Was it in my dream? I fell asleep again.

“Wake up! Wake up, that’s my bed!”

I opened my eyes again, but still nothing.

“Wake up!” I opened my eyes again. This time, I saw something. I slowly squinted my eyes. What was it? Oh my god. There was someone. I looked up and a woman with a white scarf wrapped around her face was standing in front of me. Her dead eyes were staring at me, and she gave me a nervous smile. Then, she said:



“That’s my bed, Thuy.” I opened my eyes widely. I jumped out of the bed and I ran away. I went downstairs and I stumbled on a step. I gashed my leg open, and it started bleeding. But, I was still running.

I never told this story to my parents, and I still don’t know who this woman was. Why was she there? I don’t know. In fact, it was not just the woman who scared me and who made me run away.”



“Then what was it? That’s only the woman who scared me in your story?” “Didn’t you notice? The woman…”

“What?” I exclaimed, frustrated.

“… She knew my name!”



Based on true events.