I used to be a medic trainee in Nee Soon Camp. For those who had done guard duty as a prowler there, there is a checkpoint at the ammo dump/firing range right behind the MDC building. One have to cross a long road to reach that checkpoint. Although that road have lamp posts on both sides, they are always off, this creating a sort of creepy pathway where its dark all around and only the light from the firing range can be seen. Both sides of the road are also heavily forested and the road itself is prone to fogging due to the small lake next to it.

On one of such duties, me and my buddy was walking along that particular road. It was around 5.30am, the time just before dawn when the sky seem to be the darkest. It was fogging as usual and the both of us were a little tense due to the creepy environment. As we walk past the MDC building and down the road, I started feeling cold despite wearing an inner shirt. I look at my buddy, who was a devout Buddhist, and I could see him clutching tightly onto an amulet, the one where there is a glass casing with the Buddha inside it. I wanted to talk to him but feared that any noise may attract unwanted attention.

Just as we’re halfway down the road, where both sides of the road seems equally far, a dog started a long, deep howl. We were both frozen in our path. The damn dog what seemed an eternity to me. I don’t even know those damned dogs can howl!

All of a sudden, amidst the howling, a figure flew across our head. Due to the darkness, I can’t clearly see it’s shape or size. However, it’s silhouette seems to show that it has wings. What happened next was a blur. All I remembered after that was that my buddy and I was panting near a building which was lit. I can feel my whole body trembling due to fatigue and fear.

After a few days, my buddy came to find me during lunch. He seemed very nervous and uneasy. Before talking, he showed me his amulet, which had a very large crack on its surface, as though a nail had been hammered on it but failed to break it. I’m a Catholic and I carry a picture of Jesus Christ in my wallet. On instinct, I took out my wallet to check it, only to find that it had been shabbily torn into half, as though someone had ripe it apart rather than cut it with a pair of scissors.

I convinced myself that the picture was torn due to the movement of my wallet and I convinced myself that my buddy’s amulet was broken due to a possible collision with his rifle. I also convinced myself that flying squirrels exist in Singapore.

Till this very day, I’ve not got the guts to Google flying squirrels…