Mountain Witch!

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(Translated and arranged by Saya)
 

This happened to a young couple driving on a mountain pass.

The sun was already setting. Virtually no oncoming car could be seen, nor were there any lampposts.

While the man drove the car, his girlfriend, tired from a long drive, slept on the front seat beside him, wrapped up cozily in a blanket.
The man stared intently ahead into the dark, trying to keep fatigue at bay.

When they were half way through the mountain, he spotted a white sedan parked at a lay-by.
Without thinking, he slowed down his car.

He had known other couples to park their cars at such a place and stay overnight inside them, for they lacked money to stay in proper hotels.

He stopped the car and peered into the rear seat window of the car, out of curiosity.
But as soon as he did so, a door of the sedan suddenly opened wide, and a woman came out. Their eyes met.

Her eyes were boring into his.
Feeling awkward and a little embarrassed, he suddenly started the car to get away from the place.

He was still feeling her eyes on him, and a few seconds later, he looked into the rear-view mirror to see if she was still staring at him; then he gasped in horrified alarm.

The woman was chasing his car!

His feeling of embarrassment turned into panic, and he sped up the car.
He drove it as fast as he possibly could on a narrow mountain pass.
But the woman was still chasing him, although it was impossible for any human-beings to have kept up with such high speed.

In the rear-view mirror, he saw the woman's face illuminated by the red brake lights, and the sight made his hair stand on end.  

Mountain Witch! Mountain Witch! **

The face was the exact copy of the face of Mountain Witch he saw in a children's book when he was a boy.
It was an ugly, wrinkled, demonic face of an old woman, with her hair wildly flying in the wind, closing in on her victim.
He started apologizing for god knows what, and stepped on the accelerator like crazy.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the parking space of a convenience store at the foot of the mountain.
His girlfriend woke up, and he told her how he had just had a narrow escape from death.

She looked confused at first, but soon her expression turned into one of great shock.
A huge sense of relief washed over him, because by telling her the story, he felt like he was confirming to himself that he was safe now.

When he had finished telling his story, he found his girlfriend looking pensive, as if ruminating over what he had just told her.
"I had a dream." She finally spoke. "In the dream, I was chasing your car frantically, because you had left me alone in the middle of the mountain, and driven away. I yelled and screamed with all my strength, but you wouldn't stop and kept on driving.
For one moment, I seriously thought in my mind: 'I will kill him!' "

 

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** Mountain Witch - Yamanba (or Yamauba: See Wikipedia ), in the original story. Yamanba is a yokai in the form of an old woman who lives deep in a mountain. She appears at first as a well dressed, benevolent lady who invites travellers into her hut for a night's rest. But during the night, when travellers are fast asleep, she attacks them and devours them.  Her true identity before she became a yokai is said to have been a priestess of a mountain god, or an old woman who was a victim of ubasute (the practice of abandoning elderly relatives in mountains during a period of famine: See Wikipedia).

I just found another good site on Yamanba😊 :

http://yokai.com/yamauba/

Click here for more stories under the same category ➡(Monsters)

This story reminded me of this➡(Mountain Road) and this video too➡(Snowy Roads are scary!) You might need to switch to the web version of the blog to watch the video.

Comments

Sydney Pacione said…
Ah, I feel so bad for the old woman/girlfriend. She really didn’t want to be left behind...
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Hello! I feel sorry for her too! Some sad stories are associated with the yokai!πŸ˜†⭐ Thank you for your comment!
Haem said…
This one was very interesting! How the witch and the girl seemed to be connected, poor witch because it looks like she was a victim of abandonment and was just trying to transfer her feelings to the sleeping girl. On the other hand I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the witch coming out from the car like it was hers, what a modern witch! haha.
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I really enjoy reading comments from you readers because each one of you have a different take on the same story πŸ˜ŠπŸ’–✨ It's amusing that you found that part of the story funny πŸ˜†πŸŒΈ✨
George V said…
Glad I am not driving anywhere late at night in the near future. I love this story. Saya, I have a question, if you don't mind. What is the probablity of any givem 10 yen coin being used in Kokkuri-san?
Incognito said…
Ha! I wasn't expecting the twist at the end. I like stories where an entity of some sorts enters the dream world because it feels that you can't escape them. I mean you have to sleep at some point. The "Mountain Witch" has a variant in every culture I think. Old women are the weakest of any society so when things go wrong they're the first ones to be blamed or hurt. It reminds me of the movie "Darkness Falls" where an old woman curses the town that hanged her for a double murder she didn't commit. Very interesting as usual, Saya. Thanks.
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I love this story too!πŸ˜†⭐
10 yen coins are the ones that are normally used in Kokkuri San. Thank you!πŸ‘πŸŒˆ✨
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Thank you for your interesting comment!πŸ˜ŠπŸ’ž

I agree that stories that involve dreams tend to be quite scary! I like them too and have posted other stories under the category of "Dream" in the past.

https://sayainunderworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Dream?m=0

The film you mentioned sounds great! I will check it out ✨

Baba yaga of Slavic folklore also comes to my mind when I think about old women with supernatural powersπŸ˜†✨ I think while old folks were considered weak, they were also feared for their wisdom and the possibility of them having a special power that younger people do not possess!
allucinator said…
How did the ancient woman get a car? Magic? Stolen from a poor traveller? The ancient woman really knows how to drive well. Perhaps she can drive like those guys in Initial D.
Saya_In_Underworld said…
That's an old manga and I have never read it so it's funny that you know itπŸ˜†πŸŽ΅✨
allucinator said…
It has a popular anime adaptation. It's even popular in the West. That iconic white car, those iconic soundtracks.

πŸ˜‚
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Oh really? I seeπŸ˜†✨ That's cool!
kraken said…
oh my god this story could've ended up as a murder story had the boyfriend decided not to mention his experience of the mountain witch to his girlfriend!! waking up after thinking "i will kill him" lmao i too have dreams too that feel very real and then waking up with intense emotions 🀣
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I hope you weren't thinking about murdering someone upon waking upπŸ˜†πŸŒˆ✨
Amuletyu said…
Lol I feel so bad for the boyfriend! Driving in the mountains during night is so scary. Thanks for the story, Saya!
Saya_In_Underworld said…
It's actually funny if you imagine it happen to someone else πŸ˜†✨ Thank you so much for your comment too! I always look forward to reading your comments!πŸ‘πŸ’–✨
bean said…
you don't know me at all, we are total strangers. i'd like to say that i've been a an of your page since i was 13 years old. i would go to a computer rental store just to read your posts and after all these years, your page is still alive and well thankfully.
Thank you so much kindly for your comment! I hope I can continue to post some more stories soon!Take care!:)))
Anonymous said…
Woah. That was scary as heck.
If I was the narrator, I would be stepping on the gas too.
But then if I was him, I would never try to sneak a peek into the car.
This is why we are advised to ignore and never approach anything spookily out of the ordinary. You never know what will answer you back.

Now, from the POV of the old woman, I do not know whether to sympathize or fear her.
She could be genuinely a bad spirit trying to harm the narrator.
She could have been pissed off at the narrator for invading her privacy. In this case, the chase was justified. Even spirits deserve their own personal space.
Or she was just trying to hitch a ride. Pity for her in this case.

Great story, Saya-san. Thank you.

- nunu -
You are so kind to be so concerned about the spirit!πŸ˜†πŸŽ΅Thank you so much for your comment!