Post #261677 by procinema29 on Thu, Oct 19, 2006 3:26 PM

Below you will find the true story about the heiau experience, which I posted elsewhere on TC some time back. This experience is in some ways the inspiration for a short story I wrote called "The Necklace," which I'll post separately. Anyway, to recap, "The Heiau Story" is true, and "The Necklace" is fiction. Just so folks don't get confused.

THE HEIAU STORY

The events described might just have been a coincidence, by the way, so please take the following story only as an anecdote:

When I was much younger, ten years old to be exact, I visited some relatives in Hawaii. With my relatives, I went on a tour of some historic sites, including a sacred burial ground (these are called "heiaus"). This heiau was many hundreds of years old, and royalty was buried there. The tour guide explained that we must disturb nothing on the site, and that we must act respectfully at all times during our visit. He also explained that--as is also apparently true of many historic sites throughout the world--strange things tended to happen to people who tried to take anything from the site (rocks, etc.).

To be more specific, he said that people who tried to take things from the site were not allowed to leave. The site was watched over by guardian spirits. He was very serious about this, and said that people coming in using cars or bicycles, for example, would experience mechanical problems that would persist, and prevent them from leaving, until they put back whatever it was they had taken.

Being young, I thought it would be a good idea to try to test this. So while we were looking around, I picked up a very small pebble from the path, very tiny, and put it in my pocket. I thought I was being really clever.

When the tour was over, we all got in the car to leave. My aunt turned the key in the ignition, but the engine wouldn't start--it made only a squeaking, whining sound. After this went on for a few moments, I figured I knew what was happening, and started shouting for someone to roll a window down. I almost got hysterical. They didn't know what I was shouting about, but someone did roll a window down. I reached into my pocket and threw the pebble out the window. And at that very moment, the car engine roared to life. We drove out of there, and I never did anything like that again.

Once again, this might easily have been just a coincidence. But it sure made an impression on me. Was something trying to put the fear into me that day? I don't know, but I believe a good scare can often be a useful learning experience.

Hope you like my story! Thanks for reading.