Shapeshifter

This story happened to my grandpa's sister. My grandpa lived in a village along with his siblings and parents when he was young. His sister was 21 years at that time.

It was Winter evening. She was returning from a neighbours home. The distance between two houses was almost a kilometer. As it was winter the road was covered with mist and wind was very chilly. My grand aunt was carrying a torch in her hand because of the darkness and mist. She was moving quickly. Suddenly her torch focused on something standing in the middle of the road. It was a dark shadow like creature. The scary thing was even when the torch focused on the thing it was pitch black. None of its features were clear only the eyes were visible. They were glowing red. She got startled and moved back. The creature moved towards her. As it was coming closer, it was constantly changing shape. The only thing common was his black texture.

My grand aunt started screaming for help. She ran back towards the neighbours home. When she reached their home it vanished within the mist. The neighbours were surprised to see her panting like that. They asked her to come in. She was reluctant to go out in the night. There were no telephones at that time. So they sent their son to inform my great grandpa about her. My great grandpa came to take her with him.

She didn't speak a single word until morning. In the morning she recited her incident to whole family. My grandpa's grandmother explained that it was a 'Chalawa' (Shapeshifter). It is a kind of notorious spirit that scares people by changing its shape or size. It looks for people who are alone in desolate areas. My grand aunt was alone so she fell prey to it. She was lucky to get away from it.

My grandpa said the incident haunted his sister so much that she didn't go out of house for a week. She is 73 years old but still avoid to stay alone even at home.