8 Foot Tall Woman

HACHISHAKUSAMA

You heard of the slender-man,but have you heard of the tall slender woman?

This story is about a Japanese urban legend called Hachi Shaku Sama, which means eight feet tall.

My grandparents lived in a small village in Japan.Every summer my parents would take me there on holiday to visit them.The last time I saw them was the summer when I was eight years old.My grandparents were inside the house and in was playing by myself outside in the backyard.I heard a strange sound."po po po".I didn't know what it was and it was hard to figure out where it was coming from.I was looking around,searching for the source of the noise.When I notice something on top of the tall hedges that enclosed the backyard.It was a straw hat,it wasn't resting on the hedge,it was behind it.That's where the sound was coming from.then,it began to move.It stopped in a small gap in the hedge and i can see a face peering through.It was a woman,but the hedges were high,almost eight feet tall.I was surprised how tall the woman was.I was wondering if the woman was wearing stilts or some sort of huge,high heeled shoes.Then,a split second later,she walked off and the strange noise disappeared with her,fading into the distance. Confused,I got up and ran back into the house.My grandparents were in the kitchen drinking tea. I sat down at the table and told my grandparents what I had seen.They weren't really paying attention to me until I mentioned that distinctive sound.

They both froze.Grandma's eyes grew wide as she covered her mouth with her hand.Grandpa's face became really serious and he grabbed me by the arm."This is really important",he said,very intensely."how tall was she?" As tall as the garden hedge."Where was she standing?""When did this happen, what did you do?" " Did she see you?" I tried to answer all his questions as best as I could.He rushed out to the hallway and made a call.i couldn't hear what he what he was saying,but after he hung up he walked out to the door.Grandma,what's going on?"There's something dangerous about abducting children in this area," she said.We call it Hachishakusama."It takes on the appearance of a extremely tall woman and say "po po po" in a deep voice.A long time ago,it was captured by monks and managed to confine it in a ruined building on the outskirts of the village they trapped it using four jizo,small religious statues that they placed at the north,south,east and west of the ruins,so that it could not escape.But somehow it did.Last time it appeared was 15 years ago.My grandmother said anyone who saw it was destined to die within a few days.It all sounded so crazy,I wasn't sure what to believe.

Just then my grandpa came back but with an old woman who called herself Kasan. They took me upstairs to my bedroom and began covering my windows with newspaper,with ancient runes written all over them. Kasan placed small bowls of salt in all four corners of the room and a small Buddha figure in the center."Soon the sun would be setting so listen carefully.You must stay in this room until 7:30 tomorrow morning.Do NOT open this door for any reason."She placed a bucket in my hands."Not even to use the restroom "My grandparents and Kasan left the room and I locked the door after them.I couldn't believe what was happening.Was I really going to die in a few days?I turned on the TV to try to take my mind off everything and eventually fell asleep.I was awakened around 1 a.m by a tapping sound on the window.It's probably just a tree or something,I told myself.Then came a knock on the door and I heard my grandpa's voice,Are you ok in there?If you're scared I can come and keep you company.Hearing his voice was such a relief that without thinking I rushed over the door.But something didn't feel right.I looked at the bowls of salt in the room.All four of then had turned BLACK.

And then I heard the sound again."po po po."The tapping on the window continued.I kneed in front of the Buddha and began to pray.I was so terrified and caught up on my chanting that I didn't realize the sounds had stopped.I checked my watch ,it was 7:30 a.m.Carefully I opened the door and ran to my grandparents.We all got into the van and headed straight to the airport.Apparently there were others who had escaped the grasp of Hachishakusama,as long as they never stepped foot in japan again.So two years ago when my grandpa got sick,he refused to let me visit him.He even left strict instructions in his will to not let me attend his funeral.I couldn't believe that this creature prevented me from saying goodbye to him. 

So when my grandma called a few days ago to tell me that she was diagnosed with cancer,I wasn't gonna let her stop me from visiting."It's been two years grandma,and nothing has happened to me.""We don't know if this thing is even real.""I'm not gonna let it stop me from seeing you"."If you say so dear.""i love you grandma i'll see you soon."..."po po po"