Weird Hawaii

The Dead Boy Beneath the Waters of ‘Ola’a, Hawaii Here on the Big Island of Hawaii is a village known as ‘Ola’a. Quiet, humble, and community oriented, an outside observer would never guess that this little village was the site of a tragedy which still haunts the children of the village today. In 1947 a gang of neighborhood kids were playing on the shore of a local pond when one of them (I forget his first name but I believe his last name was Tanaka) fell in and disappeared beneath the surface of the water. His compatriots rushed to find help, but the boy did not resurface. Divers hurried into the water to look for the lost boy. When they did find the boy’s body, they were disturbed and by what they saw. The dead boy was at the very bottom of the pond. He was sitting calmly upon a rock with his arms by his side. His eyes and mouth were open. It was as if he sunk to the bottom, sat down on a rock, and waited to die. His body was swaying back and forth with the currents. The divers retrieved the corpse and everyone tried to forget about the strange and tragic death that had occurred. The drowned boy refused to let them forget, however. People who traveled on the shore of the pond complained that something would tug at the bottom of their pants as they walked. Rumors spread that the boy’s spirit was still trapped beneath the dark waters of the pond, and tries to pull unsuspecting victims in to his watery grave. Years later, another boy was inexplicably dragged into the pond. He was walking behind his father when something pulled him in. He shouted to his father, but it was too late. The force had pulled him beneath the surface. When divers went to retrieve the boy they fund him perched on a rock, eyes and mouth open, arms relaxed at his sides. Fortunately this boy was rescued and revived. Nowadays children are warned to avoid this pond. Who knows when the spirit will become restless once again and claim another young life? –John Kawikonu The legend of this eerie pond was documented in the work of the late, great storyteller, author, and compiler of Hawaiian legends, Glen Grant. In his book Obake Files, Ghostly Encounters in Supernatural Hawaii (Mutual Publishing Company, 1999) Grant writes: On some evenings the villagers could hear a cry emanate from the pond in the middle of the night. At first most everyone believed that the haunting cry was the wind blowing through the tall sugar cane fields. But a few of the older people said they knew better. The high-pitched whining was no wind but the spirit of the Tanaka boy--cold, wet and desolate at the bottom of the pond. The soul was crying out for help and deliverance. Trapped in this world by accident, he sought someone's spirit as a substitute. They would take his place at the bottom of the pond so that he could be free to go on to the otherworld. Those who were present at the second accident swear that the other boy was pulled into the water against his will. It was the noon hour. He was walking about 50 yards behind his father along the edge of the pond, occasionally picking up a flat stone to skim across the water. When he fell, he screamed out to his father that something was pulling him into the pond. He clawed at the earth, trying to hold on, to fight back. But in what seemed like an instant, the force tugging at his legs pulled him into the watery depths of the pond. By the time the young boy's body had been located, it was found sitting naturally on a rock on the bottom of the pond. He seemed so natural sitting there--arms placidly at his sides, eyes and mouth open, swaying gently to and fro in a light current. Fortunately, the rescuers were able to bring him to the surface in time to be resuscitated… Would the Tanaka boy ever find his peace? A Shinto priest was brought from Hilo to bless the pond so that the haunting cries finally ceased. Yet, on the peculiarly dark nights, when the evening skies seem bathed in a black ink, those who lived closest to the pond would say that sometimes they heard the Tanaka boy's cry. Was it melancholy, or sinister? Weird Hawaii The tales on this site are just the tip of the iceberg. For the full story, buy the Weird US books from our online store...