Great Aunt Polly died at age ninety-eight. She had lived all her life in the countryside and never wanted to visit the city. She loved the innocence and simplicity of country life. She had requested that when she departed this world she be buried in the country. 

Relatives came from all over and from overseas. Wake would be kept for two nights preceding the funeral. All preparations were made. This saw Polly being put into a box and covered in ice.
One day before the funeral she was washed then wrapped in a clean white cotton sheet and laid out on a bed upstairs. Cotton was then knotted 10-20 times and wrapped in the sheet with Polly. A relative was appointed to watch the dead. This person was expected to stay awake. If he happened to fall asleep it was believed that the dead would begin to swallow the cotton. Each knot swallowed would represent a relative who will die in the near future.
The house itself went through a mini transformation. All photographs were turned down or turned to face the wall. Mirrors were covered and flowers were put outside. For this short period nobody wanted to eat ice. A nephew who was a cabinet maker made the casket and clothes for the dead.
The wakes were well attended due to the old lady’s popularity and the abundance of food and drinks available to all. For the last night of the wake Polly was lying in state upstairs. There, relatives and friends would visit her. Whenever someone went up to see her, on their return to the gathering one could detect a noticeable lull in their activities and mood.
The house was full and the yard was filling up fast. It became obvious that not too many people were staying on the outskirts. As it got later everyone on the outskirts came closer and closer to the house. The dark exterior seemed to force them towards the light.
On the stroke of midnight it began to rain. It fell heavily and violently driving a chilly breeze. Older folks nodded their grey heads and murmured that their friend was crying. As the downpour increased, everyone ran for the cover of the wake house. Cold and cramped they continued their vigil.
Meanwhile, cook-up was on the stove and drinks were being served. Dominoes and cards were engaging the attention of some of the men. Other villagers stood around in small groups chatting while the children ran all over creating quite a din. Suddenly there was a power outage. In the country, power outages could last anytime from 24 hours to a week. Candles were lit and the wake continued.
Polly’s son Benjamin was seventy. He lived in the same village. His home was situated a few streets away from his mother’s. He was old so he took his time with everything he did. Tonight he was going over to the wake. He knew he would be late.
By the time he was ready to leave rain was pouring and a sudden blackout came. Slowly he lit a few candles and rummaged around for his old rain coat. He had not used it in a long time so was forced to give it a few shakes to get rid of any resident insects like scorpions, centipedes or tarantulas. Personally he did not mind a few cockroaches.
He put on the big black coat, pulled on his long-boots and then tugged the hood over his silver grey hair. Head down to avoid the harsh raindrops, he shuffled slowly over to Polly’s home. Benjamin took his time getting there. You see, he was partially blind in his left eye and the right eye was swiftly catching up with the other. Turning into the wake yard, he shuffled noisily towards the door.

SHUFFLE! SCRAPE!
The strange noise was coming from the front of the dark yard. It was pitch black outside so they could see nothing.

SCRAPE! SCRATCH! SHUFFLE!
The ominous noise drew closer and seemed to bring with it some amount of dread. All eyes turned towards the door.
Benjamin arrived at the door but couldn’t see it clearly. He reached out blindly and felt his way inside. His hands came into contact with someone.
“Who dat!”
His voice was a touch above a croak.
There was no response only deadly silence. The old, hooded man stumbled into the crowded room and looked blindly around. At that instant the large hood slipped down covering half of his face. Now he could see nothing.
By the time the strange, searching hands came out of the darkness everyone was on their feet staring fixedly at the doorway. Suddenly a dark ghostly figure lunged into the room its huge hands swinging one way then the other searching for a victim.
“Who dat!”
There was no response because they were all fleeing for their lives. Bodies went through windows, out of doors and into any available hiding place. Four people managed to cram themselves through the backdoor at one time. This was quite a feat because Tessa was among the four. Tessa was over 300 pounds.
By the time Benjamin was able to remove his hood the wake house was empty. He shrugged his tired shoulders and trudged upstairs to sit with his mother. A shocker awaited him. The body was gone. In its wake was a hastily unwrapped sheet.