The first time it happened, which was just a week ago, Ryan did not think too much of it. But when his 50 dollar bill went missing again 2 days ago, he suspected Tina had taken it.
That morning, Ryan had enough and asked his wife if she had taken them. She did not and was equally surprised. Who would have stolen them? Surely their 2 year old son would not be capable of doing that?
Later that day, Peter their neighbor, came over and asked Ryan if he had noticed stuffs missing from his house. Peter said that money seemed to be disappearing for no reason. But they were not alone. It would appear that almost every house hold on that street had the same problem!
During a community gathering, the residents brought this up. Someone suggested it was the work of toyols - child ghosts that were popularly known in Malaysian folklore. Not everyone was open to this idea, especially Ryan. But the incident that night changed his mind completely.
According to Malay folklore, toyol is a child spirit invoked by a bomoh (witch doctor) from a dead human foetus using black magic. The Chinese called it guai zai in Cantonese or kwee kia in Hokkien. The toyol always do the master's bidding but in return, it would demand food, toys and blood.
The owner usually uses the toyol to steal things from others. To make sure that the toyol does his biddings, the owner must take care of the toyol's needs or else it would create problems for him.
That night, Ryan's wife and son were upstairs asleep. It was close to midnight. Ryan was alone downstairs in the hall working on his laptop. Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from upstairs. It was a thud followed by the clanging sound of metal. He called out to his wife but she did not respond.
He thought nothing about it and continued working on his laptop. A moment later, he heard it again. The thud and clanging of metals. What the heck was that? He decided to check it out and slowly and quietly ascended the stairs.
Halfway up, he peeked. There was no one in the dimly lighted hall upstairs. The door to his bedroom where his wife was sleeping was closed. His son's room was shut too. He gazed around for a while and then slowly went back down the stairs.
He had just taken two steps when the sound came again! He froze. And then as quickly as he could, he shot up the staircase and looked.
Then he saw it.
A bald headed creature with pointed ears and blood red eyes gazed on him from the ceiling! Ryan gasped. The creature opened its mouth and showed off its ugly sharp teeth. All of a sudden, it jumped off the ceiling, flew past Ryan and scurried down the stairs.
A bald headed creature with pointed ears and blood red eyes gazed on him from the ceiling! Ryan gasped. The creature opened its mouth and showed off its ugly sharp teeth. All of a sudden, it jumped off the ceiling, flew past Ryan and scurried down the stairs.
It all happened in a split second! Dazed, Ryan stood there for a moment before recovering, and ran down the stairs. He looked around the hall and the kitchen. The creature was no where to be found! Where had it gone?
Then he saw the window near the front door was opened. He had shut it earlier. Obviously, the toyol had escaped using the window. It was his first time seeing a toyol in real life and it sent a chill down his spine.
Image source
Image source
In the days that followed, Ryan had gathered with some of the residents to discuss what they needed to do to get rid of the toyol invading their neighborhood. The owner of the toyol was found to be one the residents living in one of the houses down the road. The residents confronted him and demanded that he get rid of the creature and returned their money.
A week later, peace had returned to the neighborhood. There was no more report of toyols, and money had stopped disappearing on their own. Ryan told me that the owner had mysteriously left the house, probably bringing his toyol with him.
But where did he go? Maybe, just maybe, to a neighborhood near you. Have your money been disappearing lately? 
Note : This is a true story. I have replaced my friend's name to protect his identity. I'm afraid I could not reveal the exact location, but the neighborhood that was being terrorized by the toyol was somewhere in Kota Damansara, PJ.
