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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Background-Toe-8616 on 2026-08-04 05:40:04+00:00.

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When I was in 2nd grade i would wait for my mom at a temple. My mom was a teacher for a school out of town so it would take her longer to come back around 30-40 mins. My school bus would drop me off at a temple at the edge of our town. There were no houses or shops near it, just a long road connecting the two towns and dense woods.

I would play on the porch waiting for her. I never went inside because it was a kali temple and she used to scare me as a kid. It was a complete black statue with red vermilion spread at the bottom, bulging angry eyes which felt too realistic compared to the less detailed black body and a tongue too red and too long. The skull necklace wasn't so detailed and the colour was fading. That made her appearance a little less terrifying.

Once it took my mom longer than usual to come and it started getting dark. About 2 hours later than her usual time her bus finally arrived. It was completely dark by this point. I just heard the noise of an engine stopping, the ting-ting of a bell and a man's voice yelling my town's name. The door opened and i could make out a silhouette of a woman walking out due to the headlights, which quickly disappeared as the engine started up again.

As the engine's sound started fading i heard a slight sound of a woman's footsteps. Slowly making sense as she stood near the porch. I could make out her figure again and I called out to her.

She didn't reply.

the image of my mother in pitch blackness not uttering a word made me hesitate a bit. I called out her name a few more times.

"Come up!" i said

She didn't reply, just stood there. I couldn't see her face and she wouldn't move. I was scared but still she was my mom i thought. I took a few steps towards her. When i realised

She was standing on the left side. Left side of the porch where it was just dense woods. No road and impossible for a bus to stop.

I started replaying the previous days and trying to figure out if I was misremembering. But no, the road was on the right side. she always came from the right side.

I started crying, asking if it was really her? she still wouldn't reply.

Scared and sobbing i ran towards the temple. I closed the door and sat in a corner not looking up as to avoid getting any glimpse of the idol.

Just few seconds passed by when I heard her voice.

My mom, it was her voice definitely.

"We have to go" She said

But it wasn't in concerned or worried tone rather a demand. The one she would make every other night , exactly like the one she would make every other night. I swear I heard these exact words in the exact tone yesterday.

It was like someone just replayed them. There was no acknowledgement of my freak out as if it didn't happen. I didn't go out and the words repeated or i guess replayed. I still didn't go out .

I remember waiting there for hours. Getting tired and eventually falling asleep.

When I woke up she was holding me. Asking why I fell asleep and if I was ok. I was still scared but i forgot most of what had happened. When we got home I had a fever.

I never told my mom this but i never went back to that temple. My mom talked with the neighbour and she said i can wait at her house while my mom comes back so that became our new arrangement.

But about a year ago i did tell this incident to my mom. i thought she would be wondering what had happened that night but she was confused. She doesn't remember such a night at all.

According to her I always waited at the neighbours house. She asked me what temple.

"The one at the edge of our town with kali."

She doesn't remember a temple like that at all and she spent her whole life in that town.