Trinbagonians talk. (141) Fear of the hoot hoot, cry from the Owl, but the Douen makes the same sound.

One sunny day, we walk to de beach an’ we took de shortest way to go dey. De place to walk on was a dirt track dat had stones an’ grass. De rest of de place had plenty tall trees. Yuh could hear de birds an’ some of de bugs. Although people did pass us goin’ to de beach or goin’ home, de area look dull. We did stay a while on de beach, then we went home. On we way back, we was quiet. All yuh could hear was we footsteps. De sun was goin’ down an’ de trees was still. De quietness was a bit upsettin’. Suddenly, we hear “Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot!” from de trees. None of us did say anythin’, buh we start to walk faster. A few minutes later, we did hear de hootin’ sound again.    “What is dat?” Somebody asked.       One person say dat dey didn’t kno’, buh somebody else say dat it must be a owl.    “Owls doh be out this early,” Another person say.          Ah start to feel real funny, so ah walk a little faster, to make sure ah didn’t get left behind. When we hear “hoot, hoot, hoot!” again, somebody say, “Dat must be a douen!”     We all kno’ dat a douen was de un-baptize spirit of a dead child, so we all start to run. Meh heart was beatin’ real fass, buh ah didn’t stop runnin’. Everybody did run faster than me. Ah was real frighten, even though we didn’t hear de hootin’ noise again. Ah did feel dat de creature was quietly followin’ we. When we did get to de main road where it had people, we stop runnin’. All of us start to talk about de stories we did hear about a douen.

One sunny day, we walked to the beach and we took the shortest route to get there. The path to walk on was a dirt track that had some stones and grass. The rest of the area had lots of tall trees. You could hear the birds and some of the insects. Although people passed us heading to the beach or going home, the area looked dismal. We stayed a while on the beach, then we left. On our way back, everyone was quiet. All you could hear were our footsteps. The sun was setting and the trees were calm. The stillness felt a bit daunting. Suddenly we heard “Hoot, hoot, hoot!’ in the trees. Nobody said anything, but we started to walk faster. A few minutes later, we heard the hooting sound again.       “What is that!?” Someone asked.   One person said they didn’t know, but another one said that it must be an owl.            “Owls don’t be out this early,” Another person said. I started feeling very uncomfortable, so I walked a little faster to make sure I wasn’t left behind. When we heard “Hoot, hoot, hoot!” again, someone said, “That must be a douen!” We all knew that a douen was the un-baptized spirit of a dead child, so we all started to run. My heart was racing, but I did not stop running. Everyone ran faster than me and I was petrified. Although we didn’t hear the hooting sound again, I felt the creature might be silently following us. When we eventually got to the main road where there were people, we stopped running. Everyone started talking about the stories they heard about a douen.