My sister's friend's stepmom could SEE things. This story still haunts me.

Okay so my sister is a really good storyteller and when she told me this in person I got chills down my whole body. Writing it out might not hit the same but I'm gonna try.

This happened when I was in middle school. My sister was in high school at the time.

One of her close friends had a stepmom. The dad remarried when the friend was still little. And the stepmom... she had THE GIFT. Like she was basically a shaman, but not the full theatrical setup with altars and incense everywhere. More like, word of mouth, people quietly showing up at her house. You'd look at the place and go "wait is this actually a shaman's house??" Very low-key.

My sister genuinely didn't know the stepmom was a stepparent until she heard this story, that's how close and natural they seemed together.

Anyway. The story.

The friend was like, "my stepmom literally saved my life."

This was right after she started first grade. Summer break. The three of them, dad, stepmom, and the friend (let's call her Soyoung), went to a nearby river to hang out. Swimming, catching snails, the whole summer vibe.

Around 2 or 3pm, the stepmom gets out of the water to prep food for everyone. She climbs up onto the embankment, a little bit above and away from the water. The river wasn't even that deep, btw. Shallow enough that the deepest part only came up to an adult's waist. Like barely even a river. Kids played there all the time.

Soyoung and her dad were deep in snail-hunting mode, totally focused, when suddenly the stepmom LOSES IT from up on the embankment.

"HONEY!!!!! HONEY!!!!! GET OUT NOW!!!!! GRAB SOYOUNG AND GET OUT NOW!!!!!"

The dad was like "...what?? just a few more min--"

She didn't let him finish.

"GET OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT NOW!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!"

She was screaming and sobbing and shrieking all at the same time. Soyoung said she had never seen anything like it in her life. Full body goosebumps. The stepmom looked absolutely unhinged.

The dad, clearly freaked out, just grabbed Soyoung and carried her out of the water immediately.

Then the stepmom turned and started screaming at EVERYONE on that riverbank.

"EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!! GET OUT!!!!!! GET OUT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!!"

People just stared at her like she was crazy. Didn't move. The stepmom kept screaming.

The dad finally made it up to the embankment and was like "what is WRONG with you, why are you screaming like that!!"

The stepmom, pale and shaking, goes: "There's a water ghost in that river right now. It's moving around down there."

The dad and Soyoung looked toward the water.

And then they noticed. A group of middle school boys nearby was suddenly in a panic because one of their friends had gone under. Just gone. Nobody could find him.

Everyone started searching. Couldn't find him. Someone called 119 (Korean emergency services). A water rescue team eventually showed up too.

They found him.

There was a section of the riverbed that had been dug out, probably by heavy machinery at some point. Deep pit, hidden underwater, completely covered in thick aquatic weeds. The boy's feet got tangled in the weeds. He couldn't get out.

After everyone calmed down, the dad asked the stepmom what happened.

She said she felt something off the moment they arrived at the river. Something weird in the air. But she brushed it off, figured it was nothing, and eventually forgot about it while they were playing.

Then when she went up to the embankment to prep food, she glanced back at the river to check on her husband and Soyoung.

And she saw it.

A dark shape in the water. Like a mass of black hair. Slowly drifting toward where the dad and Soyoung were standing.

That's when it clicked. THAT'S what she'd been feeling since they arrived.

She screamed.

She said when the dad grabbed Soyoung and rushed out of the water, the shape just... stopped. Hovered there for a moment. Then slowly drifted off in a different direction.

And then the boy went under.

Officially it was an accident caused by the hidden pit in the riverbed. That's the rational explanation.

but.

I'm telling you. Be careful around water.