The Lajjablaise

Caution to all men

This experience was one of my great uncle's. Unfortunately, I never met him, however the story of his experience lingers on in his generations.

Firstly, the story takes place on the island of Trinidad which is located at the end of the chain of islands of the Caribbean. I was brought up there myself until the age of 14, so I can safely say I believe my great uncle story which was told to me by my grandmother.

It occur on the regular morning, my uncle usually started off for work at 4 am every day, he worked in a factory a little way from his house and since there were no cars back then, he used his bicycle. Now, this part of the island was not developed yet, so there were no buildings, mainly grass and tall ones at that. The nights were really dark, so at 4 am my great uncle was one of the few people who were out at that time of morning. With just the light from his lamp he had hooked on to his bicycle, it only lit the path in front of him. Upon riding down the road, he faintly made out the figure of a woman not too far in front of him. Being a good man and finding it peculiar that a beautiful woman would be out by herself this early, he stopped to ask her why she was out so early and if he could help her get somewhere. In turn she was very flirtatious and said "no, but you can keep me company" . Well, my uncle got off his bicycle and began walking with her, talking and laughing. Some time after, he happened to look down and realized that she was walking with one foot on the path and the other was hidden in the bushes. Back in those day, "The Lajjablasie" was a common demon. It was mischievous and would only appear as a beautiful woman to lure men. It would bedazzle them and unconsciously take them deep into the forests and either leave them there to catch their death or kill them. Noone knows for certain, since no one ever came back to tell the story. The only known way to protect yourself from a Lajjablaise was light or fire.

Becoming more aware of his senses and surroundings, my uncle realized that he was a long way past where he was supposed to be. He was terrified, he jumped on his bicycle and began peddling as fast as he could back to safety. The Lajjablaise let out the most horrifying laugh you could imagine, one that would make your heart want to jump out of your chest. She began to run behind him screaming in a demonic voice, "you won't get away today Ramnauth, I'll catch you" and continued laughing. She was also throwing pebble like rocks at his bicycle in hopes that the bicycle will seize and he would be thrown off.

In his state of panic, my uncle remembered he had matches in his pocket, being a smoker he always had matches. He pulled out a cigarette he had rolled in his sleeve and lit it. With that she stopped chasing him almost immediately and said "your lucky today Ramnauth, you get away".

When my uncle finally arrived at the factory, the other workers began to question his whereabouts, upon relating his story, some of the workers had their own tales to to tell.

After my uncle's episode the owners of the factory, changed the hours of operation at the factory and began having the workers come in to work at daylight. Soon after, American companies began buying the lands, clearing the bushes etc and built buildings.