Ghost Stories From Japan Episode 62 : The doll who screamed in the pressing machine

There was a popular restaurant in my hometown.
It was so famous and well-established that everyone in the area had eaten there at least once.
Let's say the name of the restaurant is K.
K was reasonably priced, and most importantly, it was delicious and had a large portion.
If you were ever in need of a meal, you could go there to eat out and be very satisfied.
There was a large doll standing in front of the eaves of K.
The doll was about 120 centimeters tall, and dressed as a chef in the style of a Western-style restaurant.
It seemed to have been installed at the same time the restaurant opened, and the paint was peeling and discolored in places, showing its age.
However, as the mascot of the restaurant, the doll did its job well, and everyone loved that doll.
When I was a student, there was one day when I came home late from an athletic club activity.
The sun had set, and it was already dark without the light of the street lamps.
On my way home, there was that familiar restaurant K.
I was at the peak of my hunger, so I stopped in front of the restaurant and peeked inside.
The sight of the customers enjoying their delicious-looking dishes made my stomach rumble just by looking at them.
Damn, I'm starving!
I muttered to myself as I looked at the doll.
At that time, suddenly, the doll's eyes glanced up.
Its arms also moved, as if it was about to move and come toward me.
I was shocked and my heart jumped out of my chest, and I ran home with all my might, moaning inaudibly in terror.
"What's wrong, you look so panicked,", my parents were surprised to see me, and said so.
But I was almost adult, so if I said that K's doll moved, everybody in my family would have laughed at me.
So I just said, "No, it's nothing, by the way, What's for dinner ?"
I pretended calm, and let the situation pass.
A few days later, our family decided to go to K for dinner.
Of course I went there with an eagerness to check out that doll.
When I arrived and before entering the restaurant, I stared at him.
The doll was molded from resin and had no moving parts.
Even the eyes were painted in colors to make them look that way, so there was no way for them to move.
Even the arms were smooth and seamless, and it was impossible for them to move.
It was just my mistake, I thought.
Even after that, I looked at the doll many times, but only once did it move.
I had no choice but to think that I was mistaken.
Time passed, and I left my hometown to live a working life.
Although I was busy, I made it a point to return to my parents' house for New Year's, and it was the first family reunion in a long time.
My family said, "Oh, by the way, K had closed, I heard the owner passed away."
Hearing that story made me nostalgic and sad at the same time, but I remembered that incident and tried to talk about it.
"I remember seeing K's doll move once."
At that time, I expected my family would just respond, "oh no, you're kidding", or “how could that be ?", and it would be the end of the conversation.
But, for some reason, my father stopped with holding his chopsticks.
Then he asked me, "are you sure about that ?"
My father worked for a waste management company.
They collected most of the local stuff, so naturally they got some of K's waste, including that doll.
He said that, an incident occurred when he was compressing them in a press machine as usual.
Suddenly, they heard terrible screaming voice from the machine, so all turned pale.
Someone got caught in the machine !?, So he hurriedly called a roll call to his employees.
But, they were all safe.
The terrible screams were coming from the press machine, so they made an emergency stop and looked inside.
Inside the machine, they found that doll, which had been completely smashed in with the waste and shattered.
They said, "is that doll who screamed ?", "no way, how come a doll could make a scream ?"
No one could believe it, but everyone there admitted they heard the screams for sure.
"At that time, I thought, "how could a doll scream ?, That's impossible", but after hearing your story, it somehow made sense."
That's what my father said.
It was an experience that made me realize that strange things really do exist.