Did They Fade, Or Do They Remain?

I live in Hokkaido, and my yard used to have an old well. It had been there long before I moved in, tucked away behind shrubs and an aging shed. I rarely used it, maybe only only once in a while for watering plants? But otherwise it sat quietly, almost forgotten.

The area where I live has long had a reputation for being haunted. Over the years I've grown used to it. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, faint voices can be heard, like distant prayers carried on the wind. They've weakened as time has passed, and I've come to accept them as part of the atmosphere here.

But what happened when I arranged to close the well felt entirely different.

In the days leading up to the ceremony, strange things began to occur. At night, dogs from far-off homes barked and howled in the direction of my property, though there was nothing visible in the yard. Inside my own house, I would wake to muffled knocking sounds, low and insistent, as though coming from beneath the ground.

The night before the priest was due to arrive, I saw something I still can't explain. At dusk, I noticed a shape near the well. At first it looked like an animal crouched close to the ground, but as I focused on it, the form seemed to stretch upward, taking on the blurred outline of a person. It never came into focus... Always shadowy, indistinct... Before vanishing altogether. When I went to check, the ground around the stones was damp, though it hadn't rained in days.

On the morning of the ceremony, the air in the yard felt unusually heavy, as though the place itself was holding its breath. The priest performed the purification, but later admitted it had been harder than usual, as if something resisted the prayers.

When the ritual was finished and the well was sealed, the disturbances ceased. The dogs grew quiet, the knocking sounds never returned, and I haven't seen that shadowy figure again.

Even so, the memory lingers. The distant prayers that sometimes drift through my area feel familiar now, almost harmless. But the things I experienced during the well-closing were different... Very active, immediate, and unsettling in a way I won't soon forget.

Do you think the spirits tied to the well are still here, or did they fade away like the voices of those midnight prayers?