Out of the mouths of children comes some really messed up stuff, apparently. Twitter users lend a helping hand with deciphering the lyrics.

Is there anything cuter than hearing a small child sing a song, and hear them mix the lyrics up? Children have such a unique and candid way of viewing the world, and that spills out very clearly when they sing their own versions of nursery rhymes. The lyrics are often based on what they see in the world around them, even if they’re hard for adults to parse.

Twitter user @megane0027 thought she was privy to one such adorable incident recently, when she heard a little girl’s voice from outside her window.

https://twitter.com/megane0027/status/1000621103436382208

“I could hear a little girl singing a song from the outside, a cute melody that seem to be based on that kid’s song, “Tulip”.”

▼ This is the children’s song in question, by the way:

“Little girl: All in a row~　 all in a row~　 red, white, beige!
Mom(?): Don’t you mean yellow?
Little girl: No, it’s beige! Because it’s a hand!
Mom(?): What do you mean?
Little girl: I saw it next to the flower bed at kindergarten! A hand is growing there!”

“That little girl must have seen something she really wasn’t meant to see. In a second, that delightful afternoon scene turned into something straight out of a horror movie.”

While @megane0027 did confess that she couldn’t hear most of the conversation between the little girl and the older woman with her, that just created an additional layer of pure creepiness. Thank heavens for the internet, who hastened to her side to bury her in a plentiful soil of memes.

The hunt for the cause of this hand amongst the tulips begins with an obvious classic. Maybe the little girl just found some rampant Dragon Quest enemies wandering around, while they were resting next to the flower beds. The Muddy Hand is a staple throughout the series, and always arrives by clawing its way out of the soil.

https://twitter.com/briangaar/status/785671297430794240

▼ They seem like a fun-loving bunch outside of the game.

Those muddy hands are definitely more brown than beige though…

More suggestions cropped up one after the other, much like the freaky hands themselves. Could it be the ghostly spirit hands from CLAMP series xxxHOLiC?

The zombie hand from the last shot of Carrie by Stephen King?

Remnants from hand-obsessed serial killer Yoshikage Kira, from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?

Everyone from One Piece‘s Nico Robin to Thing from The Addams Family was cited as the possible culprit behind this disturbing little ditty. There was even a helpful commenter who provided a possible crime scene sketch for the child’s preschool.

▼ “Ah, so it was like this?”
https://twitter.com/Yayo_nouen/status/1001035641319124992

Ultimately, the original poster would prefer to think that the least gruesome answer is what’s true. Whatever help you sleep at night, I guess!

https://twitter.com/megane0027/status/1000695740677541888

“I wonder what she saw… Maybe someone put doll hands there as a prank and that’s what it was? I couldn’t hear much from the window so I guess I’ll never know. This is unbearable…”

If you want to try cultivating your own host of green thumbs, here is a user with some helpful gardening advice:

▼ “Sorry for the random comment. Someone must have planted it with lots of salt, right?” (Image: Can hands grow from salt?)

This is a reference to an extremely dated “mondegreen” Flash animation, moscow, where the creator listened to a song in Russian and drew images based on what they sound like they’re saying in Japanese.

Delightfully nostalgic or bone chilling? You be the judge.

As is often the case with these kind of Twitter anecdotes, some people are in doubt that this little girl (and her creepy tulip garden) are anything but a tale of pure fabrication on @megane0027’s part. Boo! Oh well, if you’re that desperate for terrifying things to crop up out of the floor, there’s always this nasty looking mushroom.

Source: @megane0027 via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso