(A story for Halloween Day)
It was evening. The three friends were sitting in
a park opposite a girls’ college watching the girls coming out. They had
nicknames for many and each one had chosen a few for making fun ensuring there
was no overlap. They teased each other as those girls came out. None of
them had the guts to approach them as there were plainclothes police women
dressed like students on duty. But they enjoyed daily the harmless ogling
and silent amusement. It is doubtful whether those girls were even aware
of these youngsters.
It was one such evening when, instead of the girls
coming out, a funeral procession moved along the road towards the burial
ground.
Chellappa shuddered and said,” I am scared of burial
grounds and will never dare to go 100 metres near them, especially at night.”
Rajesh laughed loudly and said” You spineless
coward. I can stay the whole night alone in the burial ground. Want to
bet?”
Chellappa kept mum but Selva seized the moment.
"Let’s make it interesting. I’ll give you five hundred bucks if you stay
alone in the burial ground from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. No torch, no phone, no
tricks. Do you accept?"
Rajesh smiled, confident and said, “You have
decided to lose the money. OK. I accept. It will be tonight itself”.
Selva replied “Don’t think you can fool us. We
will be around in the vicinity keeping a watch when you go in and when you come
out and whether you are in there alone.”
It was 10 pm and Rajesh was in the burial ground
covered with a sweater. It was chill in the night but not cold. As a
precaution, he took a baton with him though he was aware that ghosts
cannot be scared away with a baton as we do with dogs. There was a
body still burning with a few people lingering around. Several other
bodies were reduced to embers, glowing faintly in the darkness. A few dogs
roamed in the area while a bird howled from some distance. A cow was
chewing cud a little away.
The air was thick with the eerie smell of smoke,
from the burning woods and dead bodies, adding to the spooky feeling. The
few people who were there had left. He saw the time and it was past 11.30
pm. Even the man in charge of the ground was not to be seen. Rajesh was
alone there. There was a shed with benches for visitors to sit. But
the shed was far interior and away from the main gate.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind whether he
was foolish in making such a bet. He had neither belief in ghosts nor had
he seen one so far. Still, there was some uneasy feeling. He started
chanting God’s name to divert his mind away from ghosts. But he decided to
stay alert. He heard a distant bell marking midnight. Another six hours
and he would coolly pocket 500 bucks, he badly needed.
His eyelids were heavy with sleep. He turned
round hearing some rustle of leaves. He saw faintly a figure draped in
white moving slowly towards him. He stood up and watched
intently. Yes, it was certainly an apparition-like figure fully covered
head to foot ambling towards him. His heart began to beat faster and the
pounding became unbearable. His throat went dry. He wished to run
towards the gate but his legs were frozen in fright. Somehow, he summoned
his courage in a few seconds and screamed in fear as he began to run. The
figure also rushed behind him. Poor Rajesh tripped and fell and the figure
was soon upon him. Rajesh’s heart almost stopped and was about to faint.
It was then he heard,” Rajesh, don’t be afraid. I
am Selva.I tried to scare you out of the 500 rupees bet. I thought you would
run away. But when you fell, I could not keep quiet. Come on get
up. We can go home. I think you are bleeding from some scratches. Let me
wipe them with my kerchief, “Selva said
They sat down. Rajesh said “I don’t know whether
ghosts exist or not. But I would never like to be in this place alone
again in my life.”
Selva laughed and replied” Yes, it's
spooky. the smell, the darkness and the ambience are all forbidding.”
It was then Rajesh saw at a distance a real figure
approaching them in a floating-like movement clad in white with two big hollows
for the eyes. Both stood up paralyzed in their feet.
“We cannot fight ghosts. They have no body to hit
but they can kill us. It is blocking our way. Let us sit here
quietly” whispered Rajesh. Both of them clasped each other tightly and
with half-closed eyes were watching in trepidation the approaching
apparition. It came near them and as if it did not notice them kept moving
further. They were relieved but still in the grip of fear. They
smiled at each other at the danger receding away.
Suddenly the apparition turned and howled as it rushed
towards them shouting, “Hooey, hooey’ in a strange guttural voice. Both fainted
and it was after considerable time they recovered when they felt water being
sprinkled on their faces and heard their names being called out asking them to
get up.
It was the quiet and docile Chellappa who was laughing
hysterically at the frightened friends.
“I could not resist the temptation to pull this stunt
on you both. Come on. Let us get out of the place quickly before
something real happens,” said Chellappa still chuckling at their frightened
faces.
I felt like I was there too. Superb flow of thoughts. The characters are so aptly described. Creativity at its best. Superb writing. I am scared of ghosts too, so when the white figure came towards him, I was also scared for a minute but when I realized that it was Rajesh, I felt so comfortable. Keep rocking!!! We will keep reading.
ReplyDeleteForget the funeral grounds. When I was in Higher secondary, I used to walk back from the School to home. I was terrified of the street dogs; would carry a pocketful of stones and constantly look back. Fear is a gripping emotion and a key to manipulate us into irrational acts!!
ReplyDeleteJanardhan N
A good narration for a Halloween themed story. Enjoyed reading it. Thank you
ReplyDeleteChitra
Very interesting story. Since I have read a lot of your stories I was able to guess the ending.
ReplyDeleteSuper.ramakrishnan.
ReplyDeleteA story which holds your attention till the end coupled with great narration. You surely need some guts to venture out there but loved the camaraderie of the three of them.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting story
ReplyDeleteThe story brings out the friendship between the boys. How they don't trust, but also stand by each other in times of a scare, all without any 'I told you so' comments!
ReplyDeleteLiked the story very much, apparently created for a very special occasion.
ReplyDeleteIt was very realistically developed on the psyche of three young boys - their curiosity and infatuation about girls from a safe distance, fear of ghosts whose supposed existence is considered irrational by boys of that age, the bravado of fearlessness in them and prompt acceptance of challenge to prove it, the ultimate fear of the unknown that almost destroyed their apparent courage and the relief that finally nothing untoward happened, but still not sure about such possibilities!
500 reasons it was not a good idea, nicely written. (jj)
ReplyDeleteI was tensed up while reading the story! Couldn't guess what happened next. I thought it might be a dream and he will wake up:) Very well narrated story....Sandhya
ReplyDelete