An Encounter with a Ghost (words 944)

(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.