Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Explanations awaited

Despite all my senses rebelling hard and strong, screaming of fatigue, I had been forcing myself to concentrate on my screen and at least finish the task at hand. After about a half hour of relentless struggle on both sides, my senses, with my eyes leading their front, won. I shut my laptop and moved out of my room. And suddenly it hit me. The air outside was perfectly still and calm, as if at the advent of a storm. Laced with the fragrance of lilies, almost bitterly mixed with that of wet cement and sand, the night felt like a strange mix of eerie and heavenly. Almost as if drawn against my will, I went to take a walk.

An early October night, the on-spring of the much awaited dussehra-diwali festive season as well as the much anticipated harsh yet-not-to-be-missed winters, I wasn't walking exploring new arenas. Everything looked as it should have. The ubiquitous silence and stillness could be attributed to the reasonable assumption that everyone must have been out, celebrating a stray holiday in the middle of the week, hence explaining the lack of any famous soaps sounding off TV sets, the noise of loud air-coolers, even the regular parking and reversing car alarms. Logically, everything made sense, and there was nothing wayward. And yet the night's touch felt only faintly familiar. The stillness of the night had enveloped the entire neighborhood. It was only 8 PM, and though the markets outside must have been bustling with people, the absence of human life in the area seemed unnatural. Even the stray dogs, which never fail to make their presence felt, seemed too quiet, too meek for comfort. A sudden chill made me shudder. I instinctively pulled my jacket closer and hastened my step back towards home.

Suddenly, at about 50 meters away from my comfort zone, power went out and I was engulfed in complete darkness. “Just a power-cut; no need to over-react!” I convinced myself. Then, I heard footsteps: calm and deliberate walking towards me. I hugged myself and gingerly looked around. A neighbor, walking towards his home, with his dog, looked at me and passed a courteous smile. He seemed unfazed, almost enjoying the dark and still night. Needless to say I was scared, and the fact that he hadn't been anywhere around a few moments ago didn't help. Clutching my racing heart, I smiled back weakly, and walked as fast as I could to my home, sometimes breaking into a sprint.

As soon as I reached home, I stopped dead in the tracks. The front entrance was ajar, the house pitch dark and hauntingly silent. Pushing the main gate further, I treaded silently inside, and went straight up to my room. It was locked. I knew I hadn’t locked it. I fumbled for my set of keys in my jacket, I didn’t have them. More baffled than ever, I went downstairs and tried the door to my LG's room. No one answered. I pushed the door open. The room had a 100% power backup and yet was as dark as outside. Taking a deep breath, I fumbled for the switch, put one foot out and let out a gasp....the deserted room's floor, which had been intact till the afternoon, was missing. The entire room had been dug at least 3 feet.

Praying hard that the digging was due to the ongoing renovation, I was about to turn around and go to my room, when I thought I heard the sound of running water. Maybe someone had left a tap running, and I had missed the sound before. I turned it off. I had walked barely 20 steps away, when I heard the same sound. This time it was a different tap. By now things were getting too much for me and I was nearing complete panic and frenzy at an alarming speed. There was no one around. Something told me the tap wouldn't turn off. With trembling hands, I turned it off. At almost the same instant I heard the sound of water starting from somewhere else. I muffled my scream, dropped the candle and ran upstairs to my room...

But the nightmare wasn't over yet. My room was no longer locked. Not knowing what else to do I threw the door open. This room, just like the rest of the house was completely dark. I flicked the emergency backup lights on. Everything looked as I had left it, thankfully. My rapidly failing rationale and courage weren't equipped to handle any more surprises.

So here I am, sitting on my bed, typing my fears away in the light of the

laptop screen, running on battery power. I am pretty convinced that power will be back soon, and so will the people in my house and that everything has a logical explanation, the locked front door and my room, the absence of people in the entire neighborhood, including my house, as well as the malfunctioning power back up and plumbing. All the movies also show that the paranormal world has a liking for thunder and lighting. And that ghosts don't really show themselves on still clouded early winter nights, but I have locked my room nevertheless. ..…Just in case…