The neighbour: A spooky story

 The Neighbour

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I was staying at my home for a few days. My home means — my parents’ place. Ours was a two storey building. I occupied a room in the upper floor which faces the road, while my parents mainly used the lower floors.

I always leave the windows open with the curtains drwn close, so that there will be better air circulation, especially during summer.

It was one of those days in April, when sweltering heat and humidity was suffocating me. After work when I reached home, I left the windows open, and soon lost myself in doom scrolling.

I had an early dinner that day, and planned on hitting the early. It was difficult to fall asleep, because I could feel the heat radiating towards me from the roof. The fan was in high speed and its noise was drowning other surrounding noise.

I woke up from my sleep, feeling a sudden chill. I was in my room, illuminated by the floor lamp. The fan was rotating at top speed, and the windows were open. Contrary to the weather at the beginning of my sleep, I could now feel cold wind creeping into my room. Is it time for a summer rain? Well, that’s fine.

I switched of the fan using the bedside switch, and put on myself a light weight cotton blanket which was already present on my bed. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Without the droning fan, I could now sense the acute silence. My house is on the reoadside, so there will be continuous noise of vehicles during daytime, but the traffic becomes almost none past midnight. But even without vehicles, the crickets would be making their characteristic voice non-stop. But currently it is silent- like pin drop silence, except for the occasional sweep of the wind.

I couldn’t fall asleep in that eerie atmosphere. But I lay there, with my eyes closed shut, imaginging myself ina fantasy world. My ears were more sharp at that time, especially with my vision not in use.

“Clang!” I heard a sudden noise. The noise of some utensil falling down and hitting the floor.

But it was not from my house, I was sure of that. It felt like it came from the house opposite to ours across the road. How did it make sense to me? I don’t know. But I was strongly convinced that the noise cam across my home.

I slowly arose from my bed. I went near the window, and peekedout hiding behind the curtain. The opposite home was shrouded in darkness, except for a porch lamp. At first glance nothing seemed out of place.

But then I noticed something in their living room, through the grilled window. A thin figure cladded in white was there, the features could be sparsely made out with the dim porch light. I am not sure what kind of attire was it wearing, nor whether it was male or female. But it seemed covered in white, except for the head. I couldn’t make out the presence or absence of hair. It was standing sideways- that is what I felt.

I froze up on the spot, unable to make any sound. My fringers gripped on the curtain cloth strongly. I was not sure what that apparition was doing there. Some time passed. I was still in the same position.

The idea of open windows with a supernatural thing just a feet away, was not that reassuring. I decided to leave the room and sleep in some other room for the rest of the night. As I started to withdraw my hand from the curtain, the apparition, turned its head towards me. I could make out two hollows in place of its eyes, glinting in atmost malice. I couldn’t distinguish any other features of its face, but I didn’t want to stay at that spot anymore.

My survival instincts kicked in and I immediately bolted out of the room to another room, with closed windows and secure door lock, with my mobile phone. I could have woken my parents up, but the rational logical side of me held me back.

I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night. I chanted “Hail Marys” and “Our Father in Heaven” and somehow reached the morning hours.

In the morning light, I glanced at that house again. There was nothing special there. May be it was all a dream or hallucination, I thought to myself.

As I got ready for work, I heard a commotion outside. An ambulance siren could be heard in the background. My parents went to see what happened. I stayed at my house.

They came back in a few minutes.

“Our neighbour Babu is dead…”

“Oh What?” I asked back in shock.

He was a robust man in mid-fifties. I couldn’t believe my ears at first.

“Apparently they found him on the drawing room, in a sitting position leaning against the wall… His face was frozen in fear, as if he had seen something frightful… The medical people are telling that it’s a heart attack… What can we tell about human life…”

I zoned out of the rest of the conversation.

So, last night was not a hallucination!

I realized it, with a shuddered breath.

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