Haunted Tree - Epilogue

Disclaimer: This horror story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to name, place, organization or community is purely a coincidence. The story is neither meant for harming any living being, nor does it encourage readers to believe in paranormal activities. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose. They are downloaded from internet and the author doesn't bear the rights of the same.

Warning: Reader discretion is advised!

Story till now: Read at Haunted Tree - Dark Territory

Covered in the layers of bedsheets, I laid there awakened amidst the terrific aura of fear. The sound of crickets had suddenly denoised that night. Everything was calm and pacified. It was just 2 days past full moon day and there was enough light falling on the leaves of tamarind tree near our house as it was quite visible from my bed itself.

Profusely sweating and shivering simultaneously in the cold weather, I rose up to my feet and glanced at the peaceful surrounding, although terrified about the events in my teacher's house. I was more terrified on thinking how I reached my room from the entrance of the door where I felt unconscious for quite some time and doubted whether my teacher had reached my home.

The high possibility of my mother's existence in the house during such odd midnight hours gave me a sigh of relief. I was the only son of my widowed mother. My father died of chronic heart failure in our own house a few years ago the reason of which I was never told. I looked around for the sight of my mother so as to verify my assumption of my mother bringing me upstairs as she always did when I came home drunk from parties sometimes.

I came out of my room and entered living room where I found nothing in particular except that the door to the basement was unlocked and slightly open with my mother's footwear near the door. Now that I was confirmed about her presence I, at once, directed my legs towards the basement with a doubled curiosity that she never allowed me to go down there while she herself was there tonight. With heavy steps on the old wooden staircase, I reached the basement flashing my torch and called out to my mother without receiving any reply. I tossed my head around in search of my mother and instead stepped onto one of the rigid bags and fell down.

I flashed the torch on the things fallen out of the bag and was quite surprised to find my father's unseen photographs included in those things. The other things included wooden artifacts and toys which seemed to be the excellent works of my father and photographs of few trees in which one of them was that of the tree which had almost deceived me. I was taken aback. There was a long note lying beside me.

"Dear son, your father was a successful legal woodcutter and a timber supplier in the country since a decade. He used to cut down old trees for producing timber required for the city dwellers the unused part of which he kept with him to design wonderful toys out of his hobby. He kept a photograph of the tree before cutting them down and the toys, both in the basement.

It was just a few months ago that he got a contract to cut down an old tree on the outskirts of the town which was reported to show some obnoxious behavior in terms of growth and shedding of leaves irrespective of season.

One fine day, your father headed towards that tree and was startled at first upon glancing at the very tender, pale and bright green coloured leaves of the tree contradicting the description received by him during the contract. There was no way he could confirm about it and moreover, there was never a mistake in the official statements and hence he proceeded to chop it down.

As soon as he was about to lay his machine on the tree there arose a fire in its stem which was small enough to be extinguished by a bucket of water. But the fire refused to vanish even after using 4-5 buckets, that was when he decided to cut the tree as the fire was neither growing large nor burning the tree even slightly. He did accordingly, leaving aside the burning stem for it was so firmly rooted that the machine was unable to even move the leftover stem an inch aside.

The tree was however proved unfit as timber which left all the wood with him and he thought of renovating our house with the obtained wood. He did it within few months and also designed an evil-looking creature and kept it in the basement. I got aware of his experience with this tree when he told me about it few days later and I was frightened. I was further angry on him for making a wicked toy out of this one too, though I rarely visited his basement.

The next day he was found dead in the basement with no external injury seated in his wooden chair with ambiguity on his face. The police investigation, however, reported it as an unfortunate incident due to a heart failure. I raised you, my son, with great care stepping aside this unforgetful memory of your father. In order to hide the past and secure your future from negative thoughts, I even locked the basement forever and never told you what existed there.

I had written until this line many years ago so that I may show it you after you complete your teenage. Today I got a phone of your teacher who advised me to share it with you now as she was confirmed, you're more mature as a person, now. I hope you understand me.

Love, Mom."

I was startled upon noticing on the floor, the same creature carved in the wood as that I saw during my several experiences with that haunted tree, the truth of which had dawned upon me very late. I trembled with fear upon realization of this harsh truth which was now a terrible past of the tragic experiences which I perceived. With a torch in hand, I looked out for mother in the bright light of the fire. There she laid, down on the ground in the dark corner of the basement meeting a horrible death due to this tree. I was emotional yet terrified at the same moment. The teacher was not a real living identity, I realized.

The only thing left with me to do was to destroy the past including that bag of toys and all those photographs so that I would face no more horrible experience henceforth. I lit a match and set the bagful of wooden toys on fire and threw all the photographs on it. Trembling with fear, while I rushed upstairs, I watched the entire basement getting caught in a fire all of a sudden.

I at once reached the main door, forced it open and stepped out into the lawn to get away from the dreadful instance which had befallen me until few steps upon which there appeared several evil-looking figures from the toys marching towards me from all sides. I turned back and ran hastily inside the house in order to reach the telephone and inform the cops for immediate help. But before I could even move ahead, the entire house was in flames. Upon observing carefully I noticed that the walls and ceiling of our house were transforming into raw wooden textures and it appeared as if the tree was trying to grasp the entire house within its stem, simultaneously burning like anything.

Before I could think about anything else, the house took the shape of the ill-fated wicked tree which was concerned with my strange experiences, the curse of which had befallen upon me from my father and was entirely in captivity of the curse then. A huge roar of laughter which resembled that of my teacher was heard. The tree suddenly shed all its leaves filling my entire house which caught more fire and turned the house into ashes within a couple of seconds.

I knew nothing since then until one day I gained consciousness and it was all dark around me. I could sense nothing. All of a sudden I could hear voices of two people conversing with each other, the audibility of which increased gradually. They were my neighbours!

"Did you hear about the case of woodcutter's family?"

"Yes. Fate had it done. The mother-son pair can't simply go missing as mentioned by cops in their report."

"True, but equally true is the fact that cops upon careful examination stated so. The house was entirely empty and there were no traces of anything which could provide any evidence of happenings of last night, they said!"

"So tragic it is! God bless the souls!"

I yelled for help, but it couldn't affect things. Soon I was able to see, but I couldn't move. I was somewhere on the outskirts of the town on a roadside and my neighbours were standing right near me without being able to hear my shouts!

They walked away and I could see some leaves shedding all over me. Since then I am captivated in that same fiery tree until it finds it's next target!

The First Shower

Disclaimer: This post is inspired from true incidents. Any resemblance to person, place, thing or community is purely a coincidence. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose in order to assist the reader's imagination. They are downloaded from the internet and the author does not bear the rights of the same.


Spending one of the holidays at home instead of a day-out was seldom interesting due to unwilling neighbours ringing the doorbell at any instant irrespective of the time. After a heavy weekday work, I thought of staying indoors and make myself more comfortable than how I do in my office during weekdays. It was fun to get along with our Tommy seated in my lap listening to my conversations which actually made no sense to him yet as any faithful companion would do he would remain composed in the state he was in, glancing at me a couple of times making an impression that he's following me closely upon which I would laugh at this at times.

That day Tommy was busy in searching his natural prey in his optimistic surroundings which were all trees and bushes and grasses and an old well across the frontyard which provided us pure groundwater for more than a season. Our house is situated in a rural area which included moderately dense trees all around and farmlands spread over no less than several yards in the west such that the threat of any accompanying wildlife creature would be noticed by Tommy first, alarming us all about the threat. We were a couple of families residing in the eastern patch along the boundary of farmlands while the others occupied the plateau on the east. On all the sides of our house except for the west there were trees which can hide anyone's presence within tens of meters away.

I sat on the border of verandah which was a ten feet wide passage outside our living room and which was the only construction in the entire house made up of concrete in order to avoid any surprise attack of predators whose possibility of roaming around after midnight would not have been zero. This time there was no Tommy beside me or any novel in my hand as the usual ritual of mine was to enjoy the presence of either of the one to break the silence effectively.

It was daytime - a quarter to three - without the slightest trace of any bright rays of sunlight falling upon the leaves and getting reflected which reveal the true natural colours of our environment. The ultimate silence from other houses was enough to prove that all other families have been enjoying a sweet post-lunch nap. The birds had also stopped their twittering.

I gazed the part of the sky which was visible to me right above the house and the major one to the west, above the farmlands The grayish shades of all clouds was not really that surprising for me as the summertime had ended and it was no perfect the time for any downpour. A flash of bright white light appeared across the horizon for less than a millisecond which was no wonder the thunder light informing about the approaching rainfall in prior. I stood up and leaned from the frontyard and there it were - the first drops of rain - falling on my cheeks giving an immense pleasure. Within no time, not just my face but even my clothes began to moisten and that quick realization made me rush indoors into the verandah.

While running inside, I looked back to notice the rainfall turning severe and wondered if Masala Chai would add to my comfort which was already blessed with this sudden rainfall. Without considering my thoughtful opinion which would have been in affirmation anyhow, I marched into the kitchen, made myself a hot Masala Chai and returned back onto the steps of the verandah with a large cup to relish the moment altogether.

The dry frontyard was now completely soaked with water and it emanated petrichor, that distinct mesmerizing smell of ground dampening due to first rainfall. The small trees in the compound, of jasmine, Holy basil, chikoo, banana, papaya, etc. had by now completely drenched in rainwater and was evident from their leaves which shined more than earlier in just a few minutes duration. The larger ones occupying the entire neighbourhood like tamarind, mango, teak, jackfruit, etc. were no less wet during the period.

Taking a glance all around the verandah, I gulped down the throat - drop by drop - the hot Chai which acted like a supplement to a healthy man. The birds had now supposedly woken up to the sound of the roaring of clouds for there was a speedy flight of few tailor birds, crows and sparrows across the trees in search of a more secure place of shelter. Tommy appeared from nowhere and took a seat beside me without growling even once. Following the distinct sound of 'meow', the soft trail of Peacock amidst the dense trees at a very long distance had disappeared before I could even enjoy its sight. Alas! Even Tommy looked at me in dismay.

With few more ferocious attacks of thunderstorms, the first rainfall was now on the verge of becoming a heavy rainfall for the entire frontyard was now flooded with the water level of about a couple of centimeters which readily flowed through the narrow passage at the corner down the slope. The distinct circular ripples which form due to raindrops had now been interfering with each other losing their individuality leaving behind water as a whole.

The crystal clear drops of rainwater falling off the clay roofs of my house appeared like thick strings of transparent molten glass dripping right in front of me from the empty verandah where I was seated occasionally touching my lips to the cup of tea which had emptied minutes ago. It was raining cats and dogs now and the surroundings appeared to be more faint than usual and the visibility range had reduced drastically. I could only make out that the neighbours were yet covering few things like wood and hay lying in their yards which were almost soaked with water due to this surprising outburst.

I realized it was almost four in the evening, as I turned my back leaving aside the empty cup to take a glance at the large round clock hanging on the side of the living room. There was no doubt for the rainfall to be the sole reason for keeping all neighbours away from my house and keeping theirs into interest for the day. From a long distance, somewhere the mixed sounds of peacocks, monkeys and several birds were clearly audible as it remarked the cry of happiest expressions of animals during first rainfall. The sound of weak trees falling abruptly somewhere far away due to their incapability of standing against the mighty winds accompanied with the rainfall was quite characteristic.

The clouds seem to have emptied their entire volume onto the earth as it could be noticed from the reduced intensity of rainfall. I stood up from my place and was about to verify the same when, much to my astonishment, the wonderful band of bright seven colours flashed into the bright sky. No sooner had I turned my head down than the sound of 'meow' targeted me. This time it was so close that I got to see not only the peacock but also its spreading of feathers and I stared at it without closing my eyelids even once till its disappearance in the nearby bushes.

The rain had almost stopped now. Tommy went inside and I stepped further ahead in the frontyard to feel the wetness of the ground in a real sense and I was almost dancing over the entire compound when all of a sudden there fell something on the ground with a loud thud sound right a few steps away from me. I turned to check the object which revealed itself as the coconut falling off the tree beside our compound after weakening enough due to this rainfall.

Having enjoyed the experience of first rainfall I hurried myself indoors to resume my work for the next day as I didn't want to turn this pleasant evening into a disastrous one.

Haunted Tree - Dark Territory

Disclaimer: This horror story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to name, place, organization or community is purely a coincidence. The story is neither meant for harming any living being, nor does it encourage readers to believe in paranormal activities. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose. They are downloaded from internet and the author doesn't bear the rights of the same.

Warning: Reader discretion is advised!

Story till now: Read at Haunted Tree Sequel

My eyes opened all of a sudden. The fan above me was moving slowly. I was lying on bed in a house which looked somewhat familiar to me. I rose and said to myself, “This seems to be our Maths teacher’s house!”

“Yes, my boy!”, someone replied.

“You’re alive?”, I almost yelled with fear as I saw her seated besides me on that bed. She was indeed alive!

“What do you mean by alive?”, she asked angrily and continued, “It was my birthday yesterday and you were lying in our basement. So, I brought you up this morning. Since then you were asleep. When did you arrive here?”

“Last night, when my friend told me to visit you!”, saying this I wondered if I was in dreams yet again. But, I couldn’t have reached the wrong house in dreams though. I started recollecting about how I arrived in basement but all I could remember was that I went down upon someone’s call.

“Don’t worry kid, your friend must have played a prank on you, in fact, I’d told him to give you the invitation”, her sentence grabbed my attention.

I couldn’t believe her. I went out to check if all other flowers bouquets present outside her house were still there! Surprisingly there wasn’t any! Neither was there any tree in front of her house. I stood there on the door gazing at the moon and lightning strikes which indicated the possibility of rainfall.

“Now come inside, it will soon be raining”, she said while standing besides me on the door. At that very instant, I realized something. I hadn’t returned home and my mother must be worrying about me. She doesn’t even leave me at my friend’s place without letting her informed and this time I’d spent an entire day!

Engrossed in my thoughts, I’d already started walking out of her house and felt heavy with each step ahead. After few steps, I realized that the rainfall had begun and teacher was shouting for me to stop. I turned back and stepped into her house.

“Where were you going at this moment? It’s so dark outside!”, she said.

“My home! My mother must be waiting for me!”, I replied.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you. I’d already informed your mother that you’re here and that you'll return tomorrow as it was evening before you were able to wake up!”, she sympathized.

“I’ll bring you some hot coffee to warm you up”, saying this she went inside the kitchen.

I stared at the interiors of her house. There was dust and spider-webs all over. I always thought she likes cleanliness, but I was wrong. There were weird objects placed all over, including a mould of skull, strange toys, different knifes etc. which had nothing to do with her profession. The rain had stopped by now.

“Here’s your coffee”, she came with just one coffee mug.

“And yours?”, I asked.

“We don’t drink coffee here!”, she gave a weird smile!

As I finished my coffee, I asked about her weird house.

"Follow me. I'll tell you everything.", she said as she stepped in that dark territory.

As we were crossing the backyard, something caught my eye. It looked like a graveyard. I was scared. There were too many human skeletons lying in an arranged manner in that wet mud. There was also a vacant burial space adjoining it.

Before I could ask her about it, she spoke, “Many years ago, this place was a graveyard and no one lived here since years. And then I bought it as I couldn’t find any other house those days.”

I was terrified as I’d never been to graveyard either and I’d seen skeletons only in biology laboratory.

“What about that empty space there? Did someone steal any skeleton?”, I asked.

“No, it hasn’t been used yet!”, she said.

As she kept telling about the previous owner of that house, we reached the corner of the yard where a huge tree had grown. I looked up and to my astonishment, it was the same tree I’d seen in my dreams. This time it had leaves and its stem was on fire.

I stepped back with fear and shouted, “This tree is evil!”

Before I could flee the place, she caught hold of my arm and calmed me down saying, “Trees aren’t evil, humans are!”

“Why are we here?”, I asked as I was trembling with fear upon seeing that tree.

“The stem of this tree is always on fire and hence I treat this as a bonfire during night! You can sacrifice the coldness of your body here and feel better!”, she said.

This was quite unusual for me but I believed her. She handed over some twigs to me and insisted me to put them near stem to increase the fire! As soon as I went near it, the tree shed all its leaves, increased the fire and someone pushed me towards the fire and laughed.

I fell down and turned back, but my teacher was nowhere to be seen. I saw something rise out of the ground. It was that evil figure once again.

I ran away as fast as I could. I could hear a cunning laughter! As I passed through the backyard, the skeletons were all out of ground facing me and had scattered near that vacant space!

It made my blood run cold and I ran out of the gate onto the main road with that evil laugh echoing all over. I turned back to see that evil figure standing upright amidst the darkness!

Though it was too dark, I ran all the way to my house with the help of street lights. Even the street dogs who used to keep barking at night were nowhere to be seen.

As I reached my house, I was panting heavily. I knocked the door several times, but no one opened. I could hear the same evil laugh again. I looked back and saw that figure walking towards me. I started yelling and ringing doorbell as fast as I could!

The door opened all of a sudden. I rushed in and closed the door quickly and fell down unconsciously!

Story ahead: Read at Haunted Tree - Epilogue (coming soon)

Haunted Tree Sequel

Disclaimer: This horror story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to name, place, organization or community is purely a coincidence. The story is neither meant for harming any living being, nor does it encourage readers to believe in paranormal activities. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose. They are downloaded from internet and the author doesn't bear the rights of the same.

Warning: Reader discretion is advised!

Story till now: Read at Haunted Tree!

“Bhoot aaya.. Bhaago jaldi.. Bhaago..” I kept screaming till my mother shook me very hard to bring me out of my horror dream!

It was an indeed the first horrible dream of my life. I’d never experienced such a dream! My mother knew that I was used to dreaming at nights! So she went to the kitchen telling me to get ready for college as someone had called on my cell and informed me.

I was shocked. It was Sunday! How can there be lectures in college on the holiday?

I straightaway went to the bathroom. The next moment, I shouted on seeing my hand in the mirror!

There was a unique symbol scribbled on my hand with blood stains dripping out of it. Mother asked me what had happened. As I was about to tell her about it, my hand was alright and there was no symbol! I kept thinking about this till I got out of my home for college.

Just as I was about to cross the lane adjoining college, I saw a black cat with neon-green eyes – the same one as that from my dream – staring at me continuously while I ignored her and walked into college campus!

To the astonishment there was not a single student in the campus! Even the gatekeepers enquired as in why I’d came to the college on the holiday! I even forgot to ask mother who had played this prank!

Suddenly I remembered the dream and I tried to look at the haunted tree from my dream which was inside the campus with curiosity! There wasn’t any such tree there! I gave a happy smile.

I pointed out and asked the gatekeepers if they cut down any tree from that place. Surprisingly, they told me there wasn’t any tree there!

As I was about to return back home, someone called me from behind. I turned back to notice my college friend walking towards me with a wonderful bouquet in his hand.

He informed me that our Maths teacher passed away last night and he was going there. I was shocked for a moment. I wondered if it had anything to relate to my dream!

He told me that he had some important work to do and requested me to take that bouquet to her place. I agreed.

For a moment I was stunned to notice the symbol on the bouquet which he handed over to me. It was the same one which I had seen on my hand apparently. I was going to ask him about it, but he had gone.

Suddenly the winds blew ferociously followed by lightning and heavy rain.

Catching hold of the umbrella, I set off to her house. She stayed close to our college. She was unmarried and stayed alone.

I’d visited her place earlier. I was terrified on seeing the haunted tree from the dream right in front of her house. Today, the house appeared to me like a haunted house due to this weather.

As I moved further, I was shocked! There were many similar bouquets with the same symbol, all of them laid down outside her house. I thought, there must be a florist shop nearby, though I never saw it.

I went inside the house with a feeling of curiosity and expected to meet some of her relatives inside.

Thudd…

The door behind me shut with a loud noise!

I went further to check if anyone had arrived at her place. Everything was neatly arranged at her place. I didn’t know whom to call as I forgot to ask more details about her death like the incident, place, reason, etc.

I stepped inside further and asked, “Is anyone there?”

“Yes, I’m here in the basement!” I heard a very low voice from the basement!

I felt relieved as there was atleast someone in the house from whom I could ask about this tragic incident. I stepped down in the basement. It was almost dark there!

I saw a familiar figure in the corner.

“No, this can’t be true! You can’t get out of my dream!” I yelled as I remembered it’s the same figure which followed us in my dream.

As the spirit approached me, the only electric bulb which was glowing in the basement went off!

Story ahead: Read at Haunted Tree - Dark Territory

Haunted Tree

Disclaimer: This horror story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to name, place, organization or community is purely a coincidence. The story is neither meant for harming any living being, nor does it encourage readers to believe in paranormal activities. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose. They are downloaded from internet and the author doesn't bear the rights of the same.

Warning: Reader discretion is advised!

The campus bell rang at 3 am. We students were loitering around in the college campus. We had no idea what we were doing there at such an odd time!

It was pitch dark outside. I looked up at the sky to find the moon. Then I realized it was a new moon night. I trembled with fear just as my other friends.

Suddenly, a girl from our group screeched loudly. Someone had touched her shoulder, she claimed upon asking her. This frightened us further.

We all stepped onto the ground. The ground always had neon lights lit up at night to make the green grass on the ground more scenic. But how could it be off today? We were almost shocked.

Only the few government lamps installed in the campus were lit, due to which we could barely manage to see ourselves and the way.

Walking hands in hands, we crossed the ground and started moving through the trees on the left. Suddenly I turned back and noticed a woman in white dress walking towards us!

I informed others to walk fast. But it was not possible as there were many pebbles on the path. The woman approached us quickly and shouted, “Students, don’t go that way.”

We turned back to realize that it was none other than our Maths teacher. We felt relieved that we didn’t encounter any witch according to our thought.

“Look there. There’s a haunted tree ahead which will follow your path if you go near it,” she warned.

We looked forward and didn’t notice any such tree. To our astonishment, the woman was nowhere to be seen behind us. But how could she disappear on the open ground? We all trembled with fear by now!

We turned back and stepped onto another route which goes to the half-demolished building in the campus. We started taking brisk steps till the building. The unusual winds blowing in the campus and making noise due to the adjoining trees frightened us at every moment.

Once again a girl walking ahead screamed loudly. A black cat with neon-green coloured eyes stood right in the middle of the road staring at us in an aggressive manner!

We shooed that cat away. It uttered a dangerous MEOW at us before disappearing into the nearby bushes! Ignoring it, we stepped ahead.

Soon we reached that building and a tree right in front of it started waving vigorously with the wind. We all stood there leaning by the wall of the building.

Suddenly, that tree stopping waving and remained steady without a single leaf! All the leaves had shaded down all of a sudden!

We were all astonished. I started gazing at the tree and stepped towards the tree alone.

It was a huge tree. We had never seen that tree in our campus earlier. I went closer to find out if anyone was hiding behind that tree.

Suddenly the tree set ablaze and the fumes formed a fiery image of a spirit.

All other students shouted at me to return back to the building. I slipped there while turning back. In a moment the entire tree was burning! I started running back to the building with large jumps.

Everyone was screaming with fear and I stood there gazing at the burning tree!

Suddenly, a spirit evoked out of the flames and started moving towards us quickly. We all shouted and started running away from the building towards the gate as fast as we could.

“Bhoot aaya.. Bhaago jaldi.. Bhaago..” I kept screaming till my mother shook me very hard to bring me out of my horror dream!

Story ahead: Read at Haunted Tree Sequel

The Journey

Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to name, place, organization or community is purely a coincidence. The story is neither meant for harming any living being, nor does it encourage suicidal activities. The images used in the post are only for representation purpose. They are downloaded from internet and the author doesn't bear the rights of the same.

It was Sunday. She went to Marine Drive that day!

She used to come home from the hostel on few Saturdays, spend a day with her parents and then return to the hostel on Sunday.

She was stressed with life. The studies and exams have been hitting her harder these days! It seemed, she kept all the negativity with her. She never spoke about it to her friends in college as they were new to her and neither to her parents who were far away from her.

That day she decided to witness the scenic beauty of Marine Drive for the last time. She had planned to commit suicide on reaching the hostel.

As she reached Marine Drive, she spotted something unusual!

A large crowd had gathered at a place and the people there seemed terrified. She had no idea what had happened. She tried to get a glimpse at the center of the crowd, but she couldn’t reach there.

She asked a passer-by about the incident.

“Pata nahi ekjactly kyaa hua hai! Lekin kuch log bol rahe hai ki koi admi achanak se behosh hokar zameen pe gir gaya!” (English translation: I don't know what happened exactly! But, few people are saying that a man fell unconsciously on the ground.)

This tragic incident dejected her further. She felt as if she’s the only one causing all the problems on this Earth!

Soon, an ambulance arrived and departed for the hospital within a couple of minutes. She realized that people die unknowingly in this world and it will be her turn, the next day!

After some time, she left the place for the railway station. She used to board the same train whenever she came home.

She was shocked a bit. The berth opposite to her was empty. As the departure time was approaching, she started feeling restless. She searched the entire coach but couldn’t find that old man!

A few months ago, when she was heading to her hostel for the first time, her parents had arrived at the station to drop her. They were worried about her as it was the first time they were leaving her alone.

An old man, bald and aged in 70s, yet a cheerful person, seated on the berth opposite to her noticed the anxiety amongst her parents. He assured them that he will look after her throughout the journey. She reached hostel safely.

Since then, whenever she visited home and was returning to the hostel on Sunday, she would find him on that very same seat.

She was not talkative as such. But, eventually, they both started talking with each other. He often appraised her for her smartness and that she was trying to become an independent girl as her parents never worried about her journey anymore. She used to tell him about the modern education system, the life of Mumbaikars and other casual news.

He, in turn, would tell her about his village, where he lives and the life of a modern villager now! He used to ask her about the wonderful places to visit in Mumbai so that he could visit them the next time he comes and she would present a list of places before him.

Though he was a senior citizen, he never seemed to suffer from any problems like fatigue, blood pressure issues, etc. In fact, he used to eat a lot and be cheerful throughout the journey. She was very fond of his way of living.

It was that unique bond between them that made her feel restless. She couldn’t even enquire with TTE as there are no registrations of Second Class passengers as such!

Suddenly, she remembered his village he always mentioned about and the way to get there. She alighted the train at his destination station and took a bus further to his village. She asked his address at a local shopkeeper who hired an auto for her.

As she reached his house, she saw a crowd of villagers gathered at his place. She confirmed with an elderly person about his house. Reaching ahead she saw the members of his family crying their heart out! But she couldn’t notice that old man anywhere.

She could, in no way, go up to them and ask about him! She backed her steps and asked that same elderly man outside, what happened there and where that old man was.

He spoke out.

“He was the most respected person of this village.”

“Sorry, but did you say, ‘he was’?”

“Yes, girl. We got a news this noon that he lost his life at a hospital in Mumbai. He fell down unconsciously at Marine Drive this morning. They are bringing him here now.”

She was totally shocked by now. She remembered the crowd at Marine Drive that morning and was unfortunate to meet him the last time.

“But, how did this happen? He was very healthy till last week when I saw him.”

“He suffered from cancer and was in the last stage. He knew he was going to die sooner or later. So, since few months, he insisted on visiting all places where he hadn’t been because he wanted to live his remaining life in a happy n joyful manner without any worries. Hence, he used to visit Mumbai often. He had a brave heart, I must say. Who else has the courage to face death this way?”

She was set aback. Tears rolled down her eyes. Her confidence to face death had, by now, vanished. She kept thinking how that old man remained cheerful throughout all their journeys and never spoke about the disaster he was going through! It was because, he chose to face it positively, no matter what! And she's the one who was thinking of leaving this world like a coward!

The ambulance reached their place that very moment. Regaining her consciousness, she rushed towards the ambulance and just whispered “Thank You” in the ears of the lifeless body for that priceless motivation!

Wiping the tears, she left the place with tons of positivity and a changed life indeed!

Updates!

Hello friends! It was ages when I wrote something for you the last time! haha.. just kidding.. It was just 2 months ago! lol! 2 months is also a long time!

I was about to write something recently, but then, all of a sudden, I realized I hadn't finished with a single submission, that too, after due dates! Anyways who follows them (atleast not in Engineering, I suppose!)

To top that up with, I had 1 submission left to be done! Yet, I gave my practical exam successfully (with that typical "chalta hai" attitude) and now I'm just left with end semester exams!

Oh! Semester exam!

It's scheduled just next week! N I've started my studies with a fearful mind, the reason being I've not done a single topic this sem unlike previous semesters! By the way, odd sems are always hectic and troublesome, I don't know why!

Meanwhile, someone expecting a pointer of 10 from me this sem! I would thank God if I don't score the lowest till now! Anyways, pointers don't affect me that much! ATKT can!

Now, let's roll on to some updates!

Finally done with a total number of 22 PCB projects of colleagues in the concluding weeks of this academic sessions! It was really a hard-work! Phew! It didn't pay-off worth the efforts, But there was a feeling of great satisfaction. I got improved in those skills too! Yeah! In that way, it actually paid-off!

BJP lost Bihar elections! Did their strategy fail miserably or is it just that Modi wave was blown out of Bihar!

(This Modi wave was actually a whooping win of 22/40 seats in Bihar constituencies in 2014 general elections)
Anyways, Amit Shah was going to respond to all the happenings (you know which) in our nation after Bihar elections.

........... Eagerly awaiting!

Recently, someone told me that I look like a girl with my long hair! I asked him if he knew the reason behind the difference between the excreta of goat, cow and buffalo after eating same grass! Obviously, he didn't! That's how I concluded he doesn't even know shit! And still he's judging me on basis of my hair!

(Above incident is purely fictional and has no relevance to any person, living or dead!)

Diwali is on! I realized it when mom told me to apply utne (a medicinal herb) while bathing on first day! "Deep" from Deepawali is replaced by "Phatake" to make it a Phatakewali, indeed! Bursting of crackers couldn't be stopped! Let there be an increase in pollution in an already polluted city! Let all the pets lose their powerful hearing senses! sigh!

By the way, HAPPY DIWALI!

Wait, it's already 11! I've been writing for a long time! Let me edit, post and get back to studies! I'll be back with a new & interesting post soon after my exams!

Wish me luck for this sem, folks!

Death Confession

After some definite period....

I laid down in my bed watching out for angels to appear and direct

me to the heaven. But nothing of that sort happened. I had, in fact, landed in a complete different world all of a sudden.

With some extra-ordinary vision, I could see my closed ones sobbing over my dead body. But I was helpless. I couldn't go and take the condolences of my own death. Those emotional expressions changed into scary ones very soon.

I was burnt with traditional rituals, transforming my body into fumes n ashes. Only few calcium carbonate bones were left out there, which were later collected by someone I didn’t notice!

That night, they experienced several unusual incidents in my house. It started with rattling of spoons, glasses and other utensils. They were scared.

Soon, it started raining with thunderstorm. The tube-lights flickered and electricity of my house ran down all of a sudden.

The window shut close with a loud noise and couldn’t be opened! A loud voice sought their attention on a dreadful and scary face on d wall. They screamed, shouted and left my place with a shiver in their own body.

The next day a priest was called and he advised to keep my house locked for ever!

It was no way I could explain to them about the facts I could visualize.

A little mouse resided in my house since a couple of days and was yet to be the prey of my cat. It was that mouse who ran over the utensils that night making noises.

The weather forecast was declared a week ago, mentioning that it was going to pour badly in forthcoming days!

Also that I'd requested the electrician to troubleshoot the electrical issues of my house remained a mystery!

The face they saw in the dark was actually one of my best scary paintings which I'd placed on the wall and I’d rarely shown it to anyone.

The absence of awareness of these facts led to an increase in fear in everyone's minds, eventually turning my happy-house into a haunted-house!