Rikara Short Stories Collection

Haunted House : Part One

Book Cover Credit: @FathimaHameed4

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"Third house in a year." Madhavi grumbles as she irately started setting up the flat.

Hearing her mother, Gauri chuckles softly as she continued to connect the TV.

"Stop laughing. Do you find it funny?" Madhavi asks her furiously. "I am the one who has to set up the whole place and clean it up."

"This is a nice house, Mama." Gauri tells her smiling as she winked at her father.

"What is the use? We will be moving out of here very soon." Madhavi furiously tells her as she stared at Inder furiously.

Inder cheekily grins at her as he continued to put the curtains. "You know, why I do this."

"Don't get me started!" Madhavi says furiously as she pulled the chair to position.

"Seriously Papa, have you even seen one ghost?" Gauri asks him confused.

"No." Inder replies.

"Maybe there is no such thing as ghosts." Gauri tells him.

"There is, Gauri." Inder tells her seriously as he got down from the ladder and walked towards Madhavi to help her put up the couch.

"Then how come you haven't seen even one?"

"It is not that simple, Gauri. They need to call out to us."

"Are you saying all these 76 haunted houses we have stayed after our marriage didn't have a single ghost calling out to you?" Madhavi mocks him.

"It is easy not to believe." Inder tells her upset.

"Wrong. It is easy to believe in these kinds of superstitions."

"It is my virasat. It is our duty to help those who have no one." Inder tells her passionately. "My mother, my grandmother, they all could feel and interact with ghost."

Madhavi turns to look at Inder and gently tells him, "You are 50 years old, Inder. Maybe it is time that you accept that you don't have your mother's or your ancestors' talent of communicating with the dead."

Inder looks away upset while Gauri gently smiles at him.

"Are you done connecting the TV, Gauri?" Inder asks her.

"I am almost done." Gauri replies as she connected the wires.

"Hurry up, Gauri. I want to see the news."

Gauri who was concentrating on figuring out which wire to put where, rolls her eyes. As she untangled the wires she feels a tingling feeling on her neck as if someone was standing so close to her and watching her untangle the wires. Realizing Inder was watching over her shoulders Gauri stops in irritation and says, "Papa, I am trying."

"Do it fast." Inder orders her from behind her.

"I am." Gauri says and tries to concentrate when she feels her father move closer to her. "Papa!" Gauri shouts in irritation as she turned around to scold her father for not letting her do her work when she stops in shock seeing her father across the room talking to her mother.

"What?" Inder asks as he turned to look at her curiously.

Gauri looks at him in shock, she had really thought he was next to her. GOD! Very soon she will be crazy like her father. "Nothing. It will be ready soon." Gauri tells him and turns around to fix the wire. Few seconds later, she feels someone over her shoulder. Gauri slowly turns to look back gulping as fear gripped her and found herself alone in that area. Gauri's heart beats starts rising as she tried to understand why she was feeling as if someone was standing right next to her. She kept staring at the empty space as she tried to fight that weird feeling that someone was staring right back at her. As sweat broke out on her face and her breathing started becoming erratic she gently takes her shaking hand forward to see if really some presence was there. As her hand moved freely in the air Gauri felt a chill creeping up her fingertips to her palm. Gauri screams in fear as the chill climbed up her arm to her shoulder. Gauri stumbles back as the strange sensation left her.