That Night (Continued)

Part - III

Seconds later, or so it seemed, I had the distinct feeling of being poked in the eyes with red hot ambers. I sat up on bed with a startle and looked around wildly, scanning the room for the sleep-depraving source of light. As the object in question gradually zoomed into focus, I stared.
A few feet from where I lay was the face of a stranger, looking in through the window.
My first thought was that my friends,those idiots,were playing some stupid joke on me.Squinting in the harsh light, however, a mere glance at the face ruled out the sweet possibility of my friends sneaking up to the house in the middle of the night,hoping to "scare the living daylights out of me".
It was the face of a man, the collars of his coat turned up to hide all but his steely, grey eyes, his raised hand gripping an electric torch that had jerked me from the gentle arms of sleep. The fine lines around his hard eyes was proof enough that he was much, much older than Jack, Davis or any of the other local kids I knew.
Here was a man at my window, his cold grey eyes boring into mine.
Pathetically unoriginal as it may sound, a cold shudder slithered down my spine. It felt as if someone had emptied a tray full of ice inside the back of my shirt. At that moment, the rest of the world seemed to heat up and evaporate; all I could remember was a pair of impassive, grey eyes commanding my gaze, penetrating my mind, uncoiling my deepest fears.
I hope that is justification enough for my next course of action.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I could almost feel the warm air rushing out of the lungs and my vocal cords vibrating at break-neck speed. And with that, I lunged at the door and scooted out into the dark corridor as fast as my feet would go, preparing to crash into my parents room.

To be Continued...

That Night (Contd.)

Part II

It was an extraordinarily quiet night. Usually, I could hear the summer breeze whispering through the tall trees in the lane outside.
That night, however, it seemed as though nature too had fallen asleep. No hooting owls, no rat scurrying noisily across the garden outside, no neighborhood dog barking at a daring mouse out for a moonlit walk. The silence was all consuming—it felt as though some supernatural power had switched the world to “mute”.
I put down the Agatha Christie mystery I had been reading and looked up at the wall clock. It was half past midnight. I threw the book lazily across the room, watching it land on the mounting heap of books which I had borrowed from the local library but was yet to return.
I rose from bed and made my way to the window. The curtains were drawn apart and the inky blue night seemed to beckon from beyond. The silver Moon reigned over the heavens, her pale glow illuminating a cluster of houses not far from ours. My friends were somewhere out there, having a party, while I was made to stay at home like some pathetic five-year old.
I bit my lip to fight away the tentacles of envy that seemed to be groping their way into my mind. Not bothering to pull back the curtains, I switched off the night lamp and dropped down on the bed.In the sky, a floating cloud stole towards the moon and minutes later, the night drowned in darkness.

To be Continued...

That Night.

The following is based on a real incident that happened to a young girl not very long ago. Armed with a fascinating story to share, she decided to speak about it to fellow members of a popular website. I was captivated by the sheer extraordinariness of the incident, which turned out to be the sole inspiration for my next story,which I wil post in four parts:

PART - I

“See you later, Alligator!” croaked five voices as I went in through the little metal gate that set up a barrier between the dark lane and the front yard of my Grandma’s home.
“In a little while, Crocodiles!” I yelled back in reply.
In our usual goofy manner, the neighbourhood kids and I bade our farewell to each other as we parted for the night after a fun day comprising of volleyball, swimming and crisp fish fries at the beach.
My parents and I always flew down to Florida to spend our vacations with Grandma. This summer was no different. Considering I had been there every vacation for the past fourteen years, it was of little surprise that I shared a close friendship with most of the kids in the locality.
It was around quarter to ten in the night—not very unusual for kids to be out till then where my Grandma lived. However, my mother did not quite approve of some of the local kids, which explains why I had to go home even when all the rest were staying over at a friend’s house two stone’s throws away!
As I walked in through the front door (which was kept open till ten for my benefit), Grandma, who was sharing a large jug of hot cocoa with Mother, looked up and said, “There you are, young lady! How was your day?”
“Great! Of course, would’ve been better if I could stay over at Sally’s place” I answered, stealing a glance towards Mother.
“You want a cuppa?” she asked, waving her hand towards the cocoa drink.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’ll call it a day” and I went up to the couch to hug them good night.
Little did I know that this was the night that would haunt me for years to come.


To be continued...