Lonliness

Lonliness

The loneliness surrounded Ramesh. He couldn't be alone. He couldn't bear it. It was his major vice; one that lead to the death of his beloved. Was she? His beloved? Did he actually love her? Or was she just a person to pamper him, support him and make love to him? She has been gone for 2 years now. He still remembers her heat, the pleasures she gave but he couldn't remember the features of her face. For assurance he glanced occasionally at the wedding photo on his bedroom wall. She stared at him with hope in her eyes. The sparkle in her eyes shone through the photograph. It was as if she could see him and through him. She knew his vices yet she trusted him. Two years back, she reached a moment where she couldn't trust him anymore. Not when she heard the voice of his female colleague late at night, when she called his hotel room in Bangalore. She was cremated in the first sari he bought for her after the wedding. He didn't look at her face. It wasn't her face anymore. It was the face of a human being that struggled to breathe in a bit of air at the mercy of a rope. He felt lonelier. He wanted to get out from that room. A room that reminded him of her aura. He feels the density of the air around him. As if she is covering him in an embrace. His fingers scrolled through the contact list and there she was ... the lady who gifted him many pleasurable moments. The one who kept him alive and excited during business meetings and trips. His body ached for her again. He wasn't guilty anymore. He closed the door of his home behind him and walked towards his car.

         He didn't know what time he returned late at night. All the hurry made him forget his watch. He unlocked the door and stumbled through some furniture to find the light switch of his bedroom. As he stepped into the room, he felt something funny underneath his feet. He kept his keys at the table beside and bent down to look. It was a tuft of hair, not just any hair... it was long. Long like that of his beloved. He moved forward to find the entire floor of his room scattered with tufts of long hair. He felt cold.  Those hairs were ripped off from the scalp. Each hair reflected the rage. He took out his phone in panic to call someone. The calendar in the phone displayed "September 14". September 14??? Why was that a familiar date? The reality dawned on him pretty late. September 14 was his wedding date. He felt his entire body freeze in terror. He thought he could never cheat her again. He glanced to the mirror on his side. In the reflection he saw her photo looking more real, her smile turning into a grimace. The sparkle got even brighter. His eyes flicked back to his reflection and saw his eyes going pitch black. The life and light of it just faded away. At the next moment the power went out, plunging the room in deep darkness.

Madan

Madan

"Shut your stupid mouth!" mocked Rajesh. "Madan or any of that shit just doesn't exist "."It is all just figments of imagination of our ancestors". "They were a bunch of wussies who dared not to go outside at night, let alone go for a walk".

"My grandmother says it exist Raj!" said Soumya struggling hard to convince her husband. "Don't mock my grandmother". "She told me if you whistle at night, Madan would come and hit your head". "Whistle away to your heart's content tomorrow morning, just not tonight... or any night"!

"You are so gullible Soumya". "Madan is supposed to be the ghosts of soldiers belonging to the Nair caste of Kerala"." Why the hell should it attack me at this day and age... if it exists"?

"I'm not wasting my time trying to explain things to you" said Soumya realizing her stories would provoke her husband to tease her more.

"Then come to bed, I just learned how to whistle your favorite song" said Rajesh with a wide grin.

As he whistled the second stanza, the calling bell rang thrice. "Who the hell is it at this time?" Rajesh wondered. As he walked towards the door he looked through the tiny opening on the door. It was the apartment security.

"Who is it Raj?" enquired Soumya.

"Go back to sleep, it's the security. Looks like he has something to say" Rajesh replied back.

Moments passed by. Soumya couldn't hear a noise. The silence was deafening. She climbed out of her bed and went outside. She realized that she stepped into a pool of blood. The scream got stuck in her throat. Right next to the split open head of her husband, laid a baton that the security used.

Fire

Fire

"Why did they have to cremate her here?" he thought, all the while scrambling through his drawers, searching for a bed sheet. He wondered where the fuck his mother kept the bed sheets in this god forsaken house. He blames the bed sheet and the lack of a curtain on his window. Hell, he blames his window for giving an access to his eyes to her room. It was the only reason why he saw her changing her clothes one day. His eyes got stuck on her body giving rise to a desire within. Desire turned to lust. Lust turned to inhumanity.

                He made sure no one would return home soon. He had his house all to himself for the moment. When he strolled into the veranda, he saw the tips of her skirt. It was dancing in the air. When she played with her friends, each jump she made kept the skirt flying, revealing her ankles and her silver anklet. He couldn't believe she was just 6 years old. She was a beauty, the love and light of her family. The whole village was proud of her. It was last year he noticed her, when she collected the prize for winning the first prize in dance competition, at the village youth festival. Her dazzling smile jolted every insult his family threw at him. For not being a good son, for not being responsible, for being a drug addict, for being a bane.

"No one should be this happy!" he thought. Jealousy crept through him and he clenched his fist in anger. He felt nauseous seeing her innocent smile. "You don't deserve to exist." he mumbled seeing her embrace her trophy.

         He sucked in one last puff of ganja, dropped stub to the floor, stomped on it with his rubber chappals and put it out. She was only few feet away from him. He clapped to grab her attention. She turned around and gave the same innocent smile. He felt his wrath bubbling. A mixture of lust and rage was getting concocted within him. He knew it had the power to destroy her existence. He kept the feelings to himself and raised a bar of chocolate. He saw her eyes widen in surprise and joy. He knew this shit would work. Innocence is the easiest thing to exploit. He gestured to keep it quiet by raising a finger to his mouth and signaled her to move away from her friends. She looked at him puzzled. "Do I need to be more convincing?" he thought. He smiled again and called her with his hand. Smile returned to her face and she ran into his room through the backdoor of his house. Her eyes contained all the excitement she had about that bar of chocolate. She was even thinking about the way to boast about it, in front of her friends that were playing outside. She didn't have a hint of doubt. All he had to do was to close the door.

                The smoke from her cremation site rose up high and touched the coconut tree that leaned above it. Even at night he saw fire crackling at the site emitting wisps of smoke. He lighted a roll and sucked in a puff. At first he thought he didn't light it up properly. No, that wasn't the case. He saw the tip burning. "What the hell is going on?" he breathed for fresh air. Nothing!  He felt as if all the air in the room got sucked out. He couldn't hold it anymore. He gasped for air and ran to the door. The door wouldn't open. He ran to the window and all he saw was smoke outside. He couldn't even breathe in the smoke. He felt a heat inside. As if someone lit his stomach on fire. He writhed in pain and fell down to the floor.

             "May be I should change the sheets" thought the mother, as she opened the door next morning. She saw that his bed was empty. When she glanced to the floor all she saw was a heap of ash emitting wisps of smoke as a tiny fire still crackled while burning few charred objects.

Intro

Hi readers ! This is my first post and probably the last one to explain the intention of this blog. I imagine things... a lot !! Some works for me whereas other things scare the shit out of me. It's masochistic but my mind always runs back to scary moments that may/could happen. I find random things to be intriguing: silhouettes, tree branch outside the window, a dark room at the end of the hallway, staircases... I imagine things to exist in the dark corners. I could write a novel, may be someday I will... Who knows ? but I can't let these moments of terror go by.  I feel an urge to document it somewhere. Hence this blog ! I chose Kerala simply because I can create stories from my heart. Its my home and it incorporates within a variety of supernatural narratives and entities. I feel I can do justice to my narratives, if I find a root in my land... Stories are about to come. Support and critically analyse. I welcome all suggestions to make this blog better !