1
Akriti was at her aunt's home for
semester holidays, waiting to step into her third semester in college. Her aunt’s
home is the only safe haven she had where she always spent her holidays. Her
cousin Deepthi is the main reason and of course, the comfy bed and nice aroma
of morning coffee her aunt prepared.
It was a Friday morning. Akriti
and Deepthi had planned to watch their favorite actor’s First day First show
movie. She was not sure if she had a nightmare or a pleasant dream. Though she
had a broken sleep the previous night, she woke up with a smile. Deepthi barged
in with her morning coffee.
Akriti exclaimed, “Deep, You got ready so early in the morning!!?”
“We are already late for the movie.
Come on. Get ready soon !!”, Deepthi hurried her.
While combing her hair, Akriti
suddenly fell out of balance and pressed her palms gently against the almirah
mirror for support and balanced herself. She was surprised that instead of her
reflection, she saw a small child's reflection pressing his palms with tiny
little fingers against hers. It was not just a reflection. She was able to feel
the touch. The kid was looking at her with loving eyes. Akriti called her aunt
and Deepthi inside. But neither of them believed what she experienced a moment
before as Akriti had a very good reputation for playing pranks.
2
Akriti began her third semester
college. They had planned to give a Welcome Party to juniors. After having soul
satisfying food, she realized that she has spilled food on her favorite dress.
She wanted to clean the food stain immediately. None of the hostel rooms was
available. She had no other option than to choose the last room down the
corridor which was not allotted to anyone in the last few years for no specific
reason.
She was checking herself in the
mirror and was surprised to see the same kid in the mirror reflection again.
The kid pressed his hands against the mirror from the other side. Guided by her
instincts she pressed her palm against the mirror and was quite shocked to feel
his touch.
She discussed about these
incidents with her best friend Ayan. First, he laughed it off thinking it’s
just another prank. But sensing her restlessness, he comforted her with his
words.
3
She visited her aunt's home again
for Deepthi’s birthday. Deepthi had planned a night-out with her friends.
Akriti stayed back at home since she was not interested much in night-outs and
parties. After Deepthi and her friends have left, it was only Akriti and her
aunt at home. It was too cold outside, and she covered herself with a thick
blanket from head to toe. In the mid of the night, suddenly she got up from
sleep out of the blue and felt some additional weight on her. She slowly
removed the blanket a little and saw it was the same kid peacefully sleeping on
top of her with a smiling face. Surprisingly, she didn't panic. She drifted
into sleep again with a smile.
In the morning she told her aunt
of what happened the previous night. To her surprise, her aunt believed her words
without any further question.
4
The kid was almost always around
her and became a part of her life. Sometimes she talked to him forgetting her
surroundings. This made people around her to question her sanity at times.
The kid always wore the same worn
out clothes and rugged unclean hair. She miserably failed in all her attempts
to make him take a shower. And she didn't even know his name or whereabouts. He
never spoke a language that she could understand. But they both shared a
launguage which was not verbal and they both could talk fluently in that
language without having to make sound or move their lips. The language of the
heart it is.
5
Years rolled by a little. She had
a decent job. She married her best friend Ayan. She was not yet aware that she
was going to pull a new life out of her.
One summer afternoon they were
playing in a ground to despite the heat of the sun. Suddenly, the landscape
changed. She found herself in a grassland. People around her disappeared into
nowhere. Wind was so cold that she regretted forgetting to take a jacket or
shawl with her. There was a very tall wall which separated them from the other
side of the grassland. The kid asked her to help him climb the wall and jump to
the other side. But the wall was too high. She tried her best. On other side of
the wall, there stood a man with a small kid in his hands. Both the man and the
kid in his hand wore similar worn out clothes and had rugged unclean hair.
These three had something in common which confused her. The man raised his
hands into a high-five. The kid was uncomfortably sitting on top of the wall,
balanced only by her. With difficulty, he tried to give high-five to that man.
She lost her balance and fell down to the ground making the kid also fall back
next to her after he had gently rubbed his pinky little finger against the
man's hand.
6
Akriti had a feeling that life
was not as easy and smooth as it was before. Her dad was in town. They both
went to an Art Exhibition and were on their way back home. Public transportation
was the easiest mode of transport to reach her home. To their surprise, all the
services that had operated to her place had been discontinued since that morning
and they were not getting any cabs or autos. Finally they managed to find an
auto and were bargaining with the driver. Her intuition warned her not to take
this auto and that something was fishy. They decided to walk all the way to a
nearby junction and then take bus from there to reach home.
7
Many other things happened which
made her think something is terribly wrong around her. She expressed her
concerns to her aunt, the only person who believed in what she said. They
planned to meet a priest who was an expert in identifying and warding off evil
energies. Her entire family went there and the room was completely filled. The
priest had asked how everyone in the room felt after he was done with some
rituals. Others did not feel any difference. But she felt serenely calm. For a
moment she doubted herself if whatever happening was a prank which her mind
played on herself. Then, she saw an internal door of the room open(which she
did not observe all this while) and the same kid was standing there with a
terrified look. The kid started running outside without listening to her warning.
Akriti got tensed initially but was completely relaxed to see Ayan standing
outside the premise and talking to the kid. Out of nowhere there was a cement
bench. Though it resembled the kind of thing usually seen in parks, this one
was very peculiar. The kid suddenly lied down on the bench and started weeping.
The kid saw few tomatoes nearby and starting throwing them on Ayan. The
impression made on his shirt depicted a lady being burnt alive.
Though Ayan never believed in
super natural things, he realized this has some important message that needs to
be conveyed to Akriti. The moment Ayan went inside, the entire environment was
shaken. The priest understood what had happened. He explained to Akriti and
Ayan that, once upon a time there was a wealthy man who had a caring wife and two
lovely kids. Out of greed, he burnt them alive. The cement bench on which the
kid was seen crying is the place where their mortal remains had been buried.
Akriti started getting
constrictions and had labor pain. She delivered a baby girl prematurely and
instinctively wanted to protect her newly born daughter from the evil spirit but
she couldn't move an inch. The kid came forward and held the baby girl in his
arms. Akriti’s baby girl started talking immediately and greeted him in a
strange language which which Akriti couldn’t make sense of. The priest
continued with his rituals trying his best to take control of the situation. Ayan
went through a life-or-death situation and Akriti’s love and prayers brought
him back to life.
8
A few years down the line, Akriti
was travelling in a bus with her daughter, enjoying the morning sun and the
cool breeze on her face. Suddenly her duaghter was giggling seeing an angel
like figure from the bus window. It was the same kid, but now with clean, shiny
clothes and neatly combed hair. He was flying in the air with angel like wings.
Her daughter wanted to give a high-five to him and was greeting him in a
strange language. Akriti playfully hit her daughter's hand not to stretch hands
outside the window. She was surprised to see the kid flying towards them. She
saw her daughter giving a high-five to her angelic brother with a smile and
carried on with her journey.
9
Akriti suddenly got up from
sleep. She found herself in her aunt’s home where she usually spent her holidays.
She woke up with a smile even though she had a broken sleep the previous night and couldn't tell whether she had a nightmare or a pleasant dream.
Deepthi barged in with her morning coffee and informed her that they were already late for the First Day First Show movie they had planned to watch. With a racing heart, Akriti slowly
turned her head towards the almirah mirror and stood froze in terror.
