February 1, 2003

Ghosts, witches, spirits, vampires —these words have intrigued scientists and psychologists since times immemorial. Though modern society does not acknowledge such beings, there are still many people who do believe in them. I, personally, am totally against believing in them. There is nothing logical about them. But a few weeks back, something very strange and extraordinary happened to me that have left me confused since.

It was a late Saturday evening. I was up in my room, studying for a test. My parents had gone to attend a dinner party while my brother was watching his favorite TV show in the lounge downstairs. Outside, it was raining heavily with thunder rumbling in the sky. Just when I decided that I had revised enough, my bedroom window flew open and a gust of wind, loaded with moisture hit against my face.

That’s odd, I thought. I remember slamming the window tightly shut before the storm began.

Putting the blame upon the fierce wind, I walked over to the window. I was about to close it shut when suddenly an ear- splitting scream pierced through the night and shook me out of my wits. I shrieked back in fear and after a few moments’ silence, regained my composure. Cautiously I went to the window and peered out into the darkness. I could not spot anyone outside. I hurried downstairs to find out if my brother had heard the scream, too, but he seemed quite surprised at the question. He had not heard anything. I went into the kitchen to cool my nerves with a glass of water. But no sooner had my lips touched the glass when a dark shadow of a man fell across the opposite wall. I screamed and my quivering hands let the glass drop and crash to pieces. Then swiftly turning around, I was astonished to find no one. This was most strange.

My heart was thumping madly against my chest and my mind was as if caught in a whirlwind. Was I hallucinating or had I gone insane? I knew I had been under stress for some time over studies but this had never happened before, so why now? This was certainly not the reason. I took some moments to relax a bit and after some deep breathing, tried to invent a convincing explanation. I forced myself into believing that I probably was imagining it all. After all, it could happen with anyone at such odd times and anyone could be carried away by wild ideas, right? Satisfied with my explanation, I felt my confidence returning and my nerves cooling down. I decided to return to the lounge and watch some television to lighten up a bit.

Then it happened again. That same scream, echoing from all directions; the same blood-curdling scream that sent shivers up and down my spine. The hair ends at the back of my neck stood up on alert as fear crept back into my heart. Then it suddenly ended as before. It was so unexpected and so alarming that all that time my feet had been rooted to the spot. I seemed to have been enveloped by a momentary sphere of panic, cold and fright. Then jerking myself out of the trance, I realized that this was not a play of my mind. Something was definitely not right and it was about time I investigated.

Determined to solve the mystery, I walked back to the living room. But every footstep of mine was now accompanied by a horrible creaking noise that seemed like an echo. I stopped in surprise and so did the creaking. I went slowly forward again; the creak followed pursuit. Keep your cool, I ordered myself, despite knowing what was coming, I dashed for the living room with the awful creaking thundering along, as if someone was running madly on old, worn-out floorboards in a haunted house. The noise it created seemed as if the entire house was coming down.

My hands against my ears to block out the noise, I finally reached the living room. The noise stopped suddenly, just like the scream, and once more, I felt really scared for some time. But I was most baffled to see my brother still curled up on the couch in front of the TV. He seemed to be in a dream world of his own, looking as if all was as perfect as it could be. He glanced at me as I entered the living room. I must have appeared quite terrible what with the sweat, my undone and ruffled hair and the panic in my eyes because he gasped when he saw me, as if a zombie had just entered the room.

However, I did not have time for explanations. I asked him whether he had heard the scream and the creaking that had caused such a row. His answer completely confounded me. He hadn’t heard any scream or noise except for the crash of glass, which he rightly thought I must have let slip. I just could not believe my ears and for a moment, I was compelled to think that my brother might be the root of the trouble. But no, I realized my brother is not so notorious nor so intelligent to think up such a ridiculous prank. I was now completely lost and wondered why was this happening to me. I simply had to find out.

I left my confused brother and went into all the rooms, checking from cupboards and bathrooms to the most bizarre places like under the mats and carpets. My brother was most bewildered at my behaviour and offered to call my parents if I did not feel well. I realized that he must be thinking that I had gone mad and was imagining things. Frankly speaking, even I had begun to feel that way once more.

After checking all the rooms, I went out into the garden. The rain had now turned into a light drizzle and the ground was mushy. Everything looks all right here, I thought.

I then made my way back to my room, mystified. As I cleared my books, the creaking noise of a door opening came from downstairs, followed by voices. Now I’ve got you, I thought, excitedly. Joke or no joke, I would finally be able to catch the culprit now.

I sprinted down the stairs and found ... my parents. They had returned from the party and were asking my brother if he had behaved well in their absence. My brother nervously looked at me instead and I knew he was still anxious and doubtful about my recent behavior. He, nevertheless, spoke nothing of the episode. Neither did me, for that matter.

The incident did not repeat itself and I find it most difficult to just forget about it. I am not one of those people who try to escape from the truth by forcing themselves to believe in whatever they disbelieve. Neither am I ready to accept it as something that just happened because I know it was not imaginary but real. Unfortunately, I cannot exactly explain whatever it really was because I haven’t understood it myself. Confused? Well, that’s just how I feel about my experience. However, I do believe that everything in life has some meaning but often it is difficult to explain. I suppose this incident was just one of them.

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