18th Birthday

It was cold, I was in my bed trying to study but was unable to do so as I was constantly looking at the clock in my room. After a while, I dozed off to sleep. Suddenly I heard a loud whistle and I woke up in a hurry, it was the security guard on his scheduled round of my society. I realized it was midnight and it was my birthday, my eighteenth birthday. I started receiving calls from my cousins to wish me, my parents surprised me with a huge hamper full of gifts; it had around twenty gifts. I was so delighted that I didn't want the time to pass. I was so lost in looking through all my gifts that I don't even remember when I fell asleep.

In the morning, my relatives and friends called me; my mom prepared my favorite dishes, my brother and I watched a movie. It was like any other birthday I was getting pampered and I was getting all the attention. But I was missing something, I hadn't heard from my best friends Tara, Alia, and Naina. I was upset, I expected them to be the first ones to wish me.

It was at 4:00, the three of them arrived at my place with cake, after a lot of chatting and teasing, we decided to go for a walk nearby and grab something to eat. Since it was February, it started getting dark early and it was colder as I live in a hilly region. After having some street food we walked a little further. We were near the Parsi Cemetery and the curious me, who was really fascinated by horror movies, convinced my friends to head near it; As there were many rumors of some paranormal activities in that area.

It was getting darker and darker, so I took out my phone and switched on the torch and we were just laughing and walking and suddenly my phone turned off and I was unable to turn it on, I guess the charging ran out. Then Naina turned her phone torch on and unexpectedly started running towards the main gate of the cemetery and then suddenly disappeared. We thought she was pulling some prank so we ignored her and were still talking. At the very next moment, Tara's and Alia's mobile torch also turned off and it refused to turn on; we sensed something suspicious. So we decided to return and started calling for Naina, but she was nowhere. The only source of light was a small lamp. It was quite difficult to see due to the lack of light. Now that small lamp also started flickering and went off, leaving us in complete darkness full of graves. God! what was happening; where was Naina.

Suddenly, we heard someone laughing inside the Cemetery, and guess what, it was Naina in front of a grave with her mobile torch on. She was speaking something in Persian as if she was talking to the grave, but the most horrific part was she didn't even know Persian. The three of us looked at each other and started running without even looking behind and somehow managed to reach the main road. We were in front of the spot, which used to be a Shiva temple a few years ago. Though I don't believe in god, that day I started to pray at that spot. I was so horrified I started remembering all the prayers in my subconscious mind, which I never memorized, I just heard them from my parents. I was praying so that this time ends and I don't even remember what the other two were doing.

And then suddenly, my phone which had turned off started ringing and I was receiving a call from Naina. I looked at Tara and Alia, they too were pale and scared. I was confused about what to do, so with shivering hands, I took the call and she wished me a happy birthday. I was so freaked out and confused about what was happening and then I saw the time was 7:23 AM. I realized it was a dream and I overslept again; my day was yet to start.