Ghost Stories Untold

The Chit-chat Ghosts

It was a moonless midnight. The wind was howling, creating a creepy ambience. Some ghosts were chatting in a park. The lights were flickering.

"Our condition is worsening day by day. Two months have passed since I scared a human. Can you believe it? I think I'm falling into depression." Ghost Arun said sadly.

"You're right. What is this world coming into? It's not fair. It wasn't like this two-three hundred years ago. Back then, even though humans believed in god, hearing the word 'ghost' they would tremble in fear. We just had to appear in front of them. That's it, they would wet their clothes, and faint. Some would even lie on bed with fever for days. We didn't have to make a sound, or be in a horrible shape." Ghost Somadev looked at the others.

"Yea, those were the days, brother." Ghost Sankappa sighed, and continued, "Today's generation of humans are the worst. They just don't care about anything, always glued to their mobile phones. Their eyes are fixed to the screen, and their ears are plugged with earphones. If they don't look around, don't hear anything, how can we scare them?!"

"I completely agree. Two days ago, I saw a boy walking alone in the street around midnight. I appeared in front of him. He didn't notice me at all. I tried two more times in vain. Then I had to push him. He looked back, and irritatedly asked 'what?'. I said I was a ghost. That brat replied that he was the creepy uncle Joe, and told me to get lost." Ghost Harini said in frustration.

"Oh my, that's awful. My experience was worse. A week ago, I went to an old age home. I thought I could scare off the older generation. But to my shock, no one noticed me. Everyone was glued to the TV, watching a horror serial named 'Ghost's Play'. The ghost character was pathetic. Those humans looked like they were scared. So I flickered the lights, and turned off the TV. Then again I turned it on." Ghost Suresh explained.

"Did it work then?" Ghost Vimala interrupted.

"No, they started complaining about the electricity problem, and were swearing at the electricity department. I just couldn't take it anymore. I short-circuited the TV in anger." Ghost Suresh replied in frustration.

"This time they definitely noticed you, right?" Ghost Vimala was excited.

"Noticing me?! They started to swear at the TV mechanic who repaired the TV a few days ago. I just left the place. What a disgrace! I can't show my face to anyone." Ghost Suresh covered his face in shame.

"No use blaming the humans. Curse the electronic gadgets which have made them their slaves." Ghost Velappan commented.

"Forget about the humans. What about us? Are all of us doing our jobs properly? Yesterday, I tried to train a teen ghost boy named Vikas. I explained in detail how to scare humans. Then I took him to a park at night. There was a kid sitting on a bench alone, watching something on his mobile. I told Vikas to scare him. He went behind him in excitement. Suddenly he stopped there for a few seconds. Then, he started dancing and singing, 'I got it from my daddy... daddy, daddy, daddy'. I was very angry and smacked his head. Vikas got upset, and left the place. I've not seen him since." Ghost Arun shook his head.

"I'd like to share my experience with a teen ghost girl, Shalini. I took her to an alley after explaining to her what to do. There was a young man going to his home. I told her to scare him. This girl took a few steps ahead with a devilish smile. Then she stopped for a few seconds. Then again she moved, went near him, and asked for the location of a street. She continued the conversation for a half an hour, trying to attract him with her melodious voice, and seductive body language. After he left, I scolded her, and she left angrily like a spoiled brat." Ghost Harini did a facepalm.

"Why to blame young ones? Have you observed the old age ghosts?" Ghost Sankappa asked.

"What about them?" Ghost Velappan asked curiously.

"There was an old age ghost woman named Kamala Bai. She was sent to scare the people in a house. She went there, and returned happily, saying it was fun. Every day, at the same time, she used to go there. She would return after three hours, smiling. At first, I didn't notice. Later I felt something was off. So, I followed her one day, and saw what was happening. This Kamala Bai would go there, sit in a chair, and enjoy watching the TV series for three hours non-stop." Ghost Sankappa complained.

"What?! Really?!" Other ghosts were in shock.

"Yes, I couldn't believe my eyes. Later I asked for an explanation, and she told me that she didn't want to waste her time by scaring the humans. Instead, she would spend her time as a ghost, watching lots of TV series. She tried to advise that we should find better things to do, instead of doing monkey business like scaring humans." Ghost Sankappa replied in frustration.

"Ok, that's it. Enough is enough. We have to do something about this." Ghost Arun said in anger. Other ghosts nodded in agreement.

"Let's meet here again tomorrow. I'll see what we can do to bring our glorious days back." Ghost Arun said decisively. Then, they faded away into oblivion.