Abhigya Short Stories

Haunted House : Part One

Happy New Year Everyone :)

Thanks to all for voting and commenting on the Crazy Series

"Third house in a year." Sarala grumbles as she irately started setting up the flat.

Hearing her mother, Pragya chuckles softly as she continued to connect the TV.

"Stop laughing. Do you find it funny?" Sarala asks her furiously. "I am the one who has to set up the whole place and clean it up."

"This is a nice house, Mama." Pragya tells her smiling as she winked at her father.

"What is the use? We will be moving out of here very soon." Sarala furiously tells her as she stared at Raghuveer furiously.

Raghuveer cheekily grins at her as he continued to put the curtains. "You know, why I do this."

"Don't get me started!" Sarala says furiously as she pulled the chair to position.

"Seriously Papa, have you even seen one ghost?" Pragya asks him confused.

"No." Raghuveer replies.

"Maybe there is no such thing as ghosts." Pragya tells him.

"There is, Pragya." Raghuveer tells her seriously as he got down from the ladder and walked towards Sarala to help her put up the couch.

"Then how come you haven't seen even one?"

"It is not that simple, Pragya. They need to call out to us."

"Are you saying all these 76 haunted houses we have stayed after our marriage didn't have a single ghost calling out to you?" Sarala mocks him.

"It is easy not to believe." Raghuveer tells her upset.

"Wrong. It is easy to believe in these kinds of superstitions."

"It is my virasat. It is our duty to help those who have no one." Raghuveer tells her passionately. "My mother, my grandmother, they all could feel and interact with ghost."

Sarala turns to look at Raghuveer and gently tells him, "You are 50 years old, Raghuveer. Maybe it is time that you accept that you don't have your mother's or your ancestors' talent of communicating with the dead."

Raghuveer looks away upset while Pragya gently smiles at him.

"Are you done connecting the TV, Pragya?" Raghuveer asks her.

"I am almost done." Pragya replies as she connected the wires.

"Hurry up, Pragya. I want to see the news."

Pragya who was concentrating on figuring out which wire to put where , rolls her eyes. As she untangled the wires she feels a tingling feeling on her neck as if someone was standing so close to her and watching her untangle the wires. Realizing Raghuveer was watching over her shoulders Pragya stops in irritation and says, "Papa, I am trying."

"Do it fast." Raghuveer orders her from behind her.

"I am." Pragya says and tries to concentrate when she feels her father move closer to her. "Papa!" Pragya shouts in irritation as she turned around to scold her father for not letting her do her work when she stops in shock seeing her father across the room talking to her mother.

"What?" Raghuveer asks as he turned to look at her curiously.

Pragya looks at him in shock, she had really thought he was next to her. GOD! Very soon she will be crazy like her father. "Nothing. It will be ready soon." Pragya tells him and turns around to fix the wire. Few seconds later, she feels someone over her shoulder. Pragya slowly turns to look back gulping as fear gripped her and found herself alone in that area. Pragya's heart beats starts rising as she tried to understand why she was feeling as if someone was standing right next to her. She kept staring at the empty space as she tried to fight that weird feeling that someone was staring right back at her. As sweat broke out on her face and her breathing started becoming erratic she gently takes her shaking hand forward to see if really some presence was there. As her hand moved freely in the air Pragya felt a chill creeping up her fingertips to her palm. Pragya screams in fear as the chill climbed up her arm to her shoulder. Pragya stumbles back as the strange sensation left her.