Haunted

 Haunted 

“I won’t sleep alone....” cried my younger brother.

“No! You are and that’s final….. And for the hundredth time, this house is NOT haunted”, Mum screamed.

“How do you know? You don’t believe in ghosts”

“I don’t believe in them because there are no ghosts”

“Yes there are!! People don’t cook up stories for fun”

Dad interrupted, “Mike. People always cook up stories. That’s their job… and you know… King Arthur was never afraid of ghosts”.

“I’m just 4 years old.  4 year olds are afraid of ghosts….”

“Mike….”

“Fine, but I’m sleeping in her room”, he said pointing towards me.

“Di? Is it fine if he sleeps in your room tonight?” Mum asked.

I shrugged. Dad creased his eyebrows. Sharing room with a talkative, irritating, 4 year old brother!!! I know… But the rumors were enough to drive your “privacy” out of the window.

Late in the night, the cold breeze started seeping under the blankets. I woke up to close the windows, only they weren’t there. They were replaced by a small little ventilator and walls that dissolved into shadows.

“Di?”

I swirled around.

“Mike!! What- ? How-? Where are we?” I looked around.

He shook his head. “Di……, I think the ghosts have kidnapped us”, he piped.

“We have to get out of here. Search for the door”. And together we searched.

“Di? Do ghosts eat humans?

Ughhhhhhh… Leave my brother to bring out your worst fears.

“I don’t know. Now shut up”. I started tracing the walls slowly in the dim light that was seeping through the ventilator.

“Di? How do you think the ghosts look? Do they really have pearly white skin? Do they have skin at all?

“I don’t know Mike. Will you please be quiet?” The stone walls seemed never ending.

“Di? Why do ghosts have a “smoky” shaped body? Does it mean they smoked a lot, when they were alive? Can they smoke if they are dead?

“Ughhhhhhhhh… Mike I don’t know anything alright? Try and look for the door. Please…..”

“Di?”

My patience touched its peak. I turned, “WHAT?”

He quivered. He pointed to a pile that lay in a corner.

“Do you think those are dead bodies?”

We crawled near to the pile. I bent down and touched it. It felt soft… almost like velvet… I held it up to the light. Skeleton bones hung in mid-air. Mike gasped.

“It’s a costume”, I said

Recovering himself, Mike said, “Why do ghosts need costumes? They don’t have anything to cover up”. And then suddenly he said, “Di!!! If we wear them, we would look like ghosts. They would think us as one of them and let us go”.

He pulled the costume and wore it. He bent over a tin can and when he looked up, Well, I had to say even the ghosts would take him up for a late night party.

I put on the costume. Just then, there was creak on one side of the wall. It was the door. We froze. A pale white hand held the lock and pushed the door open.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Mike!!!! Di!!! Stop screaming” It was Mum. She was locked up too.

“Where are we Mum? I asked.

“In your bedroom. Now wake up and help me sort the house, both of you”.

What? It was a dream? It can’t be. Mike looked equally confused and terrified.

“Di? Was it a dream?  How can both of us have the same dream on the same night?”  We looked at each other thinking the same thing.

The house really is haunted.