उनाड

By: pundalik

Mar 12 2010

Category: Abstract, Humor

2 Comments

The fact that most of us are afraid of darkness is because darkness opens the possibility of the unknown. And the unknown is always scary!

The story was inspired when I was fidgeting with the lights in the toilet. The only source of light in the darkness was the light coming from below the door.

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A Short Story

It was very late when the dinner after the training finally ended. I just wanted to go to my room and collapse on my bed. The problem was I had already slept a lot during the boring speeches and lectures and sleep was hard to come by. It was the same case for the last 2 days. I still had one day to go.

I bade everyone good bye and went to my room. On the way picked up some snacks and drinks for the night. Although I had a heavy dinner, I wanted to watch TV for sometime before retiring for the day. Tomorrow it would be a fun day at the training center and also a half day so I need not be attentive as today. Might as well enjoy hotel hospitality. today

Changing into comfortable clothes, I settled on the comfortable bed in front of the TV. The room was small with a single bed, a closet, Bathroom, and a television set. It was also the last room at the end of the corridor so I would not be disturbed by people walking and talking outside the door.

The hotel was kind of ok. I have been here for the last 3 days for the training. I could not see much of the city because of the training but it was already my third trip in the city so did not even care much. I settle down on the bed, with chips on the left side and drinks on the right. I fliped through channels not really paying attention to what was going on. Sometimes its fun to just run through channels

I must have flipped through a dozen channel, when the familiar face of Urmila Matondkar stopped me for switching to the next channel. She smiled on the 21 inch screen. I smile back. It’s the horror flick “Bhoot”. I have seen the movie a number of times. I know each and every twist in the movie. I know her every look and somehow she has stopped scaring me now. A good movie with a tame climax. Nevertheless, it’s a good movie and at that time the only good movie on all the available channels.

The movie was just starting so I started preparing to watch a horror movie. The idea of watching a horror movie is getting scared just like the idea of watching a romantic movie has to do with feeling romantic. If you are not scared watching a horror flick, then the movie does not serve its purpose. I hate watching horror alone because it gives me nightmares but “Bhoot” was different. I already had seen the movie far too many times and I was far from being scared now.

I shut down the lights and settled on the bed. The only light in the room was of the TV and the light from the corridor seeping through the closed door. The room suddenly had the haunting feel. I smile and shivered and pulled the sheets over me, my eyes glued to the television, where Urmila was already getting possessed. I look around my dark room and the atmosphere was turning eerie with the light from the TV flickering on the walls giving each object in the room a life of its own.

I look at the door and the light from the corridor seeping from below the door. I continued watching the movie when I glance at the door again. I could be wrong but I saw a shadow on the other side. As far as I remember, there is no room opposite me. Somebody was moving outside my room.

“Must be the room service” I thought

The shadow continues to dance and continuously move on the other side of the door.

“Should I go and look outside?” I decide not to. Must be the hotel staff doing their night maintenance.

I shift back to watching the movie. Urmila is haunting Ajay Devgan now. he has the terrified look on his face. 5 minutes into the movie, I glance at the door again. The shadows are still there. I am sure that 5 minutes have passed and still somebody was at the end of the corridor just outside my room making hasty moment. Now it was my turn to have the terrified look. What does he want? It could be a “She” too? What does the person outside my room want?

I watch the door for sometime. The shadow keeps on moving sizing and re-sizing as if he was coming toward the door and then going back. The next 5 minutes go just watching the door. The shadow haven’t left the place opposite my door for the last 10 minutes. 10 minutes because I have been watching the door since then. He may be standing there for more that that.

I get down from the bed and walk toward the door. I put my ears on the door to hear any sound outside. The sound of the TV does not let me listen. I mute the volume of the TV. The shadow is still dancing in the lobby light. But I don’t hear any sound. I think my room must be sound proof. There are no sound of feet or any moment from outside. Everything is so quite. The only sound is the hum of my room AC.

I suddenly feel the chill in the air. Could it be some serial killer or could it be a ghost? I thought ghost are not found in cities but then in “Bhoot”, the ghost was in the apartment. But the again, “Bhoot” was just a movie, a fiction.

The shadow is always moving, never staying still. I watch in horror but I cannot hear anything outside. This was freaking me out. Who is outside and what does he/she want? Could it be my enemy out to get me but then as far as I remember I don’t have any enemy. Not that I know of. Not that I know of who had the inclination and the guts to kill me or even harm me although they must be wishing a lot.

It was already 20 minutes since I last noticed the shadow outside my door and it had not moved away from the door since then. I was at my wit end. What did the person at the other end want and why was he moving so silently.

I noticed that there was considerable light coming through the door from the bottom which meant that there was a considerable gap for the light to come in. Which in normal terms mean that I can lay flat on the ground and look, how many people were there on the other side.

I bent down and laid flat on the ground. I looked on the other side laying flat to the ground against the cold tiles and then my heart stopped beating, literally. I could not see any feet on the other side. I looked as far as I could and there were no feet on the other side and still the shadows had not disappeared. I broke into a cold sweat. What was happening?

Should I just open the door and confront that person on the other side. I did not even know if there was a “person” on the other side. I was panicking and hallucinating. Here I was I in a hotel in the midst of so many other guest and hotel staff and I was afraid of someone or something at the other side of the door.

I had heard stories about people committing suicide in hotels and maybe, just maybe their ghost lurking in the lobbies of the hotel they died. But then do ghost have shadows? A logical question and yet unanswered. I have yet to meet a person who has seen a real ghost.

So the only option left for me would be to open the door and see who was dancing in the middle of the night outside. What if they or he or she are just hotel staff working or just hotel guest? It would be embarrassing. But what if they are not and their motive is completely different from rather just saying “Hi”.

I did not know what I was scared of but it was certainly a fear, the fear of the unknown. I looked around for something as a weapon if the thing(?) on the other side was dangerous. I searched the room when I finally found a hanger in the closet.

Wouldn’t it be just easy to call someone from the hotel to look into the matter. What would I tell them? I see a shadow outside the door. I could be a laughing matter to everybody and I hate that, I mean being a joker.

So it was just me and whatever that was outside. I gripped the wooden hanger tightly. Surprise was the key. If I could take them by surprise then I have the advantage. I griped the door handle and started counting.

1……2…….3…..and open

I raised a war cry. Actually it was more of a frightened scream but anything would have done that time. I charged outside and there it was;

Nothing!

Absolute nothing. I was glad there was no one in the hallway. A screaming man with a wooden hanger trying to look as threatening as possible would have been a sight to see.

I looked up on the ceiling. On the ceiling was a solo lamp. Just near the lamp was a balloon stuck to the ceiling with a thread. The balloon was swaying in the evening wind and was casting a shadow on my door. I looked at the balloon and then back at my door.

That explains why I could not see anybody’s feet.

I would have looked very foolish if somebody had seen me like this. I laughed at myself. I looked around. It was a beautiful night and it was time to sleep. I went in and bolted the room from inside.

One thing I was very sure now, I need to stop watching horror movies at night.

—————————————
“Did he see us?” The first one asked

“Don’t be stupid! You know nobody can see us” The other looked at him annoyed by the question

“Funny human! Coming out with that hanger and shouting”

“I think he was drunk”

“Maybe! But did not seem drunk to me”

“I tell you, these humans are very spooky. They behave so strangely sometimes.”

“Are you sure, he did not see us?” The first one was concerned

“Of course! After all we are dead for god sake! Nobody can see us”

“Maybe you are right. So whose turn is it to chase now?”

“Yours”

“Ok! But you will stop running in circles around the lamp. You have the whole hotel to run you know”

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• Place: Behind a door, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Date: 20 March 2007
• Camera: Sony Ericsson W810i
• Focal length:
• Aperture: f/2.8
• Exposure Time: 1/20
• ISO: 800