A Perplexing Problem

Tring tring!

The door bell rang.

It was 1 AM, an hour after midnight.

Hema and her 16 year old daughter Priya were startled! They looked at each other with unbelieving eyes, a tinge of fear showing on their faces.

'Who could be at the door at this unearthly hour?' was the question that each asked herself.

It started to ring again!

Tring, trying, tring, tring, tring.....it went on relentlessly for a while before it suddenly stopped.

They were quite terrified now.

Hema's husband Rakesh had gone out of town for a couple of days on official work.

So it was bonding time for the two of them. Mother and daughter enjoyed a camaraderie of a different kind when they were on their own. Like on this day.

They decided to watch an old Telugu horror film, for cheap thrills! They usually watched clean comedy films. So this was an adventure for them.

The movie was well directed with good cinematography and haunting music, shot in black and white. This brought alive the contrast of light and shadow and accentuated it very effectively!

To add to the atmosphere, it was raining heavily outside and a howling wind sent the shear curtains flying! A perfect setting for a murder mystery or even better, a horror film, like the one they had just been watching!

'Do you think we should open the door and check?', Hema asked half heartedly.

'Mad or what?',exclaimed her daughter.

'I think we should switch the TV off and go upstairs!'.

'Good idea!', Said Hema as she proceeded to switch the TV off!

The moment she switched it off, the bell started to ring, as if on cue!

She switched it on again reflexly!

The ringing stopped.

They waited for some time, waiting in anticipation, for the bell to ring again!

Nothing happened in the next 10 minutes.

Hoping that whoever was doing it, had tired and left, Hema heaved a sigh of relief!

They proceeded upstairs to the bedroom. 'Today Priya would sleep in her room, of course!' she decided.

Then she realized that the TV was still on. She turned back to switch it off.

Again the bell rang, continuous and shrill!

She froze in her tracks!

She turned it on again! The ringing stopped.

She was now intrigued!

She switched the TV on and off a few more times.

Same result.

Again a ring when TV switched off, stopping when on.

Who could it be?

Some miscreants knowing that her husband was not around? But how would they know when the TV was on or off?

The light was still on!

Could it be some sort of emergency for one of the neighbors? But again, it didn't make sense. In these days of mobile phones, who would ring a bell and not say a word?

Most implausible!

Or could it be some kind of message from the supernatural?

'Of course not! That is so silly!', She told herself.

Or was it? The thought slowly gathered strength.

The paranormal could explain the link between the TV and the door bell ringing!

You hear of so many incidents although never actually a witness to any

Maybe she was witnessing one now!

She tried to push back the less than comforting thoughts, decided to leave the light and the TV on for the night, and quickly made her way upstairs!

Both Hema and Priya locked the door of the bedroom, pulled the quilts over their heads and slept.

They had a disturbed sleep.

When they woke up, it was a bright sunny day.

They walked down the stairs more confidently now , wondering if it was all imagination after the movie last night!

But two people couldn't imagine the same thing surely?

Anyhow they certainly felt less frightened now.

Hema turned the TV off, half expecting the door bell to ring. Nothing happened.

She gently opened the door.

No one there.

The ordeal seemed to be over.

Rakesh arrived by about ten in the morning. They all had a late breakfast together. When they were seated around the table, Hema and Priya recounted their experience of the night before, by turns, excitedly. When they finished, he rolled his eyes in disbelief and said dismissively, 'I will send the electrician. Get the door bell checked'.

Hema was peeved. 'Men!',She thought. "Always think they are smarter.

It sounds silly no doubt but she had experienced it first hand!"

The electrician came and examined the bell and all else.

He then proclaimed his verdict.

The bell is exposed to the outside. Although it is under the staircase, there is a gap along the wall. It rained heavily last night and must have seeped into the bell and caused some kind of wrong connection.

He advised to disconnect the bell and allow it to dry, and he would come back and install it properly.

Hema nodded her head, feeling really silly now.

'Such a simple explanation and the things that she had imagined!' She chided herself.

The electrician came as promised, the bell was put back, tried and tested, and declared fit, with free advice thrown in that they should cover the bell properly to prevent a recurrence of the illness.

After the anticlimax of the day and the lack of sleep of the night before, Hema felt tired and went to bed early. Priya was already asleep.

Rakesh had some office work to attend to.

He preferred late nights because everything was quiet and he could focus on his work. That way, he could work faster! He was so involved that he didn't realize how late it was when he finished.

He hastily put off the lights and turned off the music playing in the background for company. He switched the TV off.

Tring tring tring tring!

The door bell started to ring!

Rakesh's eyes widened with disbelief!