Demons Of Darkness

The shrill noise of the alarm clock disrupted her sleep. She groaned within her pillow unwilling to let go the soothing covers of sleep, but it persisted. The alarm clock kept on ringing. She tossed and turned within her duvet not wanting to wake up, yet she knew she had to, if she wanted to stop the stupid clock from ringing further. 

As she let go her comforting bed, Sameera stretched and shut the clock. 

"Thank goodness. The voice stopped."

Her gaze wandered around till it landed on the calendar alongside her bed. Her eyes widened looking at the date and the day. It was the first day of Diwali today. Diwali - her favourite festival. How could she forget? She glanced at the clock to confirm the time yet again. 8 AM. She was surprised how she could wake up this late. 

'What had I been thinking before setting the alarm for this time? But wait a minute, why did ma or papa or even that monkey Adi wake me up. I am sure that monkey must have pranked me. And now I would need to endure ma and papa's scolding.', she frowned while thinking and groaned at her idiot of a brother's mischief. 

Shaking her head, she went through her morning chores as quickly as possible. 

'What should I wear today? Hmm, let's go for something traditional.'

She thought to herself while going through her wardrobe. She came across her ma's saree which she had very graciously 'stolen' from her. What could she do? It was her favourite color. 

"I think we would visit Amit uncle today. I mean it has been our tradition since quite some years now," she grinned to herself while speaking aloud. 

"I cannot really wait to devour all of those sweets ma has prepared. Ahh Gulab jamun, can't wait!", Sameera was bubbling with excitement thinking of all the sweets her ma prepares each year for Diwali. 

Diwali had always been a grand, yet homely and cozy affair for the Kashyap's, especially since it was their favourite festival. Each year they went overboard with decorations, lighting, flowers, sweets, crackers and Sameera knew this year would be the same.

She opened the door of her bedroom and while she had been expecting a chaotic affair outside, she was met with a deafening silence. She was perplexed. Where were the others?

"Ma, papa, where are you?"

"Adiii."

The entire house was shrouded in an eerie silence, an unpleasant shiver running through her spine. She went down the stairs only to find the house completely undecorated, no hint of lights, flowers anywhere. No pleasant aroma of all her favourite sweets. She did not know what to make of the situation and was vehemently scared now. 

When she reached the living room, her gaze fell on the wall alongside. There stood three silent photographs with garlands around them. As she stared as those three smiling portraits, the reality hit her, almost slapped her in the face. Her eyes stung with the familiar salty tears as she stood frozen. 

Those were the photographs of her parents and brother who had passed away in a car accident two months back. By now, she had streaks of hot tears running down her cheeks with no one to wipe them. She collapsed on the floor glancing at those photos. They went away. too far, farther from her mortal reach and yet took a massive piece of her soul with them. The void would never be filled, she knew. 

What should have been a day full of joy had now lost its meaning. In fact, any form of happiness had lost its place from her life. 

It was Diwali, but her life had been taken over by the demons of darkness and she could only hope for time to lessen the sting, perhaps.