Jilted Lover

She stood silhouetted against the dark sky, radiating moon beams such as her beauty. He stood on the rooftop every night to catch a glimpse of her, in the hope, she would turn and face him.

Just a figure he fell in love with unsure of her age, her marital status, never meeting her face to face. She was an enigma to him. But he was determined to find out more details. 

Knocking on her door, he met a grizzly old man, who asked with a frown "what do you want?".  

"I was wondering Sir if you would consider investing in mutual funds that will fetch you big returns. More than what you would get by putting your savings in Fixed deposits."  

"Arre baba, I don't have that kind of funds to risk it all going down. FDs suit me just fine and I am happy with the interest I earn, enough to meet my expenses".  

Akash was disappointed that his plan hadn't worked. That evening again he saw her standing alone on the rooftop, singing softly to the moon, her white dupatta blowing in the breeze. He couldn't resist calling out but the words stayed frozen on his lips. This was not the way adults behaved, he corrected himself.  

One morning, he saw the grizzly old man with luggage boarding a taxi. This was his chance to meet the mysterious woman he had started to love. The door was opened by a male servant "What do you want? My Saab has left for his ancestral home."

"Isn't there anyone else living in this house with whom I can talk about life insurance policies".

The manservant shook his head "no...it's just me and the Saab". "Are you sure?" Akash asked and this time the door was slammed in his face. He wondered if the family had some dark secrets or holding a lady inside the mansion against her will. Akash was hell-bent on finding out.

That night she made her appearance at the usual time, the veil pulled down her face, looking lithesome. "namaste! " he called out, loud enough to carry the sound to her ears. She never responded or turned to face him.

Akash decided to report the matter to the police station, withholding the part that he was in love with the lady in question. "Sir, I think something is going on at house no.44. They are holding a lady as a captive. I hear her plaintive songs every night from my rooftop".

"You got it all wrong son. That lady you see is the spirit of the old man's daughter. She committed suicide by hanging herself when her father refused to let her marry out of caste and had her locked up. Many residents of the neighborhood have seen her apparition singing from her rooftop."

Akash's found it hard to accept this version of the story from the police officer. He was so much in love with the spirit that roamed in the night in search of her lover. He felt like a jilted lover himself after hearing the facts of her non-existence.