The Azamonia Mystery

Xylo and Roiza were best friends since childhood. They lived in the same neighbourhood and their parents too were friends. They went to the same school, went to the same classes, etc. They were studying in St. James school in standard 10. Most children thought they were siblings as they were always seen together.

They loved adventure and read all the adventure books in the school library. Their favourite series was “The Famous Five” and their favourite author was Enid Blyton.

Recently in the school show and tell session, one of their classmates, Anita brought a clipping from a local newspaper. The clipping was about Azamonia. Azamonia is a popular picnic spot near the lake. The place has dense vegetation and lots of trees. The news clipping mentioned that a couple of children who visited the place a month ago witnessed some strange things and heard strange sounds. They saw a woman wearing a white saree and she had white eyes. She walked past like a zombie mumbling something like “hee-hee-ha-hee-ha-hee-hee-hee-ha”. The children were terrified and ran away from the place as fast as they could.

Xylo and Roiza were curious kids. They had been to Azamonia several times in the past but everything seemed normal then. They decided to visit Azamonia on Saturday to solve the mystery.

They packed their backpacks with some snacks and water bottle and took the 8 am bus to Azamonia. The bus ride took 45 minutes. From the bus stop, to reach the lake-side involved a 30-minute trek. They were the only people who were on the trail. Everything seemed to be normal. They could hear birds chirping, bees buzzing but they could not hear any strange sounds. Suddenly there was a loud shrill sound “hee-hee-ha-hee-ha-hee-hee-hee-ha”. Both Xylo and Roiza jumped with fear. They looked around trying to locate its source. On their left at around a distance of 50 metres they noticed a woman wearing a white saree. She was walking towards them. They were scared and hid behind some bushes, but decided to take a closer look. As she got closer, the sound got louder too, “hee-hee-ha-hee-ha-hee-hee-hee-ha” rang through the air.

When she reached closer, they noticed that her face was covered with a white veil and only her eyes were visible.

They followed her for a while. After some-time they saw her removing her veil and they immediately recognized her. It was Anita, their classmate. Anita also noticed Xylo and Roizo. Anita told them this was a prank played by her. Even the clipping that she brought to school was not real but made up. They had a hearty laugh. But Anita promised them that she won’t play such pranks again.

Lesson: Courage in adverse situations and face all the problems in life head-on.