Jasmine Joshi

Action Thriller Children

4.0  

Jasmine Joshi

Action Thriller Children

The Holiday Cottage

The Holiday Cottage

6 mins
276


The first time I went to a hill station was a very special experience. I do not remember the place since I was a small kid that time and had gone there with my family. Well, if I talk of family then .. I must be a little specific. I live in a joint family of 30 people who all had participated during this tour with a minimum of 10 children. We had travelled by train and reached station at 9 pm. This was followed by a short journey of 1 hour after which we reached the resort on the hill top.

                       It was a beautiful place. The resort was very different since the rooms are in form of cottages found mainly in hilly region. It was chilling cold and we all were shivering already. We had dinner and went to our rooms to sleep. The next day we woke up early at 5 am and went to see sunrise.

                       The sky was lit with a combination of rainbow colours. The cold breeze was bothering us a lot however hot cup of tea was life savor. One of my sister had started crying due to the extreme cold and my grandmother was also not feeling well so we had to leave a little early. However, we enjoyed the sunrise as much as we could see.

                          Soon, we came back to our resort and were sitting for breakfast when we first time met Monju. She was preparing breakfast for us. A localite and the hotel cook, she has been working here since 20 years. " Monju this place is very beautiful.. I really envy you that its your birth place. I really wish to stay here", said dad. Monju started blushing and said something in the local language which meant, "It's been a long time here .. yes it is nice place .. but its risky to stay here due to frequent earthquakes and land slides." Plus she seems to stay in a nearby village which she has to go through the rocky hills and steep path .. and also cross the jungle which is also famous for wild animals at night.

                              Monju told us about the tourist attraction of the nearby hills and the jungle which was full of wild animals. Monju also told us to be careful not to step out at night since there are chaces of getting caught by wild animals. Many of them often wander near the cottage at night.

                             That day after breakfast we stayed at the cottage and did not go out for local tour. All was ok and after dinner we went to our rooms. My grandmother's health deteriorated a bit so my mother had to stay with her. So, that night I had to stay with my sisters. Well, I and my sisters were quite close and whenever we would tour together we had to do things to bother others. Well, this time it was no exception. That night was really spooky and we were up till it was 1 am. The topic of discussion was as usual regarding spirits. We all were listening to a scary story by my elder most sister when there was a loud bang at the door. All of us skipped a beat and were looking at the door.

                            Electricity in hilly areas is very unpredictable. That day since the evening there was no current so we were having a candle light session. Again, a second time we heard the bang. " Oh! .. who could it be .. ", said my sister. We all looked at her with great fear in our eyes and started sweating in the chilly wintry night.

                            Sometimes in life, a situation comes when we loose our analysing power. We tend to forget logic and try to find a self satisfactory answer to our questions. This was exactly a similar situation. Well, to add to our misery and fear, the surrounding background sounds were petrifying. A screaching owl, shaking cupboard, a low infant cry combined with the loud bangs and door scratching sounds made us hold each other tight and sit together saying our prayers.

                         Well, you must be wondering why did we not make a phone call. Actually during our childhood children were not allowed to use mobile phones. Oh yes! my elder sister was 20 by then so she had one with her but you see.. hilly networks are horrible! .. plus it is always when you are in a troublesome situation the phone betrays. So, we were trapped in a room with no electricity, spooky haunted sounds and something at the door about which we had no idea or neither had the courage to check.

                             Sitting in the room in this situation when we had slept off was unknown. We woke up by the sound of another banging in the probably at 9 in the morning . " Moni, babi, sumi open the door now", baba was shouting at the top of his voice. We jumped to our feet because the voice of my father sounded like a superhero who has come to rescue us. Moni di ran and opened the door. The faces of my family members were pale with fear and worry. We could see the ladies in tears. They pounced on us as if we had won a war and come. Scary faces and too much love makes me smirk but somehow I controlled myself.

                           " We are so sorry about last night. One of us should have stayed with you all", said my aunt. " What happened?", I was about to say something more when my eyes fell on the huge creature with deadly calm and sharp eyes staring at us with a " KILL YOU" look. "It's ok ..", said dad. The event which followed left us speechless since it was the most unexpected and horrifying situation in our life.

                     In short, it goes like this. Himalayan jungles are the abode of one of the scariest feline species, also now an endangered one , known as the Snow leopard. This was one of them. Yes! so the story goes like we were trapped in a room in a cottage with a hunter snow leopard banging in the middle of the night at our door. Scary is n't it.. but the worst is yet to come. We were trapped inside the cottage with three new members of the leopard family for which we were being threatened all night by a mother wanting to approach her newborn. They were lingering in the room behind the cupboard which gave the shaking and the rest is history!


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