The Storm

The children had a week’s holiday for Easter. They had gone to Darjeeling, a popular hill resort, tucked away in the hills of the Himalayas. Granddad, Grandmother, Dad, Mum and the two school-going children were in their sleek Ertigo. As they had bought the plush car just a month back, they had been most excited about going on an excursion in their brand new limousine. Now they were returning to Kolkata, where they lived. They were crossing the State of Bihar known for the' dacoits' who intercepted the cars at dagger-point and looted the travelers who passed that way. As it was past twilight. Granddad was speeding through the area as he was worried about the unsafe conditions on the road.

As luck would have it, at this inopportune moment from nowhere a strong wind started to blow. In minutes a mantle of darkness descended and gusts of whooshing, speeding wind sent everything haywire. Blinding dust swirled and whirled in the air and a thick coating of dust spread on the wind-shield and made visibility impossible. The beautiful silver car now came to a screeching halt. Leaves, branches, paper, and even metal sheets started flying in reckless abandonment. The wind roared and hissed like wild animals of the forest. The car shuddered and shook as the wind around unleashed its vehemence and sped at the speed of eighty miles an hour. As bits of debris struck the car like shots from a pistol, the children crouched in fear. But that was not the end of the misfortunes. A huge tree came crashing down and blocked the road. The family looked at each other in speechless silence They fully realized the magnitude of the dangers to be so trapped in a 'dacoit' infested area till the impediment was removed by the civic department the next day.

Then big drops of relentless rain came pouring down in torrents, washing the dusty window panes clean in a matter of seconds. As the trembling streams of water ran down without inhibition, one could see the greenery around, swaying frantically in an effort not to get uprooted by the pull of the strong angry winds. As the occupants of the car strained their eyes and pressed their faces against the glass, they saw a strange sight. They could not believe their eyes. In the distance was a blurry figure coming towards them. Their hands started to perspire and their teeth to chatter. The two children held on tightly to their parents in mortal fear. Was the man a' dacoit' coming to kill them all! What was he doing in the middle of nowhere, at that unhallowed hour in the fiendish inclement weather! A cold shiver went down their spine. They strained their eyes still further to see whether he was alone or he belonged to a gang.

The figure was coming towards them. The man was wearing a white raincoat and the hood covered his head. With every flash of lightning, his eyes glowed and his teeth sparkled with the reflected light. He had both his hands tucked in his pocket. As he came nearer, he slackened his pace and stood next to the car. “This is not a nice place for you to spend the night. There are all kinds of dangers lurking in this area. Come with me as you cannot go any further tonight. There is a motel nearby and you will be comfortable for the night.” But there was no response from the panic-stricken travelers.as they could not see any road which went anywhere., Again the man spoke, “I will show you the way through the clearing, you are only to follow me in your car,” with that he turned around and started to walk away. The dumb-founded tourists were in two minds as what to do---to spend the night in the God-forsaken place was indeed not safe, whereas the man could be taking them to a den of 'dacoits'! They could not trust the man as without any self- interest or evil intention he would not have come out as their savior in that nasty weather!

They followed him through a narrow serpentine lane, crushing and squelching the shrubbery under the heavy tires. But following him was a difficult task as at one moment he was there; then he would suddenly disappear from sight and not be seen again for quite a long period of time. From the puddles, they saw monstrous frogs leap out and ogle at them with their rotating bulbous eyes. Now and then they would give out guttural throaty warnings of future doom. An eerie luminescent light accompanied them, or more correctly shone on them as they drove--- perhaps it was the reflected light of the lightning flashes on the water! From the distance could be heard a woman’s blood-curdling cry-- did they mistake an animal’s call for it!

Far away they could, at last, see a dark, dilapidated house with dim lights in the windows. As they approached, a giant bat screeched past, flapping noisily its massive wings. Full of trepidation, they hesitantly stepped out of the car. In front of the house was a cracked wooden door which seemed to have opened on its own with a creaking sound. There was no one at the door and the figure guiding them had disappeared. Grandfather led the way but immediately stepped back with a mumbled expletive below his breath. The family saw with consternation a veil of cobweb covering his face. He brushed it off vigorously with the back of his hand. Then one by one they entered the sitting room.

As they were all very tired having been in the car for so many hours, they rushed to find out how many bedrooms were available for them. When they knocked, there was no response so they turned the latch to open but the doors would not budge. It was then that the stranger or their guide walked in and with the greatest ease unlocked the doors. The family exchanged glances in bewilderment. As they stepped in, they were astounded even to a greater extent. The beds were occupied, and the occupants hurried out with due speed. The guide then gave an explanation, “Don’t worry about them, they are not customers but permanent residents here.” The word ‘resident’ seemed incongruous. The guide then informed them that if they needed fresh linen, they could take them out from the wardrobes. He further instructed them to have an enjoyable dinner which had been already laid out in the Dining Room. Their astonishment knew no limits as they had just come in; how did they manage to prepare dinner so fast! As they entered the kitchen they found the fire burning in the gas burner and a pot full of soup was on the boil. The oddest part was that they saw no one there. How everything was done to perfection was anybody’s guess! On the other hand, the food was excellent and as exotic as in the Five Star Hotels!

Then the family decided to freshen up before retiring to bed. But the toilets seemed to be engaged as they could hear the water running. After they had waited for some time they lost their patience and opened the doors. There again they could see no one. Then the funniest thing happened. Alfred could not find his toothpaste and tooth-brush which he later on discovered had been kept on the counter-top in the washroom. They found it very strange. Alfred insisted that he had not taken them out from his box.

The family is extremely exhausted, retired for the night. The two children occupied the smallest room, granddad and grandma the one with a balcony and the parents selected the one next to the sitting room. Within minutes they were sound asleep. But after some time grandma got up breathing heavily, clutching at her throat. She managed to express with difficulty that she had felt that somebody was pulling at her pearl necklace. The probability of' 'dacoits' trying to throttle her came to her mind. She nearly raised an alarm but granddad told her to calm down as she might have had a nightmare. He then got up to investigate. He had barely taken a step or two when they heard a reverberating sound of metal on the cement flooring. They rushed to see what had fallen in the next room, but they found everything to be normal.

Then from nowhere the guide appeared and told granddad the whole story. He was not a living person but a Spirit. A few years back when he with his friends, all school teachers were traveling through the area a gang of 'dacoits had murdered them for their valuables. Since they had not completed the full span of life ordained by God, they were loitering about on earth aimlessly. Now they could function only through other living souls. Therefore he had captured them and had brought them there. As they were Spirits they had the power to do whatever they liked. They had tried to make their presence felt by certain unnatural happenings. In seconds they had got dinner for them from a Five Star Restaurant. In seconds they had found Alfred’s toothbrush and toothpaste. They were going to possess the bodies of the six travelers and fulfill their life’s mission. They could do that only if those living souls were present. The time had at last arrived. The information made Granddad run out of the room shouting “No, No, you dare not!"

Granddad ran and woke up his son and daughter-in-law. He told them in a frantic, agitated voice to get up and go to the car as fast as they could. Grandma could not move, she had become

almost paralyzed with fear. The more granddad shouted, the more incapacitated she became. The children posed another problem. Despite granddad’s bellowing at them to get up, they still went on sleeping. They just turned around and covered themselves up to more comfortably. Desperate, he yanked them out of bed and angrily told them to go and sit in the car post-haste. Hurriedly he instructed his son to lift up his mother and put her in the car. In the hurry and scurry he tripped over a box and found his bones would not move. He shouted at the family to take the car and go fast without him His son rushed in and literally dragged him out; hauling him with all his might on the cement flooring. When they were all in, they started the car but the car would not budge.

Grandfather now ordered everybody to get out and run to the Main Road. They helped grandmother out and now realizing that danger loomed over their heads, she managed to walk on her own. Grandfather despite his injured leg, told everyone that they did not have to worry about him. Fear acted as a trigger---as if somebody had held a revolver to his head. He also managed to limp his way through. as he was definitely not allowing another spirit to possess him! Panting, huffing and puffing, they reached the road to Kolkata and boarded a public bus. The Spirits deprived of their catch continued stalking the road for their next victim!