The terrifying ordeal

She had just got up from the dinner table when a sudden gust of wind blew off the lamp. The battery of the radio also went dead simultaneously and a hush descended over the cozy environment of her small cottage. A sudden chill ran through her. She hastily went near the dressing table and opened the first drawer. It was filled with paper cuttings, allpins, gum, punching machine, etc. One of the allpins pierced the tip of her index finger and she pulled back her hand quickly. She could sense a drop of blood appearing on the hurt surface. Still she just wiped it off and continued searching for the candle and the matchbox. Finally she found it and breathed a sigh of relief. She lit all the five candles and made the room all calm and comfortable once again. The ambience was so soft that she could hear the candles speak amongst themselves. After washing the plates and setting everything in place, she went into her bedroom and started searching for the book she had planned to read. Hush. All the candles were blown off. This time she was really scared, for never before had she experienced such a thing. She reached for the kitchen and took hold over a small knife and paced towards the main door to check what was going on.

The door was locked. From inside or outside- she did not know. Perhaps there was no time to think upon that. She ran towards the window in the kitchen. To her horror, the window had blood stains. Somehow, she managed to overlook them and tried to open it, but failed. She again lit another candle, but it was blown off too. All her efforts for rescue were going in vain. But she did not lose hope. The weather was getting worse as well. Thunder storms and torrential rain added on to the gloomy atmosphere.

It was getting cold. She grabbed her shawl and pulled a chair near the window. The chain of thoughts was running fiercely through her mind when the sound of an opening cabinet, stole all her attention. She was terrified. Who could be there? Was someone playing a prank on her? What if there was a thief or a murderer or.... Ghost? All these questions made her feel weaker. Gathering all her left strength, she moved towards the sound source. Lighting a candle she saw tiny carpet beetles coming out from the half open drawer of the cabinet. These creatures were marching in a line as if preparing for a great battle. She stomped and killed most of them. But more and more started coming out. The wax of the candle had started falling on her cold soft skin. But she could bear that. What was unbearable was the sight of these ugly creatures. She kept the candle on the shelf and ran to get a broom. Not long before she had gone, when the sound suddenly stopped. Again there was complete silence. But her conscious was not ready to accept this. She felt uneasy and frightened. There was more to come. She stood still at one place and constantly stared at the cabinet. Nothing moved and there was no sound. The only sound that was audible, was that of her heart throbbing at a fastest pace.

Her chair was placed a few centimeters away from the cabinet that had an attached mirror. The light from the street enabled her to see a vision of herself in the mirror. She grabbed a bottle and drank water. She looked up again to in the mirror and the sight made her blood run cold. It was not herself that she saw on the other side. But it was someone else. She rubbed her eyes to ensure what she saw was right, but all in vain. The person or creature or whatever it was, on the other side of the mirror, started making obnoxious sounds. It felt as if something bad was about to happen. 

For some time there was stillness. She, somehow, managed to ask,  " Who are you?"

"Grrr.... Grrrr.... I am Dybbuk. " 

Before she could speak anything else, the spirit broke the mirror and started coming out from the other side. With a loud thud he jumped towards her. Meanwhile the candle blew off and there was complete darkness. She shouted for help but it felt as if her cottage was filled with vacuum. With a blurred vision, she saw long, pointed fingernails moving towards her neck. She moved back but got obstructed by the window pane. Dybbuk moved more hastily towards her and grabbed her neck. It tore apart the skin on her right hand and she yelled with pain and terror. She still retaliated and struck the spirit with the small knife.  But all efforts were futile. Dybbuk was thrice as powerful as her. It lifted her over its shoulders and tossed her over on the floor. By this time she had almost given up the hope. A bone or two was broken and she was not even able to get up or run. The spirit was blinded by the darkness for some time and in the meantime she crawled and hid inside the almirah. The loud howling sound of the spirit made her shiver. All she could do was pray for her life. She tried to remain calm and avoid making any noise. She remembered what she had read about Dybbuk, being a spirit of a dead person who tries to take possession of a new body. She remembered how she was warned a thousand times, before moving into this cottage. She remembered how she had had a pitiful life and that she thought may be she would find peace here. She had been having ill premonitions lately but had not paid attention to them. Finally the dreadful end was there infront of her. 

There was complete silence. She thought that may be luck had favoured her and the spirit had gone. She tried to peep through the small keyhole and saw nothing but complete darkness. She moved closer to the keyhole to take a look again. Nothing. A sigh of relief for her. Just then she heard a heavy breathing sound. She tried to take small breaths so that the sound diminishes. But the sound became more lucid and enhanced. She started sweating. Suddenly she felt a presence in the almirah itself. She turned and was appalled. Dybbuk stood right behind her. It stretched out its hands and she fled in full speed. This time she could not find a better place to hide. There was no time left. She stood behind the kitchen door.

She was gasping for breath and unfortunately, in the total stillness,  Dyubbuk heard her presence. It moved towards her and lowered itself towards her face. She tried to hit dyubbuk but her hands went right past the body. It was a spirit indeed. A snide laugh escaped the face of the spirit and it was ready to take possession of her body. Just then, she opened her eyes and realized that the entire terrifying ordeal had been a dream.

The cry of joy!

I am not very fond of reading newspaper but whenever I do I am lucky enough to find some good stuff to ponder upon. Recently I read an article titled- "The Eureka moment", and i was quite influenced by it. Each one of has a dream to discover or invent something and gather fame, name and royalty for the same. But developing an idea is not that easy. Well, to be precise, this is not true. Every event from the mundane reality of our lives has something to throw at us and it depends how well we catch things and mould them for our own benefit. Every idea, every inspiration and every initiative is a result of small seed of thought that affects us emotionally and psychologically. Even the most insignificant moments can lead to better actions, just like Newton, who realized the bigger picture of the falling apple and invented the theory of gravity or be it Archimedes, who made this word, "EUREKA" famous by propounding the Displacement Theory. Another most prominent Eureka moment was that of Philo Farnsworth who studied the motion of till and developed an idea for the working of televisions.

The main point here is that we should not wait for the seeds of wisdom or knowledge to get implanted into our heads, but instead scan through the everyday innocuous moments and find our very own cry of joy. It is not that you have missed your Eureka moment, but yes it is high time to reflect upon your ability to think critically and transform all the negative thought into positive ones. Eventually this will become your personal trigger and  widen your pool of thoughts.

It is not true that only the legends or born to be legends have a eureka moment, but everyone of us has the ability to have one. India's struggle for freedom was also begun when Mahatma Gandhi realized his self worth after being thrown out from a train in South Africa. This indeed acted as a trigger and intensified his need for justice and freedom. There are numerous entrepreneurs today, who are sitting comfortably in their AC cabins, having fresh juice and enjoying their eureka moment. So why not you? It high time to start exploring your opportunities and pave way for a seamless lifestyle.

May The Odds Never Be In Your Favour!

Amidst the fallen petals and faded leaves, Ella Everdeen stood beside the bench, thinking deeply. The soft light of the setting sun fell on her face and made it glow. She was untouched by the cool breeze, that blew a strand of hair across her face. She was too old now to remember all of it so clearly, yet she could picture the pain she felt and it was visible on her face.

Her father had a transfer and so her family was moving from Long beach to Rochester. The plan was to spend some time with Aunt Lucy, while her father would join his work and make arrangements in Rochester for schooling as well as a house in a good locality. Aunt Lucy stayed alone in Cortland. She was a very nice lady with a pure heart and the eagerness to help others. Her husband had died at a very young age and from then she had been managing her life by working as a Head of Department in a College.

Ella could never endure staying away from her parents and her one and only sister, even if it was for a few hours, however, after many efforts her mom had convinced her to bid goodbye to her father. It was early in the morning, around 4:00 AM, that her father had decided to leave for Rochester. With watery eyes, Ella came near her dad and asked him to bend a little so that she could whisper something in his ear. Mr. Everdeen stooped down and asked his little angel why was she crying. With choked voice, Ella asked her that dad how many days would he stay away from her. Mr. Everdeen hugged her tightly and remained silent. Ella understood that it was not a matter of few hours but days or may be months. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek, looked into his eyes and said,"Bye Dad". Mr. Everdeen again tried to hug her but she resisted saying," Wait daddy, this one was for today, I'll kiss you for all the days, you won't be seeing me". And she kissed her dad innocently. Mr. Everdeen was speechless. He knew the longer he stayed, the harder it would become to control Ella. He said to Ella's mother to take care of children and herself and that he would be back soon. And finally, Mr. Everdeen left.

Later in the morning around 7:00 AM, Ella's mother was startled with the ring of the telephone. It was an unusual ring. She had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. With a shivering hand she picked up the receiver.

" Is this Mrs. Everdeen?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Hello mam, I am calling from Syracuse. Your husband has met with an accident. There is a minor injury and we have admitted him in the local hospital."

Mrs. Everdeen was in state of complete shock. The worst of her nightmares had come true and she did not have enough strength to fight that situation. Somehow she completed the conversation on telephone, noted down the address of the hospital and finally broke down. By that time aunt Lucy was also awake. She came to know about Mr. Everdeen and was also in tears.

The next moment Mrs. Everdeen was ready to leave for Syracuse. She woke up Ella and told her that daddy had met with a minor accident and that she was going to bring him back home. She had decided to leave Ella and her sister with one of Aunt Lucy's friend. Ella was speechless on hearing all that. All her emotions had suddenly left her alone. She told her mother to go and get her daddy back home safe as soon as she can.

It was later in the evening that Ella got a call from her aunt. She told Ella to come home with her sister. Ella tried to ask if her daddy was alright, but her aunt did not answer any of her questions. Ella had mixed feelings, her head told her that something bad had happened, but her heart was not ready to accept that fact.

Ella and her little sister reached home and found their house filled with people. All faces were known. For once Ella thought that may be that was a gathering called by her aunt because her father was safe. But the very next moment, when Ella entered the dining room, all her hopes were shattered, as she saw her mother crying over the death of Mr. Everdeen. It was end of the world for Ella. She ran and hugged her mother tightly. She cried. She fainted.