Weird but True

All of us have listened about ghostly spirits and a few of us believe it  too. I personally never believed in these kinds of tales before I had an encounter with an unknown power. I, with my family had shifted to a new area which was totally new for me as well as my family and we didn’t know much about the place.

It was a hot summer night and due to continuous power cut, I was sleeping in my room with both the windows open. Possibly it was the time of midnight and I was sleeping soundly and had covered my body with a light bed sheet to protect myself from mosquitoes. Suddenly I felt a strong wind blowing into the room through the open windows. Surprisingly I started feeling very cold. That kind of feeling was certainly undesirable during the summer season. It made me to wake up but still I was lying in bed. Suddenly I felt someone or something trying to pull my bed sheet away. I avoided that as I thought it to be just because of the strong wind. It occurred for sometimes and then stopped. Then I was feeling comfortable. But after a while it started again. Now it had become unbearable for me so I got up, looked here and there but could not find anything as there was darkness all around. Then I started searching for candles and match-box. While trying for that I broke my expensive flower vase. Getting both of them I lighted the candles. Now enough light was there in the room, but I couldn’t find the cause anywhere which made me to wake up. Even I looked for that behind the door and the curtain as well as under the bed. I was shocked because there was nothing which could bother me like that. My heart started beating faster as I was not a bold person and used to get scared easily. And this much confusion during that part of the night was enough to pump fear in me. I had listened a lot of mysterious stories and had enjoyed them without believing; but at that instant they became real for me. I was very afraid and didn’t want to be alone. At least I wanted to talk to someone to divert my attention. I was alone in the house so decided to talk to my friend who lived in Delhi. I tried to get my phone but could not find at the place where I used to put it. I dropped the idea of calling her. As it would have been injustice to make someone wake up at that time. After looking for the cell phone everywhere, I sat and started reading a weekly magazine. A few minutes later I fell asleep, and dreamt that I was reading a weekly magazine. The time of the day or night was unclear though there was enough light outside to see the things clearly. While I was reading the magazine, I noticed someone knocking at the main door. I got up and reached to the door and tried to identify the visitor by watching through the eye piece. I felt extremely happy and refreshed because the visitor at the door was none other than the same friend to whom I was about to call. I opened the door hurriedly and hugged her. I brought her inside and offered to sit and have rest but she insisted that she was tired and wanted to take a bath. She picked up the necessary things and went inside the bathroom. Meanwhile I prepared some snacks and coffee for both of us. After she was ready, we went to the terrace to have our breakfast. There I asked her about her journey as well as the cause behind that surprise visit. She told me that she had come to my city to attend a seminar organized by her department and was about to go back to Delhi on the same day. I felt bad as I wanted her to stay with for a few days. Suddenly I remembered the incident which had occurred to me last night. I narrated the whole thing in front of her. She took that lightly and told me to forget all those and started laughing. It was against her nature, so I felt strange but didn’t say anything. Then we talked about the families and common friends. We spent five to six hours together. It was the time of 10:00 am when she left for the venue of the seminar. After she left, I switched on the washing machine to wash a few clothes. It was a holiday so there was no tension as I was not supposed to go out, but a few students were about to come to me. So I had to finish all my household chores before their arrival. After the work was over, I picked up the news paper and stared at the headlines. Suddenly I heard an unavoidable piercing sound and was forced to get up. The dream was discontinued. It was 4:00 am by the wall clock. The sound which woke me up was coming from the washing machine. I was surprised that how could I switch on the washing machine at that time. After switching it off I went to the terrace and saw that two coffee mugs kept at the table and the plates with residues of some edibles. All these happenings were beyond my expectations. Then I rushed towards the bathroom and found that the towel was wet and the shampoo bottle was open. Both of these things were not according to my nature. On the spur of the moment I saw a newspaper lying on the floor. When I watched that carefully I found that there was the same headline in that news paper which I had read in my dream. I stated feeling sick as I was unable to understand all those. Nothing was clear. I drank a glass full of cold water, reunited myself and decided to call my friend. The mobile phone which I hadn’t found that night was lying under the bed. Picking that up I called her. After listening me she too was shocked and told me that at that time she was in Delhi. She added that she had planned to come to me but could not. She said that there was a seminar organized by her department but she could not attend that because of her child’s illness. It was perhaps the most horrible day of my life. Feeling shattered I left my home and went out for a walk. Still I could not understand what that was at all. The washing machine, the wet towel, two coffee mugs, plates and newspaper, everything was shocking. Was it because of spirits or was an illusion? But for one thing I was sure that I was not in the habit of sleep walks. Whenever I remember that day, I feel horrible. I didn’t tell anybody about that as I did not wanted to become famous as an insane person.