I was walking towards a stationary. 'Why is Ashish Sir absent from the past five days? What could be the reason for his absence?', I thought. Soon I reached the stationary and bought a empty CD, which i needed for MS Office Software. It was available with Sayli (Prateek’s sister). She was also my Tally teacher at the S.S. Academy, where I used to go for English coaching.
While I was on my way to her home, I observed the empty streets. It was unusual, especially during the noon time. No vehicles, no passengers, no stray dogs, it seemed so strange. I was about to cross a road, when a vehicle passed rapidly from the front. I thought, 'There might be an India-Pakistan Cricket match today, that could be the only reason on the earth for so much silence and peace in the surrounding.’ I kept walking. I saw Sayli’s house from distance. As I neared, I heard some sound, it sounded as if someone was crying. The sound grew louder and louder as I approached to main door. Since there was curtain on the main door I wasn’t able to recognize of what was happening inside. When the curtain floated in the air due to the force of wind. I was surprised to see Sneha(my aunt’s younger daughter). She was sitting on the floor. It felt awkward to find Sneha over there. This wasn’t expected. Immediately I ran towards my home.
As soon as I reached, I made a call at my aunt’s residence. Ringing....Whosoever picked up the phone, was definitely not from our family. I asked, "Kaun bol raha hai?"(Who’s speaking?). "Tumhi kon bolat ahe?" (Who are you?), was the reply. I went white. This was unexpected. Its impossible! None of my relative knew and understood Marathi and the person who was speaking over phone, her sound was not familiar to me. I continued, "Mai Ankit bol raha hu" (I’m Ankit.) "Ankit! Kon Prateekcha mitra aahe kaa tu?" (Ankit! Are you Prateek’s friend?). To confirm that the receiver was Prateek’s Aunt, I responded, "Mala Saylishi kaam hoota" (I had some work with Sayli). "Ghari ye na tar!"(Come home then!), was the reply.
I'm confused, 'How's it possible? When I’m at Sayli’s place, I find my cousin and when I’m calling at my Aunt’s place, the receiver is Prateek’s Aunt. How can this be so strange? What's happening?'. It seemed my mind played with me, in order to confirm things again, I went to Sayli’s place...again.
As I stood in near the gate of her house, someone was still crying, I could hear it. This time I saw Max(Sayli’s dog), sitting at the entrance. Usually he would bark at anyone who stood near gate. But, this time, he did not. Not even a single movement that I could find in him, in my presence, except for his eyes. He was aware of my presence, but still no movement. This was strange, very strange, again, with the blow of wind, the curtain flew. I observed closely, it was Sneha who was sitting on floor, near sofa. But, she was not the one who was crying. My heart pumped faster than usual, clearly indicating that fear was in my nerves. I decided to go inside and see from where the sound came. The sound grew louder and louder as I was approaching towards the main door. I moved the curtains to one side of the door. Sneha sat in the same position. She shifted towards and asked me to sit on the sofa. I turned my gaze towards her left. I almost choked, when I saw my aunt there. She was sitting beside Sneha. She was continuously staring at one point on the ground. She was numb. It seemed to me at that point, as if the whole room was crying, but, actually none of them was.
I shifted my gaze to Sneha and saw she was laughing hysterically. She requested me again to sit on sofa. I was about to sit, when I saw that the sofa,which was about ten feet long. The mattress was kept over something. Something which I cannot forget the sight of, at least in this lifetime. It was Shreya(my aunt’s elder daughter). It seemed to me, that first she was laid down and then the mattress was kept on her. Only her head popped out. Her eyes were closed. A thin stream of blood was continuously flowing from the corner of her eyes and nose. The blood fell drop by drop, from her face, it assembled near one leg of the sofa. Sneha was continuously laughing, and was asking, 'why am I not sitting?' I was shivering and sweating with fear. I turned to Sneha and then saw my aunt. My throat choked when I saw that my aunt was continuously staring at me. Her eyes wide open. She was standing, just behind me. Her eyes were red...
I woke up, finding it hard to breathe. I was sweating. I took the bottle kept on the table and drank some water. I saw the clock. It was almost 3 a.m. When I got to my senses, I realized it was just An Unforgettable Dream...
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