Search for the plot

Two friends, Sudesh and Amar were driving on the mountainous paths of Musoorie.
Sudesh muttered something.
Uh sorry? Did you say something? asked Amar catching a stray word.
I was just saying that maybe its time for a break from driving. See that bench by
the side of the road? Looks particularly inviting. Sudesh asked stretching his back.
Amar nodded and drove towards it. They got out of the car and sat in silence,
stretching their bodies and enjoying the cool mountain breeze on their tired skins.
They watched the sun vanish beyond a thick bank of mist that blanketed most of
the mountainous view.
I love this place. I wish I had come here before, Amar said. The solitude is
something I cant imagine as I do in the chaotic suburbs of Mumbai. In fact, that was
the primary reason I took you up on the offer of a break in the hills, Amar smiled.
So have you thought of writing another story? Amar asked Sudesh. Sudesh was a
horror story writer who had written many stories and published them. He though
thought that it was just a leisure time thing and concentrated more on his teaching
profession.
Ah, I am not so sure. Havent caught up a plot since a long, long time. And plus I
dont think anyone is out there reading them. Sudesh sighed looking at his cell
phone checking for any missed events.
You know Sudesh, these mountains are home to many myths and legends. If these
rocks could talk, you would have tons of plots. If only we could listen to them!
Amar said.
I have often wondered about that. Is it imagination, or some half-forgotten memory
or experience or some external force? Or maybe something we read a long time
back that triggers off a particular train of thought?
Well I could tell you about my experiences, Amar whispered.
Sudesh gave Amar a quizzical look. Paranormal experiences? Are you trying to tell
me that you have seen ghosts?
You are a ghost story writer. Dont tell me you dont.
Well, I dont know how to put this, but I am just fascinated by them. I cant say I
believe in them. I cant say I dont. But what about you?
I believe in the power of light over darkness. The triumph of good over evil. Amar
replied with a mysterious note attached to his voice. We live on one side, too busy
with our chores, socializing, eating, drinking and what not in the process our mind
becomes too feeble to comprehend things beyond what we are so accustomed to,
things from the other side.

Okay Mr. Stephen King, you tell me one incident of yours and then I will tell you
some incidents which no one has ever heard, not posted in any story or
whatsoever, Sudesh smiled.
Deal!
Go on.
Okay, let me tell you about this strange experience I had as a kid and then you
judge what it was, Amar rubbed his palm together.
Hang on for a second, let me find a pen. Might be a new plot for my story. Sudesh
went back to the car and looked in his bag. Luckily he found his signature pen and a
notebook. He adjusted himself on the bench, uncapped the pen and said, All set.
Now go ahead.
The mist cleared as suddenly as it had appeared. The verdant green valley opened
out in front of their eyes. Amars eyes focused on distant curly roads they had been
traveling throughout the day.
Well this happened when I was in school, a seventh grade student. I was close to a
cousin of mine named Yogesh and it was pretty common for both of us to spend
long periods of vacations at each others homes. It so happened that I received an
invite from him during the winter vacations. The colony where he lived was a
crowded locality and we kids had hardly any place to play or even run around. Most
of our games were conducted in the alleys and by lanes that were surrounded by
cars and we could not play freely for the fear of breaking a window or a headlight.
One evening, we set out to play armed with a bat and a tennis ball. The usual place
was particularly crowded with all kinds of vehicles and there was no chance of a
decent game as some girls were playing badminton, not heeding to our requests to
give us some space. Now there was this huge ground behind the locality but we
were discouraged from going there to play or hanging around that area once the
sun had gone down. I suggested going there but Yogesh was not so keen, but
eventually I managed to convince him. We made our way towards the dusty spot.
Now you need to have a clear picture about the ground for what is to follow. It was
a big circular piece of land with hardly any grass patches in the middle, surrounded
by a six feet wall on all sides that were spiked with crushed glass. There were two
worn gates at exactly opposite ends with no other entry or exit. Once we were
playing, a few slum kids joined in. we got more and more involved in the game and
failed to see the shadows lengthen. Twilight fell and kids went away and we were
the only two left on the ground. There were no streetlights around and it had gone
quite dark by then as it does so during winters. Both of us were tired and Yogesh
wanted to go home but it was my turn to bat and I was unwilling to leave without
completing my turn. Amar said smiling, as he remembered the childhood days.
Finally the game was over and once I had stumped my victory on Yogeshs bowling,
we started walking back in the darkness. As we neared the gate that went through
the locality, I threw up the ball playfully expecting to catch it when it came back I

waited and waited. The ball didnt return. Yogesh was livid. It was only ball he had
and he insisted on us searching for it before leaving. We combed the corners and
wherever our eyes could see. And it was then through the corner of my eyes that I
saw a lady dressed in a white sari enter the ground from the other gate which must
have been at a distance of at least five hundred meters from us. I watched for a
couple of seconds and I could make out she was limping from the slow and unsure
steps she was taking. It was a perfect moment to chicken out Yogesh and make him
forget about the ball. I turned towards my cousin and whispered, Yogesh, theres a
lady in white coming at us!
How much time would it have taken me to tell him that and then turn around?
Three seconds? Five? We both turned our heads back and what do we see? The sari
is fluttering right behind us as the lady stood smiling at our gasping faces. At close
range, the only thing I could soak in about her was the white aura emanating from
her, her sari to her long hair and even her face, everything was deadly white. As I
stood staring at her wide eyes, my brain going numb, I thought she smiled at me
revealing stained teeth. Yogesh in the meantime had taken off faster than a rocket
and was already at the gate. I snapped out of my stupor by his scream asking me to
run. I turned around and fled. The elders of the family had been looking for us as it
was well past sunset. Many scolding and explanations later, Yogesh mom, my
chachi, told us that that particular ground was supposed to be under the shadow of
a churail and that was why people gave it a wide berth after sunset. The same
evening another aunt spooked me out even further when I told her that witch had
smiled at me. She maintained that it was her way of signaling that she would meet
me once again in the future. Thankfully, she hasnt till now, Amar finished in a
trembling laugh.

You see, the strangeness of my case is that now I no longer fear the invisible, Im
terrified by reality.

Interesting. Very interesting. Okay I will tell you a story now from my childhood. I
havent uttered this to anybody since then because then I thought that this would
end up in another beating from my parents. And later I guess, I just forgot about it.
Great, let me write it for you then. Amar took book and pen from Sudesh and
made himself comfortable.
Sudesh looked at the azure skies and tried to gather his thoughts. The Sewri
Cemetery, Mumbais largest Christian Cemetery, is very near to my house and

opposite my school. The cemetery that has been renovated now is very organized
and trimmed, but back then it was more like a large jungle where one could not
even discern the path to walk between the graves. As both my parents used to
work, a babysitter was hired to collect me once I left school and drop me off at my
grandmothers house which was a kilometer away. One particular day, school closed
early due to some reason I cannot remember now. It was an unannounced decision,
so there was no way babysitter could have known about it. I walked over to a
friends house nearby. He used to live in a sloping chawl that ran in line the
stonewalls of the cemetery. When I went to his house, he wasnt at home and his
mother told he would be busy playing out. I searching for him the afternoon sun
after depositing my bag at his place and found him loitering around the walls of the
cemetery. After ten minutes of getting bored in the heat, Prateek suggested that we
explore the cemetery. When I expressed my apprehensions, he assured me that he
knew every nook and corner of the cemetery. We entered the cemetery through a
small breach in the wall, just last enough for us to crawl through. Soon we had
ventured deep into the cemetery. After sometime, Prateek came to an abrupt halt,
looking around to his left and right. On prodding, he admitted that he could not
remember the way back. To put it simply, we were lost. When I reminded him of his
claim of knowing the place, he confessed that he didnt venture so deep in the
cemetery. We panicked a bit as we tried to find our way out of the maze, retracing
our steps and looking for familiar signs. We must have wandered around for well
over an hour without finding our bearings or reaching the perimeter wall. We
shouted now and then to find someone nearby who could help us but no one
replied.
We were almost on the verge of tears when we saw a tall man dressed in black
priest like cassock standing near of the graves. If it wasnt for his cassock flapping
in the wind, we could have well mistaken him for a statue and moved on. For one
thing, he was almost marble black from head to toe and very still. In the back of my
mind, a doubt crawled but I was too tired to even consider it. We ventured near.
Prateek addressed him and asked for directions to the nearest exit politely. The man
didnt react. Prateek asked him again, maybe a bit louder this time. The man just
shifted his head, without moving his body from the position and looked at us with
black bulgy eyes. For a moment, he regarded us and pointed towards an ill-defined
track in the front. Go straight and turn left! the man said in a very heavy,
sepulchral voice. We walked towards the path but I immediately turned back and
there it was. There was nobody where the man had been standing just couple of
moments before. Prateek and I were shocked and didnt want to head towards the
given directions. It could have been a trap. But what choice did we have? We went
ahead in about five minutes, the track cleared and we could see the iron gates of
the cemetery. We came out of it.
Intriguing. Amar said. Maybe we should write a book together. He smiled.
Definitely. That would be a great idea. Sudesh added.

Out of all the terrible things, the jaws of sharks, the incurable cancer pain,
loneliness, the worst is the mirror gaze in the dark, finding someone gazing back at
you!

Sudesh yawned, feeling sleepy after the heavy dinner that had just reached his tired
stomach in the hotel room. He resisted the urge to sleep and reminded himself
about his promise to write his days events in his diary. The diary which he kept with
him all the time, to whom he spoke when he was reminded of his love. The quota for
today was still pending. Suppressing a rising belch, Sudesh grabbed the pen and
started writing. After he finished, he thought of converting todays conversation with
Amar into word document. He booted up his laptop and looked for the book where
he and Amar had written each others experiences. He found it finally and opened
the book. He stared in shock at the blank pages in his hand. It was as if book had
never been written on!
Amar, Amar come here quick! Sudesh shouted to his friend in the next room.
There was no response. Unable to restrain himself any further, Sudesh felt his way
outside and knocked at the door to Amars room. When no reply came, he turned
the knob of the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. As Sudeshs eyes
adjusted to the darkness in the room, he peered around. What he then saw made
him stagger back in horror and shock.
Amar was on bed, sitting wide-eyed. The torch in his hand lit up a figure sitting on
the opposite end of the bed. Sudesh wondered how the white sari was managing to
flutter in the absence of a wind even as the figure turned to smile at him, showing
her stained teeth!