Horr 'err'

That Night I worked late. I was deeply absorbed in the laborious task of writing, editing, reviewing and re-reviewing and checking page after page of a document. The uncharacteristic silence was accentuated by the steady buzz of computer and the occasional patter of my fingers upon the keyboard. A sharp rap at the window startled me. I jumped out of my bed and my heartbeat quickened. I stood up and hesitantly opened the window. As I squinted through the open window, I heard a human voice groaning with pain. The previous day I dreamt of an old woman with two limping legs running across a strange place. This further worsened my predicament. The electricity board blessed me with another boon-the power cut. I stood frozen, frozen to even walk and light a candle. I heard the sound again. This time, I decided to unveil the shadow and sound and bent over a little over the window. Adding fuel to the fire, I was reading ‘The Inn’(an engaging horror) by Guy De Maupassant the very morning.


After a few seconds of exhaustion, all horror stories I read and the movies I had seen before a couple of days, flashed across my brain cells. Undisturbed by the profound silence with occasional moaning of a human voice,I resigned to my work keeping an eye and an ear to the flash of shadow I had seen and to the strange voices, I heard. I drank so many glasses of water as if I had been dehydrated for days.


Towards sometime, tired of fear, I fell into a doze on my bed. But, suddenly, a harsh cry of another variety unlike the first one pierced my ears. As I woke up, the light falling on the bright green curtain showed me the flashing shadow again. These occasional shadows and sounds produced conflicting impressions. This time, I gave up my work and opened the door to unveil the mystery. With no intention to disturb anyone sleeping, I had gone round the house. I mounted the stairs of the terrace to peep from there to check if it was a thief. I feared every bit of my senseless courage. Having noticed nothing and surrounded by darkness and silence, I came down and saw the room door open. I was startled and was horror-struck to go in. But, I gathered all my courage and stepped into my room. Surprisingly, the candle that was lit until then was unlit now. This time I was rigid and motionless. It seemed as if an icy wind had touched my face and engulfed my body. I could feel a strange stir down my spine and kept staring like the one bereft of senses.Further worsening my condition…I saw a giant figure.


Woke up next morning sweating profusely. I didn’t even have a clue of what had happened last night. The following day was spent recollecting the chain of events. I could recollect only fragments of events- in bits and pieces. I could slowly recover images of laptop and a candle, an open door. There was neither a laptop nor a candle around me. The door was also closed. When all these images recoiled and began to unknot themselves….I realized that it was a dream.
A horr ‘err’ indeed!!