12 AM – 1 AM
I woke up suddenly and it took me sometime to realize that I was still in the living room and the TV was still running. The room was filled with the light from the TV. The movie I was watching was over and they were showing another movie. I didn’t know when I fell asleep.
I got up and stretched myself and switched off the TV. The room fell into complete darkness except for the some street light filtering through the curtains. I slowly started towards the bedroom that’s when I found someone standing at the entrance to the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and stared through the darkness at the person.
“Yes there was someone standing there”
My eyes adjusted to the darkness and looked at the person. It was the same woman. She was staring down at the floor. For few seconds I went numb and all the hair in the back of my neck stood straight. My palms started to sweat.
“Is that you honey?” I raised my voice a little.
The woman slowly raised her face and stared at me.
“It was my wife”
I was relieved and scared at the same time. “What was she doing standing there at this time of the night?”
“Honey what are you doing there?”
I started to walk towards her. She slowly smiled at me. When I was just few steps away from her she vanished.
My heart was galloping at 1000 horse power.
I ran to the switch and switched on the light. The light drove away the darkness and the room which looked frightening a few seconds ago looked normal. I walked towards the kitchen and checked the place where I saw her standing. I didn’t know what I was looking for but there was nothing extraordinary there. I hesitated for sometime and went inside the kitchen and switched on the light but no sign of her.
I came out and screamed as I bumped into my wife.
“Oh my god, don’t again creep in on me” I shouted at her.
“What’s happening? What are you doing with all the lights on at this time of night?”
“What were you doing in kitchen at this time?”
“Me in the kitchen? I came out after seeing the lights switched on”
“I thought I saw you standing here” I said pointing to the place where I saw whatever I thought I saw.
“I am going back to sleep. I can’t play this game with you at this time of the night” she started walking away.
I stood there staring at her walking towards the bedroom.
Day 4
When I woke up the next day the room was bright with the curtains pulled away and sunlight filtering in through the windows.
“What a great day!” It was one of those rare bright days we get during winter. I wanted to enjoy it fully that too the day being my day off. I felt silly about the previous night’s incident. The sunlight and the freshness of a new day always had the quality to drive away any worries.
I took bath there were no knocks on the door. We had a quick breakfast and took a drive to the park. The park was filled with people of all ages. Everybody wanted to get their share of sun. There were pet dogs running all over and kids cycling all around. We walked around the park and settled at a café for our lunch. My wife excused herself to visit the restroom and I was going through the menu when the scent of wife’s perfume hit my nostrils.
“You are back so soon?” I looked up from the menu and found my wife sitting before me but only thing was she didn’t look the same way she left. She resembled the person I saw the previous night. She looked at me and smiled at me. I didn’t know how to react. She was wearing some dress which I had seen my wife wear long time ago.
The waiter approached me “Are you ready to order sir?”
“Huh” words didn’t come out of my mouth.
He looked at the seat in front of me. “You expecting someone sir?”
I didn’t reply.
“Is everything alright sir?”
The person who was sitting in front of me got up from the chair and walked towards me. I expected her to touch me but she just walked past me. I turned back to see where she was going. She turned back once and walked away. Someone shook me.
“What’s wrong honey? You look awful”
“No I just saw my wife walk past me this way. How could it be she is standing before me?. What’s happening to me?”
“Yeah I am fine. Let’s order” I tried to diffuse the situation. We lost ourselves in the din of the café.
All through the drive back home I was worried about the things happening to me for the past few days. I was very sure I saw what I saw and at the same time I was doubtful.
The next few days passed without any incidents.
( To be Continued .... )
