Afraid of the Dark

It had been a busy week. Meera, five years old in the elearning industry had taken the big career leap. After passing the multiple rounds of interview, she had been accepted for the position of a senior technical writer. The new company was one of pioneers in the elearning industry and Meera was excited to start a new chapter of her career. She had found an apartment in a neighborhood close to the office. Today she would move in with a couple of bags and planned to set up the place over the weekend. After spending all those years in a hostel, sharing rooms, she was thrilled beyond words at having a place for herself.

After doing a final check on the Tasks for the Day list at her desk, she decided to call it a day. The cab took a left turn at 15th Cross street. It was little off from the main road and gave a deserted look except for a dog who kept running from one end of the street to the other. She had quickly grown fond of the place with its quiet surroundings and tall dark trees; the apartment had an open balcony that looked over to the East. She could picture herself curled up in her favorite chair with her copy of Wuthering Heights sipping tea from her purple Powerpuff Girls cup. She had found her corner in this world.

She unlocked the door and stepped into her new home. Dropping her bags she looked around. There were a few things leftover by the previous tenants. Meera decided to get down to cleaning business without wasting any more time. 

One hour later, the house looked more habitable than when Meera had first stepped in. She had collected the abandoned, old things at one place, planning to dispose them next morning. But she was not ready to let go of the rocking chair. Made up of shisham wood, the chair gave an old world look to the whole place. She was besotted by its charming style and it would go perfectly with her minimal decor idea.

Too tired to cook, she crashed into her bed, hungry. Sleep came easily, and she drifted in and out of dreams. There was her mother advising her to eat well, her project manager listing out another task for the day, Abhi sounding concerned over her decision to live alone, and then she heard a faint creaking sound. Startled, she woke up with her heart beating fast. The creaking sound, it happened again. And again. 

Heart in her mouth, she gathered courage to walk into the living room. The chair was there, moving back and forth, slowly, rhythmically. The creaking sound, loud and clear now. 

"Oh God! I am afraid!", she thought. "I am afraid of the dark".

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. WOW theme of the week: 'Your response to the question, 'Are you afraid of the dark?'.

Denial

Standing at the crowded Tambaram station, she shifted the umbrella to the other hand, and wiped the grime and sweat from her brow. After waiting for him for the past one hour, her patience was beginning to wear thin. She made her way through the crowd and sat on a bench overlooking the station entrance which admitted a fresh stream of passengers every minute. Dipak had promised to meet her there after his classes got over. The station was a half an hour ride away from his college. The signal near his college was notorious for its hour long traffic jams. There was a very good chance that he got caught in one of them. Or maybe there was the extra class which the head of the department had been planning for long time. She tried to pacify herself by trying to reason out the delay in his presence, but was running out of both time and excuses. 

The group of girls who had taken seat next to her were discussing the latest Surya movie. She found the topic of discussion excessively juvenile and was annoyed at the effect their presence had on her already disturbed mind. Thankfully, their talks came to an end and they dispersed.

All her previous calls made to Dipak had gone unanswered. Fidgeting with the mobile she debated if she should just walk away and board the train. As if on a cue, the unmistakable automated female voice announced loudly, “Passengers please pay attention! The next train to Chennai Beach will be arriving shortly on platform number 1” and then the voice continued to relay the message in Tamil and Hindi. Her eyes looked furtively at the group of people, scanning them for Dipak’s familiar face. Her irresolute state of mind was proving to be of no help. Next moment, the train pulled in sounding loud notes; women made their way to the ladies compartment, others moved towards the closest coach with an empty seat.

Dipak was nowhere in sight. Reluctant, she took slow steps and climbed into a coach. As she settled into a seat in the farthest corner of the coach, with a heavy heart, eyes brimming with tears, she silently made a vow not to wait for him. It was all empty promises, with heart break written all over it. As the train chugged out, her mobile notified a message from D. He wrote: Mamta came back with the kids. She is not agreeing to the divorce, and we fought a little. I am sorry, it got late and I missed my train. I have boarded the next train; will meet you in Tambaram shortly.

Without a second thought she typed back: Do not wait for me. Its time you make a choice. Goodbye.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. WOW theme of the week: Post must include the line: '... and I missed my train.' 

Anticipation

She saw him waiting across the road, and quickened her footsteps. Half-running, half-walking she crossed the road, and stopped. They were meeting after four years, and she did not know what to do next. He smiled and said, "Come on here, give me a hug!". She laughed nervously and threw her arms around him, knowing it will never be the same again, she was in love with him.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. WOW theme of the week: Post must contain the word 'Love' and the story should be completed in 5 sentences.