being practical (and having a practical mom on top of that) always takes away the charm and mystery off the haunted houses...
well.. i am no better... once we were at a house in Kurseong which is called "the stone house" (because it is made of stone)... as usual (in case of haunted houses) a history is attached to it.. of someone having taken his own life by hanging....
when i went to stay there on vacation, i was told of sightings of this (ehem!!) person by two very close friends of mine, who were also staying there at the same time.
this (ehem!!) person was supposed to be a friendly sort.. not harming anyone etc..
now it so happened that i elected to stay back one evening by myself while my friend(s) had to run after some errand. in truth the possibility of a power cut never occurred to me till the last moment when just before leaving my friend showed me the candle and the matchsticks ("just in case there's a power cut you know" says he) and kept them on the dining table in the adjacent room; and then it was too late to elect out of staying alone without being ridiculed...
so vanity winning over fear i put up a brave face and stayed back.
as it happens in so many of these stories... there was a power cut at just about the perfect time... too early for my friend to have got back and too late for him to have turned back...
well... so it was pitch black... in the mountains power cuts mean total darkness unless it's a full moon. so with a little trepidation i walked up to the door connecting the two rooms, and giving the door a little push as one would to just walk through, i passed it and reached the table a few steps away. I picked up the matchbox and the candle and turned back at the same normal pace. two more steps, and i would be back in the main room. I walked right up to the door and just as i was about to reach it, BANG! The door BANGED on my face!! like some force was holding it open for this moment.
today i am relating this because i had a strong heart... but those moments... those moments in eternity... as i slowly extended my hand and attempted to pull the door open, not at all sure that it would open, not daring to look behind or sideways... not daring to think...
as my hand touched the door i was almost sure that it would not open. the moments passed a i exerted a little pressure... uncertain... and then a little more. The door did open.. and i almost long jumped into the bed in the next room. matchbox and candle lay there untouched... i just bundled up, and sat there on the bed... like a stone.. afraid to even move an inch... till my friend came...
it would have made a wonderful story... don't you think? ending it here and saying things like... "i'll never know what it was:... or even more dramatically... "i'll never know why the 'being' changed it's mind"...
but practicality killed the ghost!!!
so once the power was restored, (and my confidence with that) i (my friend was there, as an added support now) walked up... and repeated the performance... walked through the same door, at the same pace.. to the same table, turned round, reached the door... and BANG!! again... it banged on my face...!!!
my friend laughed out when he realised what i was doing...
"it frightened you did it? it's only a broken hinge!!!" - he said
