A story worth 2 Euros

It had to be one of those days when everything sucked, she growled. But then a day like this never stops on tomorrow. It keeps appearing, she continued. The rain had been falling hard on the ground. The wind made it equally impossible for the umbrella to behave. Like Sophie’s choice she had to choose if she saves herself from the wicked downpour or her umbrella from a cut-through storm. She chose the latter, snapped it shut and ran to find shelter under extended roof of a shop.

Muttering under her breath she felt a pair of eyes on her. She avoided looking. It was close to midnight, and she just wanted to get home after a lousy day. She didn’t need any more trouble.
But certainly heard a faint ‘Hi’ and continued ignoring it. She felt someone coming closer. In turn, gripped her umbrella tight– ready to smack it over, just in case.

“Hi Eli”, this time a bit louder, not buried under the hammering of large raindrops.

“It’s you! Yes!!”, cried the voice in excitement. She turned around carrying a tired look but suddenly found herself woken up.

With her brows still raised, Hi, she returned. “I never expected I’d see you again.” Words were inexplicably out before she knew it.
“umm, what…? How are you doing, Samuel?”, stressing on his name.

“Okay! I guess. Nothing much to complaint.” still trying to subdue his excitement.

“Good!… It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, 23 years.”

“23? Wow! Never counted”

“I did!”, said he with a sheepish smile. “Have you been alright? All these years?”

“Yes! Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. You appear tensed.”

“Jeez! It’s just the rain. You know how much I hate it.” Eli takes a deep breath calming her racing heart.

“Yes yes, I remember. But that never stopped you from going out even at the odd hours” he chuckled.

“Haha! I was young. Nothing bothered me then. And I was so hell-bent on having all sorts of odd experiences.”

“Well, I said it then and will say it again – That’s how life must be lived.”

“I am not so sure about that now.” She looked exhausted.
He noticed she was heavily drenched in a simple t-shirt, not enough to keep the cold out.

“Let me give you this!” He started taking off his jacket.

“Please don’t! I don’t need it” She insisted.

“You are shivering! I have a warm sweater beneath. Don’t worry!”

“Sam!” He noticed she didn’t use his full name this time. The way she used to. But he continued looking at her sweet, convoluted face.

“If you are thinking we are going to meet again in pretense of returning your jacket, I will not advise it. Things have changed. I have changed. I have a family. We aren’t some high-school sweethearts anymore” She appeared troubled facing these facts.

“I would never…. You know I would never cross any boundary to hurt you. I sincerely wanted to give you the jacket and trust me, you can keep it” She knew he was genuine. He always had been. Even with the onset of a wrinkle on the corner of his eyes, those gave off the same light. She could read perfectly. For a minute, she thought to herself. Did we rush in ending us? Our life would have been different. So different. But she brushed off the thought and continued listening.

“I understand you have a family, a responsibility. I will never come in between something you worked so hard to build.” There he was. I didn’t share a single word of my life and he understood, she thought. His eyes carried appreciation and respect for her. Like love fermented into something higher in all these years.

While he was about to take off his jacket he stopped in the middle, “Wait! Ummm… one sec”
He turned to the other side. His back facing her. She could not see what he was doing.

‘Maybe I spoke too soon. What if someone special gifted him the jacket? Don’t know what kind of odd toad he turned out to be in these years’, her brain assessing way more than needed.

“Here you go!” He handed it to her with the sweetest smile she needed so badly. She was reluctant to take it but eventually did.
It was drizzling by now and she had this sudden urge to move away from him. She messily put on the jacket, “It was nice seeing you, Sam. Hope you stay well!”
She stormed off before hearing you too!

Why am I running away like a thief, muttering to herself. After a few blocks there was a convenience store at the gas station.
“I need a candy. I am all out of energy.” She went inside and suddenly realized she forgot to carry her purse. She left home hastily in the evening to meet a colleague who just got fired. Work life was screwed these days. She could be the next target but didn’t want to lose a good friend over the corporate circus. So, without a thought busted out of the home at once when her friend called.

She was dejected, so rundown over a small candy she couldn’t have. Her family had been falling apart. Work had been more stressful than ever. She wouldn’t be able to see her friend/work-wife either now and even a smallest sweet was out of the window. Life sucks!

She shrugged in anger, formed small fists of her hands and hid it in the pocket of her jacket. She touched something metal. It was a 2 euro coin. Shockingly, she travelled straight down the memory lane. Two decades back.

How she loved going out before. At any time of the day or night. Long walks with friends or acquaintances or university people she had just met. Too much engrossed in talks to remember carrying a wallet. She was so different than now. But Samuel remained the same. He knew Eli always had a sweet-tooth and, every now and then craved her gummy bears. And he always made sure to put some lose change in all her as well as his jacket’s pocket.

She stared down hard at the 2 euro coin in her palm struggling not to cry. She closed her fist and quietly, calmly walked back home.

©kanikachugh

Hello November

A timeless tale it is.

November went out to buy some flowers for his little brothers. The waterfalls had started to freeze. The untimely rain had begun to pour. Sky went dim and alleys dark.

But November knew where to march to. He was bewitched by the sound of his brothers’s joy. He walked and walked wearing his utopian smile with an innocent bucket.

Leaves, he all could see. Fallen, crushed, wilted, dying. Leaves asked November to take them with him. He shrugged. ‘My brothers only deserve beautiful flowers’, he said. He made leaves fly along the breeze as ‘Wind Monath’ (wind month) he was called.

He marched forward. Pass the graveyards, pass the deep wells. All the bad signs he thought. ‘Never should I look at the omens while in search of the flowers’, he thought. The Deep Well heard and cursed him.

‘Fool you are to ignore your end. But mind it, you’d never find an end yourself.’ November grunted again and disregarded the words. He moved ahead but then halted. The Death was in front dancing. He saw a typhoon of dried leaves crushing all the flowers and a rage of red, orangish disaster with their emotions speaking volumes. Leaves demanded of November

‘You could have accepted us for we are beautiful too. Not a flower, not a pollen but we are broken too’. A destructive outburst swirled around and caught November in its bosom.

November stayed there in the cyclone of their anger forever, never meeting his end.

It’s November. Always an inch away from the end while the last leaves settle on the ground.

Because the last leaves fall down in November.

©kanikachugh

Why does the Sun rises and sets?

Disclaimer: Keep your ledger of facts aside and hope on a journey with me in a train of imagination.

Long long time ago there was a Star Mother called Azura. She had four children stars (S)un, (T)esni, (A)ltan and (R)oxana. Their powers in chronological order.
2 sons (Sun and Altan) and 2 daughters (Tesni and Roxana). All the siblings were responsible for shining at their own schedules. But once in a while they used to turn down their brightness and step down on the ground to rejuvenate.

One fine day, Roxana came down to earth to appreciate the marvelous beauty and hues unlike their own land where it was mostly blank, black vastness.

Even when Roxana wasn’t shining in her full form she still held the radiance which led every passerby on earth, to turn and take a good look at her. She met a great man on one of her visit since his widespread fame was now talks of the heavens too. She fell in love with the man. His name was Alexander.

Sun was the eldest sibling responsible of all of them. He was quite carefree in nature and not as much strict as the 3rd brother Altan. Their mother was growing old and Sun was taking care of the roles, schedules, positions so that the work is carried out with ease. Their life was full of comfort and powerful meteor-showers games. They all knew they had one rule to follow ‘not to ever be courted by a human being’

Roxana came back from her trip when she got to know by her other star friends that a man named Alexander was looking desparately for a woman who looked a lot like her. Roxana believed it wasn’t just her, Alexander too, had feelings for her. That’s when Roxana decided to go back to earth. She announced it to everyone and started preparing for the journey.

Sun, being the eldest tried his best to explain her how she would not be able to live there permanently because sooner or later she had to return to her flare-full, blinking form and Earth would be devastated if Roxana ever turned into her original self while her feet touching the ground.

Roxana promised to dim herself for as long as she could. Tesni, her sister, understanding Roxana’s love stricken heart, lent her a special ring that would keep the light at the lowest sparkles but that made Tesni not being able to visit the earth ever again.
Roxana left for earth looking for permanent residence there.

This news was abhorrently taken by Mother Azura and brother Altan. Sun tried his best to calm them down but things were going out of hand. Finally brother Altan came down to earth to take Roxana away but she refused. This made him angrier and he declared war on Alexander, the great.
Alexander being a legendary figure in leading excellent militaries, accepted the challenge thinking he could defeat the demi-gods too.

Roxana heard this and persuaded Alexander to let her talk to her brother one last time and if she fails then both can then proceed with the war.

Alexander agreed and Roxana left earth to meet his brother in the black vastness. Both had endless arguments and no one wanted to give up. Altan was now raging with flames around him and gave Roxana last chance before attacking. Roxana too, came in her blaring form to fight Altan. There were extreme thundering storms forming up above but the temperature down there on earth started to melt castles, and mountains.

Sun and Tesni came running to rescue their siblings but unfortunately the war between Roxana and Altan had already started. Sun being the most powerful, encircled all, casting a protection spell so that the massive heat cannot destroy the earth but he was failing to hold them longer. Tesni was backing up Roxana because she was getting weaker with every passing moment. The eldest sibling kept on screaming that their power would not only destroy earth but also both, so they needed to stop.

But Roxana and Altan were blinded in rage. They ignored all the wise words and their powers met to form a massive blob of fire ready to be erupted at any moment. Sun tried not to use powers to stop all this since his touch could explode everything in spur of a moment. He was trying to talk them out when everything went numb and he was thrown away from the fiery explosion.

Sun gathered his wits to asses the situation. He saw all his family being either pushed away or turn into tiny particles.
He didn’t know but Mother Azura had arrived minutes before the explosion. She understood it’s too late and devastation was inevitable. She used her powers to submerge herself into the black sky so she could hold her children together and to absorb their enormous powers that was capable of destroying everything in vicinity. Roxana broke into million tiny pieces and her body parts were showered from up above to the ground. Those pieces are called sunstones, in modern times and are present at several places on earth.

Tesni was thrown far away from her home, almost in different galaxy, breaking into million of stars. They say the stars are still moving in some directions.

Altan, like her mother merged into the sky. But he turned into gazillion of black stars which aren’t visible but it’s somewhere there in Mother Azura’s bosom. All of them are moving to form one big star but since they have lost their power it’s difficult to be back in their complete form on their own.

Ever since that horrendous day, Sun used to come up everyday to look for Roxana’s pieces on earth, in a hope he could collect all those and resurrect her.

And everyday he used to set down to look for his other sibling’s pieces, trying to push them together, slowly and gradually, to bring them back. Sun is hopeful that one day they all will be back and live as one family like they used to.

The Evil Queen X Dr. Frankenstein

What if I told you that I am that ‘Evil Queen’ who, pragmatically, established the clear boundaries of evil against the good with a help of an apple? What if I told you the mirror I was infamously portrayed with, was no magical but a concrete reality that unveiled my harrowed insecurities and loathly self, who only wanted to feel better of herself but kept misquoting her worth through a lowly piece of glass.

What if I confess that it wasn’t my dark magic that conjured up all the poison in that apple but the debris of my self-respect which was smothered under the pretense of an ugly face I carried, by all those bullies who knew nothing about looking beyond the pale, helpless skin. When I was falling off over the destroyed precipice of my innocent self, no one paid heed to a good heart before calling me a wicked soul.

What if I told you the time has gone by and the Snow White(s) of today isn’t a synonym of fairest skin and purest heart? Or who is to know in the former era, who the actual evil was? The stories are told and briefcase-d the way it suits the purpose of the past and the message to be sent across into the future.

That poisoned apple was a reply to all those criticism I had to endure because of those bullies. And believe me, evil isn’t born in a single night but sculpted through tremendous hate and hostility, forcefully hammering distaste inside and axing out the appreciable parts.

The reason it was taken out from the pages of history or better-called fiction, is because it held shreds of evidence of a crossover with Dr. Frankenstein, when I begged him to revive my innocent self while I was on the verge of losing it but what unleashed was was a monster that killed everyone in its way, even the people most loved by it. That apple was an embodied version of a poisoned monster I never knew existed in me before I met the fiend one, called discrimination.

Knock Knock!!

There was a knock at the door. At sharp 1 AM. Everyday, without fail. Like someone awfully aggressive to come inside. I was rejoicing in the perks of living alone but few hair-raising moments petrified me.

Sometimes I felt I kept a certain object at a different place but it turned out to be in another room and astonishingly I had a hazy memory of going there. I couldn’t recall as if it was wiped out of my memory. But I always had been too busy to indulge in this. So, tried brushing it off before retiring at night.
Then always at the same time I hear the knock and my eyes would flutter open in shock. Afterwards, the knocks would just fade away. I concluded it to be our new neighbor pulling pranks at the midnight. Dimwits!


Terror occupied me when on the next night the sound awoke me ruthlessly. That’s when I realized someone was touching my back while I was lying on my bed. I usually slept on my side keeping a folded left arm below my head. I could feel how the fingers contorted inwardly, moving in a gesture to poke someone. The way one knocks. I gulped. It was never the door. It always had been my back where someone kept poking their fingers at me. I bolted up in fright.
It repeated for few days. Seemed like I was dreaming about it but was too vivid to be a dream.


I called my friend to stay with me. At night when we were discussing and I told where I felt the touch she saw there were bruises all over my back. We both had mini heart attack and were trembling in fear. That’s when she proposed to pack my bags and leave this place tomorrow itself. Not remember when we both drifted off. Then it happened again and it was only 10 o clock. The knocking started.
I scolded my friend not to joke around and nearly yelled after it happened for 4 times. She answered me back from the bathroom saying she will back in a minute and can’t hear me properly.


I froze. I couldn’t turn. I never felt the touch while being wide awake. Suddenly the touch was replaced by a warm breath on my back. Someone was too close. And then it snarled at me like it carried a lot of hatred towards me. I started crying and yelling for help. Suddenly I sensed warm breaths covering my back to the ankles. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE.
I turned around and

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.

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(I love your imagination, Guys!)

Flirting-Coffee


I bumped into him in front of a coffee house. Nothing has changed since I last saw him. He still looks the same.But his boyish charm that used to carry the responsibility of so many smiles,now had an edge of ripening maturity. And seeing that I smiled
“Hi, how are you? So long?”

I think I gave away the glimpse of my sudden cheeriness with my ear to ear smile. Thankfully, he returned my answer with an equal measured curve of his lips. Is he really that happy to see me??
“I’m good, Tina. How have you been? Do you wanna grab some coffee? I heard this coffee house serves the best Flirting-Coffee.”
I saw him getting embarrassed the moment he ended his sentence. And I laughed out loud.
“Flirting-coffee? I’m very sure I’ve never heard of this before. How could this cafe be the best in that?”
“I mean that’s the name of their special coffee”, he added sheepishly. “So do you want to go inside and taste it?”

No, I shouldn’t. At all. Too little of time is left for wedding preparations and my evil friend Priyanka would kill me if I’m late. I wanted to say No and to my utter surprise, this is what came out of my mouth.

“Yes, Ofcourse. I can join you for a couple of minutes” I said with a radiant smile. What is it about him? Why can’t I stop smiling? What would he think of me? That I’m that kid hopping on her feet elated over receiving her favorite present. I tried to compose myself.
We entered and ordered the special coffee. I was noticing how nicely he tucks in his shirt now, how uniformly he folds his sleeves. No unbuttoned, disheveled gawky outfit. His hair nicely coiled and dignified mannerisms screaming of a friendly and approachable Gentleman demeanor. His face didn’t change but the eyes seem to have aged in a responsible way that you now feel you are heard. A person who has mentally grown over the years and now is much more attentive while you talk.
And his smile. Oh!! He’s smiling at whatever I’m saying. Please I need to stop else at this rate, I’ll document each second of my life spent after we parted. He looks so interested in listening to how much my cat troubles me, or if I’m still that scared girl who sleeps with lights on, if I am enjoying my new job, or how many times I re-read Harry Potter. All those trivial details in our dreamy encounter made me lose track of time.

I suddenly ask him so what’s the story behind flirting-coffee. His laugh is a bit shy again. He continues,
“Actually, according to this Coffee-House they let their coffee do all the flirting. So even if you are naive at this, you are covered” And then I jokingly add,
“So you wanted to flirt with me but didn’t know how to, right?”

And we both laughed out so hard. Like the old times. Good old times. I don’t want to remember the bad parts with or about him. It’s only about a couple of minutes so I don’t need to ruin it.

“Hey, you there?” He asks. I didn’t know when did I space out. “You still carry a lot of things on your mind, don’t you?” He winks.
“Oh, well…” My phone buzzed and it was Priyanka. Oh God!!
I picked up!!

“Hi sweetie, I’m sorry I’m coming. I’m on my way” She’s yelling, of course!! I didn’t realize it’s been more than an hour sitting and chatting with him. She anyway gets paranoid over the wedding stuff esp when it’s around the corner.
I continued “Yes yes, the wedding. There is nothing more important to me at this point in time” trying to tease and calm her down.

I hung up. And tell him I’ve to rush.
He says okay but something is off. He asks if I’m okay and I assure him but had to shop for the wedding and I’m late.
I picked my things and left. I walk fast but suddenly had this urge to bid him bye. I turn around and there he is. Standing in front of the coffee house, like he was waiting for me to turn. He looks sad. Something wore off his pretty smile. What happened to him??

But I don’t have time for this. I wave him bye and walk faster. In few minutes my feet comes to a sudden halt.
THE WEDDING!!
Oh, is this what?? Did it bother him?? After all this time? Was he heartbroken about this news? Doesn’t it mean he still ….?
I don’t know why but I run back towards the coffee house. And I run fast. I wanted to confront him. I needed to hear something. Maybe some sort of closure that I failed to get all these years.
I reach there and he is gone. He has left.
What made me think that he would still be waiting for me?
He is gone. Like before.

(Part 1 ends)

Where are you??

“I have got a new idea. Want to hear about it?” Those bright eyes insisted. My weirdest, eccentric but the cutest friend who always came up with the bizarre games. My parents usually worked in longer shifts and weren’t home till late night and I, being a teenager at that time, told them I could take pretty much care of myself so we’d have the whole house to ourselves.
That day, as usual, we met at my place after school and she entered all giggling with some old rusty board. Before I could ask she started on her own. Being the blabber she was, I let her.

“Okay! This is an Ouija board. And I have got this voodoo doll with me and we will summon ghosts today”, in her super excited voice she expected a great reaction but none came.
Seeing my impassive face she continued “Oh C’mon, It’s been 3 years I am trying to convince you and you always say NO!”

“Exactly! And you still want to pursue it” I questioned.



In my defense, it was very hard to turn down an endearing person like her, that too when she looked at me with those puppy eyes. Hence, we started. We had one storage room that no one was using and we established our business there. I knew nothing of how this thing works but looking at her I felt she was a pro. Lighting candles, mumbling something, eyeing around the room. Honestly, I kept rolling my eyes at her.

We were holding hands, with eyes closed and she was chanting something from the book which she said got free with this stuff and suddenly there was a loud thud at the window. I freed my hands in panic. I opened my eyes and caught her laughing hard.

“It was the neighbor’s kid. You know how he keeps throwing something or the other. OMG! Look at your face,” she snorted.
“Shut up, Stupid! I don’t want to play this game anymore. I don’t like it.” Frightened as I was, I asked her to go back home that day. Convincing me it’s all fine, she left.

I couldn’t sleep that night. Some uneasy feeling kept crawling up in my veins which I couldn’t figure out. Finally, after trying multiple distractions I fell asleep.  
The next day after school, I tried contacting her, went to the park we used to meet but she was nowhere. This happened consecutively for the next 3 days.

She was nowhere to be found. She always said she lived across the street but we always met at the same place so I never bothered asking her postal address. I started feeling jittery.
Panic-stricken, I decided to visit her neighborhood. I tried talking to people, told her name, and explained her features if they have seen her but all in vain.  I walked some more steps and fortunately, was able to find the house as she had described once and swiftly ran towards to ring the doorbell. A pretty lady opened it for me and I asked for her.

“Is Karen home? She didn’t meet me for the last 3 days. I am her friend, Venka. “ Perplexed, she answered “No, I am afraid she is not. Who are you looking for?”
I again explained to the lady how did Karen look. She was taken aback for a moment. I am sure I read something on her face.
She dismissed me without saying a word. She was about to close the door when I insisted.
“You know something, don’t you? What happened to her? Please tell me.”

With a heavy sigh, the lady tried forming the words “She met with an accident”.
I couldn’t believe her words. The surroundings went numb. I could hear nothing, at all!
I was too shocked to cry and upon finding my voice I asked, “When?”

“20 years ago.”

“This is some kind of a dream. This is a dream” I kept mumbling.
“This is true, My dear. I am, well I was, her younger sister. My mother lives in the backyard and still awaits her. Many people around claimed that they spotted her in a school uniform at times but even that was a long time ago.”

She was always in school uniform. I never knew which school she went to. For 3 years I never knew anything except her name. She was so playful, so bubbly, always mischievous with giddy excitement in her that the only thing we talked about was of my problems.
I felt a part of me got ripped apart and ejected out of my body from this confounded revelation whereas my heart plummeted down to the ground. My body paralyzed.

“Are you okay, dear?” She asked. 
“I suggest you should go home and rest”. The words didn’t enter my ears but I started marching back with baby steps, still absorbing the shock.
I had walked a few steps when I see her, in her freaking school uniform; waving gleefully at me. I stopped. She came running towards me. Gasping for air she asked,
“How come you’re here? How did you find me? Never mind, I am glad you did. ”

“Why do you always wear a school uniform? Why don’t I know anything about you except your name?” Words were out before I realized. “Are you the same girl who died 20 years ago by a car accident?”

She froze. Her eyes widened as if I caught her red-handed. “Answer me!”
To my utter shock, I found her laughing hard. Again! “I hate her when she does it”, I thought.

“Would you stop laughing while I am asking you something” She being herself ignored what I said and that day I witnessed the literal display of ROFL. This made me livid.
Gauging my reaction she controlled herself and continued, “No, No I am not her. Yes, the girl died many years ago but that wasn’t me. Moreover, you know nothing about me because you, stupid fellow never ask me anything. You are always wallowing in your own problems and every time we meet I try to keep you happy.”

“Then where were you these days? Especially after our Ouija board encounter. Do you know how shaken I was after your disappearance?”

She apologized and said her parents had been thinking of getting a divorce, there had been regular fights & that she was quite worried and didn’t even go to school.  I realized how less I had heard from her, about her issues. But I was so relieved to see her doing fine, though going through a rough time but at least she isn’t dead or had been dead for years.

Out of the blue, I heard someone screaming from behind. I looked at her. She was so calm.
“That happens here. It’s normal. There’s an old lady. She has frequent seizures. Do you want an ice-cream? Don’t worry, I will get you one. Wait here!”
My words were almost out that how could she change the subject so easily, that how could she leave me here all alone but she was already gone.

The high-pitched voice became clearer as if approaching me. I turned around and saw a lady with unruly hair and almost as old as my grandma running frantically towards me. She grabbed my arm and started asking “Where is she? Where is my daughter?.”

I could see she was howling in pain. She had a foul smell and the darkest eye baggage I had ever seen. Someone who hasn’t slept for years or taken a bath either.
Crying she asked again.

I was petrified.
“I don’t know, I don’t know who you are talking ab….” My eyes fell to the picture frame she was holding in her other hand. It was her. It was Karen. Is she really dead? What game is she playing with me? The quota of swallowing the number of shocks on that day reached its limit. I was flabbergasted. Judging from my reaction she continued weeping and confessed,
“It was my fault. She was a wonderful & playful child. I should never have thought of getting a divorce. Hearing this news she ran away from my arms and bolted out of the door to the main road. She met with an accident here, where you are standing right now. “
OKAY! This has to stop. Somebody, please wake me up!!


Unfortunately, it was all true.

The Old lady begged, “If you ever see her again please, please tell her to meet Mama. She appears in front of so many people but never before me. She is still angry with me. Tell her, her Mama is still waiting. She will wait for 20 more years. Tell her, to come to Mama. Tell her, to meet me one time. Tell her to come to me” saying she collapsed.
The pretty lady, allegedly Karen’s sister finally found her mother and helped her get up. I watched everything as if it was airing on Television. I collected myself somehow and walked back home.
I never heard from Karen again!

Who were you arguing with??

My friend and I were having a heated conversation over something in her room & I realized that it got dark outside for I had to reach home in time. Suddenly the lights went off. And in a flickered moment it came back. So, I continued with my immature obnoxious comments that I hate her, won’t talk to her again, in fact will leave her right this moment in a non-serious tone because I knew I had to rush back to my far-away home. As I was climbing down her bed she grabbed me by my arm so hard that almost pulled me towards her.

“What did you say? Are you going to leave me?”

I admit I got a bit scared. I had never seen her like this before. But since we were already arguing & that it would seem so foolishly coward admitting that I got scared of her murderous look , I retorted. “Yes! I will.”

With the same chilling but cool look she replied “Then I am going to cut you into pieces.”
I saw her eyes entering blood , her grip turning harder which made me sure will leave imprints on my arm & before I knew I screamed at her “What the hell is happening to you?”

A loud thud at the door drove my attention from her and there I see her, again, standing at the doorway with torch in her hand. As frightened as I was she asked “Why are you screaming?”
In a total bewilderment, I looked at my friend first at the doorway and then the one holding me tight in her own bed.

Finally upon finding words I asked “How come you’re standing there with that torch. You were here with me.”
The look on her face made me look like an idiot so she stated,
“I told you I am going to find torch because the electricity went out & I didn’t know where mom kept it so it took me around 15-20 mins to find it. What happened to you?”

I couldn’t speak. Hundred of thoughts occupied my mind. Was the electricity gone for this long? But it came back, within a second. And why the hell she seems oblivious of the fact that there is another her sitting on her bed. Can’t she see her?

But she continued, “Oh! I forgot to tell you I have telephoned you Mom so you’re staying at my place today. Dad told me there’s some bad, weird activity going in our neighborhood so suggesting us to stay at home.”
With a smile she turned to leave but stopped to ask what I wanted for dinner.
Gauging my reaction she assured me, “Don’t worry, you will be safe here.”
Safe??
“By the way, who were you arguing with? Her?”
I froze.
She finally looked at her other self, with that same crooked smile she closed the door behind her & left.