\u201cI have got a new idea. Want to hear about it?\u201d 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\u2019t home till late night and I, being a teenager at that time, told them I could take pretty much care of myself so we\u2019d 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.
\u201cOkay! This is an Ouija board. And I have got this voodoo doll with me and we will summon ghosts today\u201d, in her super excited voice she expected a great reaction but none came.
Seeing my impassive face she continued \u201cOh C\u2019mon, It\u2019s been 3 years I am trying to convince you and you always say NO!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly! And you still want to pursue it\u201d I questioned.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ouija-board-4553829_1280.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\")
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the neighbor\u2019s kid. You know how he keeps throwing something or the other. OMG! Look at your face,\u201d she snorted.
\u201cShut up, Stupid! I don\u2019t want to play this game anymore. I don\u2019t like it.\u201d Frightened as I was, I asked her to go back home that day. Convincing me it\u2019s all fine, she left.
I couldn\u2019t sleep that night. Some uneasy feeling kept crawling up in my veins which I couldn\u2019t figure out. Finally, after trying multiple distractions I fell asleep. \u00a0
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.<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0I 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.
\u201cIs Karen home? She didn\u2019t meet me for the last 3 days. I am her friend, Venka. \u201c Perplexed, she answered \u201cNo, I am afraid she is not. Who are you looking for?\u201d
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.
\u201cYou know something, don\u2019t you? What happened to her? Please tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a heavy sigh, the lady tried forming the words \u201cShe met with an accident\u201d.
I couldn\u2019t 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, \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c20 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is some kind of a dream. This is a dream\u201d I kept mumbling.
\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was always in school uniform<\/em>. 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.<\/em> \u201cAre you okay, dear?\u201d She asked.\u00a0 She froze. Her eyes widened as if I caught her red-handed. \u201cAnswer me!\u201d \u201cWould you stop laughing while I am asking you something\u201d She being herself ignored what I said and that day I witnessed the literal display of ROFL. This made me livid. I was petrified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI have got a new idea. Want to hear about it?\u201d 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\u2019t home till late night and I, being a teenager at that time, told them I could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[385,9],"tags":[419,570,118,120,569,568],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p95Fdd-Pd","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3177,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3175\/revisions\/3177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kanikachughs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suggest you should go home and rest\u201d. The words didn\u2019t 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,
\u201cHow come you\u2019re here? How did you find me? Never mind, I am glad you did. \u201d
\u201cWhy do you always wear a school uniform? Why don\u2019t I know anything about you except your name?\u201d Words were out before I realized. \u201cAre you the same girl who died 20 years ago by a car accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
To my utter shock, I found her laughing hard. Again! \u201cI hate her when she does it\u201d, I thought.<\/p>\n
Gauging my reaction she controlled herself and continued, \u201cNo, No I am not her. Yes, the girl died many years ago but that wasn\u2019t 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.\u201d
\u201cThen where were you these days? Especially after our Ouija board encounter. Do you know how shaken I was after your disappearance?\u201d
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\u2019t even go to school. \u00a0I 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\u2019t 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.
\u201cThat happens here. It\u2019s normal. There\u2019s an old lady. She has frequent seizures. Do you want an ice-cream? Don\u2019t worry, I will get you one. Wait here!\u201d
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 \u201cWhere is she? Where is my daughter?.\u201d
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\u2019t slept for years or taken a bath either.
Crying she asked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t know who you are talking ab\u2026.\u201d My eyes fell to the picture frame she was holding in her other hand. It was her<\/strong>. It was Karen<\/strong>. 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,
\u201cIt 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. \u201c
OKAY! This has to stop. Somebody, please wake me up!!<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it was all true.
The Old lady begged, \u201cIf 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\u201d saying she collapsed.
The pretty lady, allegedly Karen\u2019s 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!<\/p>\n\n\n