It was a very dark night

The sky shone with multitudes of twinkling stars

The thin crescent emitted a soft, gentle, silvery light

A dazzling artistic creation of God, it was!

She sat on her verandah entranced by its beauty

The lofty dark trees swayed with the breeze-

Its long arms moved graciously with-

The serene music of the rustling leaves-

Like so many tall elegant dancing dolls

Till a strong wind tore through the tranquility

With a ferocious whistling sound

The whole scenario transformed into a scary sight!

The music dwindled into a frightening clamour

The dark shadows froze her blood

They were like countless crazy witches

Engrossed in their wild music and dance

She quickly got up and- Dashed to her bedroom upstairs

Sitting on the bed she calmed herself

When to her utter bewilderment

A long, flat, hideous, eerie shadow

She saw creep out of the wall It seemed to have followed her!

Spontaneously she retracted her feet on to the bed

Initially she thought-

Imagination was playing games on her mind

But-

The vicious thing advanced towards her

With alacrity in a caterpillar like movement!

It tried to reach her but failed completely A futile endeavor it was!

Seething with rage towards her it charged Over and over again But ultimately gave up!

It was an enigma to her

Wanted to scream out for help but lost her voice

Terrorized she sheltered her head

A babe in the womb she became-

But nightmares reigned over her

Sleep was miles away, a wishful thought it was!

Chatting with friends the next morning

Her blood chilled, numbness reigned over her body-

There was no storm, they told her

But something worse- Black magic, it definitely was!

                                                                                 ~Anuradha S. Bannore

                                                                                       Vadodara, India