by Anuradha S. Bannore

Nimki, Saki, Maitri & Vini left one early morning for a picnic to a place called Baria. No one except Maitri was excited about this place as they had heard umpteen stories about it being a mysterious place & many unanswerable & unimaginative things had happened there. Maitri was so intrigued by these ‘fairy tales’ as she called them that she tried to convince her friends to join her on the day trip. Initially the other three, especially Vini, didn’t seem to be convinced & were really scared to death to even dare to think of going to such a creepy place. Maitri finally after much heated discussion said,’ Ok so if all of you are so panicky then stay back, lead a boring uninteresting life but I’m going irrespective of whether you come or not. I never knew my friends were such chicken hearted ones. Enjoy your monotonous life girls while I’ll have a fun packed day. Well I’ll see you all the day after tomorrow.’ Saying so, Maitri walked out of the room banging the door in a rage.’The noise awakened three of them from their thoughts of what terrible things they would be facing at that place for it was believed to be safe neither by day nor night. They looked at each other feeling bad about refusing to go out with Maitri who always helped them in their hour of need & went out of her way to spend time with them if they were feeling low. Suddenly they shouted in unison, ‘We mustn’t let her go all by herself to such a hair raising place. She wouldn’t ever let us go to strange places all by ourselves so we should join her.’

This is how they surprised Maitri by showing up at the bus stop much to her happiness. The conductor, the bus driver & the other passengers on board were shocked out of their wits when they heard where these young girls were going all by themselves hence they tried to dissuade them but all in vain. Maitri lost it & angrily shouted at them, ‘ Will all of you stay quiet? Don’t frighten my friends unnecessarily. It’s no concern of you where we go or don’t go. You are neither our parents nor grandparents so shut up & mind your own business!’ This outburst shocked everyone & they became quiet. However one of the passengers boldly said. ‘ We were just trying to help by warning you against going there as out of the many who visited Baria hardly any returned with a sound mind. You youngsters these days are really headstrong & rude. Anyway as you pointed out its none of our business fine but please do take care & stick together.’ Shrugging his shoulders he started looking out of the window.

They finally reached Baria. Excitedly they got out of the bus & looked around stunned by the beauty & tranquility spread for miles before them. Besides them, there was just one couple. They ran towards the riverside plunging into the water, splashing it on each other all four of them were carried away into a world of enjoyment. After some time they changed their wet clothes, had their lunch & set off on trail walking. They were so enraptured by the lush vegetation that they lost count of time & when they realised, it was already getting dark. Now they all panicked not knowing how they would reach the bus stop on time & wondered if the last bus had already left as no buses came there after sunset. Maitri, though terrified herself, tried to confidently convince the others, ‘ Friends, there’s no need to get agitated & it doesn’t matter even if we missed the last bus. On our way here I saw a lovely palatial house which I’m sure is a hotel. We will all stay together in one room because none of us brought extra money. So let’s cheer up & sing our way back.’ Now it had become very dark & although it was a full moon night because of it is a thickly forested area they could barely see. Holding hands, singing in trembling voices they kept walking endlessly till they saw the river & shouted in glee. But all wasn’t over yet. They decided to proceed towards the hotel. When they finally reached there they discovered that it was a very old abandoned house bathed in a dark creepy environment. It had a massive beautifully designed gate covered with cobwebs & crawling insects. They sensed all sorts of nocturnal creatures to be living there. Vini screamed at seeing a bat fly by her. She started crying & in between sobs muttered,’ Didn’t I say that it was a bad idea? No one listened to me & now we are stuck in front of, I’m sure, a frightening haunted house. I just want to go home.’ Madly she started running here & there but abruptly she calmed down, shocked because of the slap she received from Maitri who said, ‘Stop it! Stop yelling! Let’s try & get inside the house. We should be thankful that at least we won’t be out in the open for the wild animals to feast on us! I’m going to open the gate if you all wish to come fine otherwise help the ferocious animals from dying of starvation!

She boldly walked ahead & tried to open the gate but it being very heavy she couldn’t push it open. Seeing this the others except Vini joined her & as they were about to touch the gate it opened with a sharp metallic sound which sent a frightening screech that echoed in the silence of the night. Somehow they composed themselves & walked towards the main door of the house. Saki saw a very dim light through the glass window & said, ‘I think someone lives here. I can see some figures but not very clearly, moving in the room.’ This was the last straw on the camel’s back as they say. Vini panicked, yelling,’ O my God, it’s a house of ghosts. Maitri, what are you doing? Are you bent on killing all of us including yourself? What’s got into that thick skull of yours? First, you get us into this godforsaken place & then into this haunted house! Are you completely out of your mind? No, not you, I think it’s the three of us who foolishly followed you on your stupid trip.’

Maitri, at the end of her patience, shouted back, ‘Exactly, I didn’t force any one of you to come here. You came of your free will so stop blaming me & let’s see what we can do now because I’m very hungry & so must be you!’

Maitri was about to knock when they saw the door open & a man stood before them dressed in white. Vini was sure it was a ghost & pulled Saki’s hand, ‘Please Nimki & Saki let’s run away. I don’t want to enter this house. I love mine much better than this one. Let’s escape before this ghost devours us. Maitri is probably under some sort of a spell hence isn’t terrified but I can’t take it anymore, please let’s go away from this eerie house. I’m sure I’m going to die of a heart attack very soon!’

The man in white looked upon hearing this & said, ‘ Don’t be afraid. This house isn’t haunted. I live here with my friends & all of us dress in white & have a dim light so that we can have some peace. We purposely let it look like a haunted house so that we don’t have intruders. This house belonged to my grandparents. Many people have tried to buy it & convert it into a hotel. There’s nothing wrong with this place. Mother Nature has added to its beauty. There are some rich people who want to destroy all the tranquility of this amazing place with their concrete jungle. So this was the only way we could think of saving it when all logical reasoning failed us. We are neither going to harm or eat you. So relax! We have been watching & following you right from the moment you got off that bus to find out the purpose of your visit. We came to the conclusion that you all are innocent & are here only for having a good time & not with any bad intentions so we are letting you be our guests. You can take a wash. We were about to have dinner. There’s ample food for all of us. The bathroom is down that corridor & if you take a right turn you will see another corridor just walk straight down it & you will come to the dining room.’

Maitri was happy on hearing about food & merrily walked ahead of the others who followed her tiptoeing as the dimly lit house looked spooky to them. Suddenly Maitri stopped & turned towards them with a weird look that sent cold shivers down everyone’s spine. They stopped & clutched each other’s hands. Wide-eyed they chorused in a whisper,’ Now what, Maitri? Please don’t scare the life out of us. Please say something.’

She smiled which convinced them that Vini was probably right in saying, Maitri wasn’t her normal self but a victim of some power beyond this world. Her continuous mysterious smile really unnerved the three of them & they stood gaping at her when finally she said, ‘ That man who opened the door, isn’t he the one who was in the bus & who said they were just trying to help us. I’m sure it was him! Let’s wash & find out but to their surprise when they reached the dining room they found no one there except themselves. A note had been left for them, ‘Enjoy your dinner & sleep but leave the first thing in the morning as soon as possible if you value your precious life. Don’t try your luck too hard. You might not be so lucky the next time. It was signed as A Well Wisher.’

They could do nothing neither eat nor sleep well & so they bolted away from that house with the first ray of light. They’re still confused about that mysterious house & the Man. They tried to find out about that house but were told there isn’t any house there for miles together & no one goes to Baria because it has all sorts of mysterious frightening stories. The girls couldn’t believe it because they had spent the night in that house & when they spoke about it people thought as they had gone to Baria they were undoubtedly lucky to come back alive (because many had died or had just disappeared in thin air) but these girls had become crazy! They are still trying to solve the mystery hoping someone will someday help them. Till then they have to be patient. Though Maitri was intrigued to go to Baria again to see the house, something about the note warned her not to do anything foolish. Vini declared never again in her life she would go on a trip with Maitri no matter what happened!

About the Author:

Anuradha S. Bannore is a prolific writer and an alumni of Jabalpur University with M.A in English. She retired as a teacher and currently lives in Vadodara India.