ALSphere Foundation
It was past midnight, the area witnessing heavy rains, gushing wind too chilling cold. A dark wet stormy night with low visibility except for the few stars twinkling above spreading few glimmers of hope. Tossing and turning in the bed sleep completely eluded me.
Large colossal trees swaying to the tunes of the whooshing wind made things worse. It seemed as if nature’s fury would engulf mankind tonight. The electric wire from the main pole had snapped because of the strong wind. To add to the miseries there was no assurance from the electricity department regarding restoration of power.
I was too scared to step out of my bed as I was alone in the house even if there was an emergency. The house is located little away from the township surrounded by a lot of greenery and tall trees. I prefer a quiet place so that my passion of writing can be pursued unhindered by the chaos of a city life. Huddled in the warm blanket was constantly praying to the Almighty for things to get normal.
Sudden a ‘knock’ on the main door. My heart skipped a beat I thought it to be my imagination out of fear. At this hour this was the least that was expected to happen.I waited with abated breath lest it repeat again. To my astonishment now it was ‘knock knock.’
I ran down the stairs, stumbled on the ground floor, gathered my wits to rise up and rush to open the door. Exasperated by the repeated knock still trying to keep calm, sheepishly peeped out of the window desperately trying to see in the darkness. Could see nothing which made things worse.I was sure that some unnatural scare is brewing within me!
Searched for the candle found lighting it impossible but managed with great difficulty as my hands were trembling. I have grown up with the belief that evil do not come near the fire. As I tried hard to open the door it would close back with the wind force. I did manage to look around but no one to be seen.
Despite all the efforts could not fathom the reason hence gave up justifying in my mind that a broken flying twig would have crashed against the wooden door creating the sound. Deeply worried tired as well crouched on the sofa in the lounge area waiting for any further indication if there was any.
After about ten minutes saw few torchlights approaching towards my house.I was convinced that something untoward had happened which was not new in this area. On such rainy nights trees fell and accidents were quite common.
Courageously I stepped out on the pavement utterly shocked to see a man unconscious lying on one side of the stairs. By this time neighbors had also arrived and the incident became clear.
The man was driving a bit fast trying to pass the dark dangerous curvy patch as fast as possible because of the inclement weather. His car crashed against a tree,he was thrown out of the car due to the great impact. My house was near the crash site so he managed to crawl and knock the door before he lost consciousness.
After all the hullabaloo we were all able to help the stranger in an ambulance to the hospital. Later it was learnt that he was out of danger recovering well. I did go to the hospital to wish him speedy recovery also did not forget to share the ghost story that was cooked up in my mind that fateful night.
We both exchanged a hearty laugh!!
