Extinguished

The fire burned with all the strength it could muster. The cold of the
air circled around, for there was no going near the fire, not while
its flame reached out to drive it away.

People rejoiced with dance, songs and eatables. The place was a
camping spot and the occasion was a family gathering. The spot was
near the hotel they were staying at.

Pranav sat with a gaze set on the burning fire. He had discovered a
new form of peace he hadn’t noticed before. Pranav had isolated the
sound of the crackling fire among the many different sounds present
there.

The everyday toil of an office goer accumulates to a lot over the
time, thus sometimes the true meaning of being free for them lies in
the moments of peace and that was what Pranav was experiencing.

Pranav pulled back the sleeve of the jacket to have a look at his
watch. It was 1:39 am. Pranav walked to where his parents were
sitting.

“I think I will head back. Do you both want to come?” Pranav asked his parents.

Pranav’s father looked at his mother and then at the others, “We will
stay for a while. You go on and rest.”

Pranav’s father handed him the key to their room and Pranav started
his walk of return after wishing everyone a good night and explaining
to some of them that he needed the rest, even though he wanted to
stay.

Pranav pulled up the chain of the jacket and then he pulled down his
beanie cap. The cold was not in its usual intensity but Pranav was not
taking any chances. He walked on the narrow dirt road with cluttered
trees on both sides. The road had been made by the hotel so their
guests could enjoy a closer touch of the nature around and also access
the campsites.

There were light posts, but they only gave sufficient dim yellow light
which barely covered the surface around them.

Pranav could feel the drowsiness filling in his eyes.

‘Around twenty minutes more and the hotel bed will be within reach,’
Pranav said to himself.

Pranav looked ahead and stopped; the hotel should have been in sight
by now. He looked at his watch but couldn’t exactly recall how much
time he had spent walking.

‘Have I wandered off?’ Pranav thought. He decided to continue on for a
while and as he did, he heard the sound of water.

‘What is that? I was not aware of any form of river around here’

Pranav looked at the dirt road he was walking on, this road was used,
some partial grass grew, but it was mostly clear. There was a hope
that he might still come across people.

Pranav tried calling a few of his family members back at the camp
using his smartphone but no one picked up. The sound of music playing
had drowned out every other sound there.

Pranav decided to walk further and at the bend of the dirt road, there
was a brook, on the right he could see a wooden bridge and the lights
entered his eyes and caught his attention. They were bright lights
like the ones Pranav had seen at the camp.

‘Good, I can ask for directions there.’

Pranav stared at the wooden bridge. It looked old, and the wood of the
bridge creaked as he stepped on it. For a moment there he thought he
would run and leap for it. But he decided approaching slowly would be
the best case. He proceeded slowly, step by step, he was halfway
across the bridge.

“Stop!!” came the loud screaming voice of a woman and Pranav turned
back to see who it was and she was right behind him. Her entire
appearance looked like the shadow of a young woman. Her face was
hidden in this shadow.

‘How did I not realise that she was behind me?’ Pranav thought as he
became startled and his legs gave away and Pranav fell on his back.

Back at the camp, Pranav’s cousin Mitesh was tired from the dance and
sat down. He had a sip of water from the bottle and then he took out
his phone and unlocked it to find Pranav’s missed calls. He called
back but there was no answer.

Mitesh asked Pranav’s father and got to know that Pranav had called
him as well. Mitesh decided to head back to the hotel to check on
Pranav. The night’s cold brushed against his walking presence.

After walking a while, Mitesh could see the lights of the hotel but
before he could walk further, he heard the sound of something breaking
followed by a splash.

‘What was that?’ Mitesh hesitated to find out but then started walking
frantically towards the sound and then the walking evolved to running
as a feeling of urgency stepped into the mind.

Mitesh had danced for quite a while and after a long time; all the
tired and some aching muscles of the body reminded him of that. He
stopped to catch his breath and decided to walk the rest of the way.
That is when he heard the sound of water.

‘This has to be it, I am almost there’ Mitesh thought and walked
ahead. A few tired steps into the direction and he heard a screaming
sound of a woman who asked him to stop. The nearness of the sound made
him realise that she was right behind him. Her voice had made his head
ache, like a great distress had been put on the mind, and his ears
hadn’t calmed from the sudden burst of sound they had experienced.

Even though he felt otherwise, Mitesh decided to turn and face who or
what was behind. As he was about to turn back to look at her, a hand
caught his arm and pulled him aside.

“Run!” The familiar sound of Pranav spoke and Mitesh’s mind let the
fear flow in with greater intensity as he used a sudden burst of
energy to start running at the highest speed possible.

Pranav and Mitesh ran all the way to the hotel, never for once
stopping to the demands of their tired body. They stopped when they
reached the hotel reception much to the surprise of the hotel
receptionist who was confused as to what had happened.

“What happened back there?” Mitesh asked, “Where were you? Why are you all wet?”

The receptionist indicated to a helper to get a towel while he waited
to hear Pranav’s answer.

Pranav calmed his mind and breath and then spoke, “I was lost and came
across this bridge over a brook, I saw the lights of a campsite and
thought of going there for help. As I was walking over the bridge,
this woman all of a sudden came up behind me. The surface of the
bridge broke away as I fell back and I fell into the water. I got back
to the shore and on my way back came across you and the woman again.
That is all I know.”

The receptionist handed Pranav the towel he had brought.

Mitesh couldn’t make any sense of it, “I am going out to make a call
and ask everyone to come back. You head back and change into dry
clothes.” Mitesh walked away outside.

“That is not possible.”

Pranav and the receptionist saw an old woman on a wheelchair, who was
checking out with her luggage. Pranav spoke, “I am sorry ma’am, I
didn’t get what you are saying.”

The old woman spoke again, “What you said is not possible. I have been
coming here for a while. The ghost of a woman roaming at night was a
rumour spread in the 1970s to make the hotel popular among people and
since the rumour worked, a woman was hired to play the role of the
ghost and make occasional appearances at night. It brought many
tourists to this hotel, but with time the rumour died and the hotel
made no effort to revive it since it had gained what it wanted.”

“and the woman who acted as the ghost retired from work?” asked Pranav

“Of course, she did and I am sure you know this too. It’s a good story
to spook families staying here,” the old lady said and smiled
believing she had caught up with what Pranav was trying to do but
Pranav stood quietly, knowing in his mind all but very well that the
woman was still out there, and she hadn’t aged and she hadn’t retired.

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Written by Anuran Chatterji