Vihaan sat watching television. A documentary on dinosaurs. He had a school holiday but his parents were in the phase of life where many holidays had gone extinct, hence they were at work.
In 8th grade of school Vihaan could prepare something to eat of his own, as evident by the cold coffee and the empty plate with few remaining strands of instant noodles.
As Vihaan took another sip of the cold coffee. There was sound and he focussed more upon it. He muted the television. It was the sound of hinges, of the wooden almirah in the study room that had all his old school books.
Vihaan continued to watch the television when the sound repeated, a few times this time as if the almirah door was being opened and closed. Vihaan muted the television once more and he walked over to the study room where the almirah door was open. He closed it and looked at the study table where a boy smaller than him sat on the chair giggling.
“Every time I don’t play your favourite cartoon, you behave like this. One day I will be really angry,” said Vihaan
The boy’s smile began to disappear.
“Let me see if there are any of your favourite candies hidden in the kitchen,” said Vihaan and the boy’s smile returned again
Vihaan walked to the kitchen, took out a bowl from one cupboard and the jar of candies from another. The jar was full of colourful candies, it felt like the candies were glowing.
Vihaan walked back with the bowl full of glowing candies and kept it on the table, within the reach of the small boy who was very happy to see the candies and couldn’t wait to have them.
Vihaan smiled and walked out of the room, and the chair remained empty and so did the bowl. In his adult life Vihaan claimed this is how he dealt with the ghost that was living in his family’s apartment. He said didn’t see the ghost but he made an elaborate set of imagination to give better justification to the opening and closing doors of the almirah.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
