Fright and flight

I have always longed to do this and tonight is the night,” said Lalith, as he poked his head out of the window, sniffing the breeze. “It’s nice and moonlit.” “Are you sure?” asked his cousin Aadhi, doubtfully. “I mean, your parents are not in town and…”

“Grandpa has gone out of town on some urgent work and most probably won’t be back tonight,” said Lalith impatiently. “Isn’t that just why I chose tonight?” Lalith rummaged in the cupboard and pulled out two of the longest white curtains he could find. “There! Now we need a torch and off we go!”

Aadhi still had his doubts. But he obediently put on his slippers and trailed behind Lalith, who locked the front door, pocketed the key and shuffled off towards the river. Down by the river, it was darker still and the moonlight fell softly on the water, creating eerie shadows on the trees.

“It’s terrifying, isn’t it?” said Aadhi, as he looked around fearfully.

“Shut up,” said Lalith. “It will be the best adventure of the season.” He quickly took out a curtain and threw it over his shoulders. “Here, you do the same. Don’t let your face show.”

Show time

The two curtained boys then crouched behind a tree, waiting. It seemed like ages to Aadhi.

“Shh!” hissed Lalith, suddenly. “I can hear voices. It’s Sharma Uncle and his wife.”

Lalith rose dramatically from his crouched position, arms spread out under the white curtain that billowed out in the breeze and made him look…monstrous. “Aahhh!”…he moaned for added effect.

The footsteps stopped suddenly. There was a crunching sound as Sharma Uncle and his wife turned around hastily and bolted through the bushes, back the way they had come. “That was a scream, wasn’t it?” giggled Lalith. “Aadhi...Aadhi..Where are you?” “Here,” said a voice from the ground. Lalith looked down and saw his cousin rolling about on the ground, holding his sides and trying to control his laughter. “See, I told you this would be fun,” said Lalith. “But next time, you take one side and I’ll take the other. They will never know which side to rush out off.” So, Lalith crouched under a tree and Aadhi chose the bush on the other side. Minutes later, Aadhi heard a muffled sound behind him. He turned around, ready to rise just as he had seen Lalith do. And then he screamed!

The morning after

It was nearly daybreak when the two cousins managed to return home. “It was awful,” said Aadhi. “I am sure there’s something terrible in there. It was a dark human shape with huge white teeth. The teeth...ju...just came off and tumbled down at my feet and the dark shape seemed to melt away.. it was terrible.” Grandpa came in a few minutes later. “Children, look what I found near the river. Our curtains! Somebody’s been stealing our things!”

“Grandpa, something mysterious is near the river,” said Lalith. “I thought so too,” said Grandpa. “Look at the new set of sparkling artificial teeth the dentist in the town has set for me. They kept falling off as I was returning home. When I bent down to pick it up by the river, what a hullaballoo I heard. Screaming, and some little shapes  running away! Must have been goblins or imps, if you ask me. But I managed to scare them off!”