Ghost – It was a dark and stormy night…

Written for a contest 'It was a dark and stormy night'.

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Tick… Tick… Tick… the wall clock was ticking away, not caring about the time. I looked at the wall clock which showed 12:30am. Outside, the air was cold and dark clouds hid the full-moon. I was alone in the Big ODC. My colleagues knew about my fears and had said there was a ghost lurking in the ODC. It would come sometime in the mid night at the extreme corner of the ODC.

Thank god! I was far away from it. But I couldn’t avoid thinking about it. Two-thirds of the ODC was in dark and the extreme corner was barely visible. I couldn’t keep popping out of my cabin to have a look at the corner every now and then.

I heard some creepy sound from the corner. I stood up quickly to have a look at the corner. I saw something moving. My heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, lightening lit up the dark ODC momentarily. I saw something strange at the corner. I shrieked and ran out. My legs took me to the nearby pantry.

The deserted pantry looked dreadful in the darkness with lightening giving it a eerie look. My heart was beating heavily. I couldn’t make out the shape I had seen. I made myself a cappuccino and walked to the lounge. I held the cup tightly with both my hands. I felt the warmth of it. I took a sip and told myself that there was no ghost at the corner. I repeated it after every sip. After few sips the coffee got over.

I slowly walked to the ODC. I showed my access card at the access control. It turned green with a beep but I didn’t go inside. I pushed the door slowly. The lightening struck again and I stepped backwards looking at the corner. Tup! The door was closed.

beep beep! beep beep! I showed my card again and again but to no avail. The door remained closed. I sat on the nearby steps with mixed feelings. How will I go inside now?!! Will I sit here for the whole night?!! What would happen if I miss some critical alerts?!! While I sat there cursing my fate, the housekeeping lady walked past me and opened the door. I seized the opportunity to follow her and went to my cabin.

There was a critical alert flashing on my computer screen. I immediately sat to work and solved the issue. After two minutes I looked at the corner again. The light was on and the lady was cleaning the corner area. There were some hanging paper decorations which were swinging in the air. There was nothing else. I realized that the ghost wasn’t in the corner but in my mind. I played some music on my cell phone and kept myself busy with work. The ghost didn’t come again for the rest of the night.

Dedicating this story to all my friends and colleagues who felt the same on some night somewhere.

Credit: Thanks a ton to Sundeep for editing this story.

Mother - A short story

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“She is so weak. We are trying our level best”. Doctor’s words disheartened Ram.


“She is just 19, an adolescent girl. This is my fault”, Ram thought.

Ram’s leisure period was over and it is the time for an NRI meeting. He insisted his driver to be there and started.


An hour passed and doctors showed their smiling faces from the stealthy operation theater as if they have crossed a sea with a raft.

“She looks like you”, the nurse lifted the baby to show to Mallika.

Mallika blushed and saw the fascinating face of her child.

Ram came back from the meeting and took the child. “Thank you. She looks pretty as like you. Neelima will surely like this angel”


Mallika closed her eyes and went a year back. She was sweeping the pavement with a broom stick. Ram was sitting on a bench and watching a small child playing pranks and crawling. His eyes turned wet. The traders rushed to the platform as the Korba express approached the station.


‘If I would ever have a child, he would be one among these hawkers’, she thought.

She turned to the direction from where she heard her mother’s yelp. She followed the sound and saw her mother lying on the track.

“She was reckless and didn’t notice the train coming until it approached her. When she noticed, she tried to move away but fell on the nearby track”, Ram explained what he saw. They took her mother to hospital.


“Your mother’s head got hurt and she lost her consciousness”, the doctor said with sad tone and introduced her with all those medical terms what a sweeper cannot understand. But she understood only one thing that her mother needs an operation which costs lakhs. She felt as if she has been left alone in a maze. Ram took her hand with care.


“Where is the baby?” the nurse asked with a terrified expression.

Mallika opened her eyes but didn’t utter anything. ‘I felt like my life was miserable once. I wanted to be a child of my mother. Now I’m a true child to my mother. But I feel miserable. I’m not a mother of my own child. Cuz I’m… a surrogate mother”

The nurse was able to see, only a drop of tear as the answer.