The moonlit night
1078 Words
"Hey, please stay for tonight! You don't have the slightest idea about what can happen on the way. Besides, the disease is now reigning in this area. Please, stay."
Every story that includes occult or supernatural beings, includes a character who is obstinate. Amal was not like them, but he was like them. Actually, he loved nature that was shrouded by darkness. He seemed to find mystery there. And still, he didn't believe that a supernatural entity could exist. He was quite proud of his being a powerful village leader, undaunted, and heroic. Such a realistic man!!!
So, when his mother-in-law urged him to stay for the night, he refused. Even though his father-in-law used his natural power to command his son-in-law to remain just for the night, Amal refused. He silently jeered at them.
"It's only 2 kilometers, I can manage to go. And it's just nine o'clock. Please don't worry", Amal assured them. It was a vain attempt, he knew.
But, trust me, back then, in 1978, Bangladesh was not like the present time. And a number of scary stories would reign there, occupying people's minds and making them more scared than ever. And smallpox extirpated a huge number of people whose graves were scattered in almost every place. You never know when you run into a grave. So people had to walk cautiously, because to trample a grave would be considered ominous.
But this man didn't consider any of these possibilities. At least not tonight. He bid his in-laws farewell, and started walking. His mother-in-law, with a lantern in her hand, stood beside the house as long as she could. With a white sari, she would seem to look like Florence Nightingale. But as the fog and mist began to enshroud the atmosphere, she had to enter the house.
Amal took the shortcut down the canal-side road. He knew some people living in this area. They were his mates. Smallpox devoured Rafiq, Hasan, and Intesher. Maybe their graves were somewhere nearby. He badly wanted to attend their funeral, but his family members almost tied him up. So he couldn't say goodbye to them. They were gone forever.
He let out a deep melancholic sigh!!! Huh! "How fragile human life is!", he thought. Suddenly, he missed them. Thank God that he missed them. That preoccupied his mind and blurred his sight from seeing something obvious. Okay, let's keep that mystery a mystery.
"Oh, thank God, I see that bridge", the bridge marks the entrance of his village. "Yes! I'm almost there", he exclaimed inside. 200 yards, only.
When it was only about 50 yards to cross, suddenly he saw his mother-in-law. Wearing the same white sari, holding the same lantern. And see, behind her was the house of his in-laws. She stood motionless, just her sari fluttering in a soft breeze.
"Hey, hey, did I mistakenly walk back? How could I be so lame? And see, how loving she is! Still standing there for me." The last thought made him happy.
Just then he noticed the bridge again, shimmering in the moonlight. The Bridge. The house of the in-laws. Mother In Law. Standing upright. Waiting for him.
Just then, Amal felt a hand on his shoulder. He almost jumped. And shuddered. He closed his eyes. Couldn't open it. Just couldn't. But he had to see who it was. After all, he is the village leader. He shouldn't be this scared.
So he looked back. And he instantly relaxed. Hasan was standing there. His best friend. No need to be frightened. It's just Hasan. It's really him. With a most loving smile on his face, there stood Hasan.
His smile soothed the panic-stricken heart of Amal. Wow, how gloriously his teeth were glistening !!! But alas! His once fair face was completely destroyed by the innumerable small dark wounds created by the pox. And some of them seemed fresh, emanating blood.
"Hey, how nice it is to see you fresh and alive!" Hasan smiled crookedly. Amal couldn't decipher the meaning of his words. He looked back and, from the corner of his eyes, he searched the house and his magical mother-in-law, who could bilocate. But see, there was only the bridge. The whole house vanished.
Amal felt an electric current running inside his body.
Looking back, Amal seemed to be struck by lightning. A lightening of sense. His whole being jerked.
Hasan was gone. In his former place stood Amal himself. His face was full of smallpox, eyes were bulging, and the whole body was blood smeared. The most shocking fact is that the creature that stared at him, that looked like him, was holding the hair of a cut off head. And the head resembled him too. The head was dripping blood unceasingly, and with such a flow that it seemed that the canal would be filled soon.
The thing, whatever it was, kept staring at Amal. Staring, and staring, as if it could see his very soul. Suddenly Amal felt something stone-cold on both of his feet.
Blood,,,, blood from that head!!!!!
Right at that moment, that head opened its eyes. It looked straight to him. The deem moonlight let him see the face vaguely. In that brief moment he saw a grimace saturated that face. So cruel, so hateful, and so devilish urge was there in that face that Amal couldn't control him any longer. He ran. He stumbled. He ran again. It was too much for him. Too much. The whole thing.
20 yards, 15 yards. And 10, and 5….
Just then he stumbled. And fell down. He felt that his senses were being faded. And he needed something cool and fresh to revive his strength to run. To be emancipated from whatever was chasing him.
He felt something cold was dripping on him. Thank God. It's raining. Ohhh, it's the blessing of God. Thank you so much, God!
He opened his eyes. Yeah, a liquid was dripping on him. It wasn't raining. It was blood from that estranged giant head.
The creature was standing right over him. That looked like him. That resembled his countenance.
Amal felt that the last bit of courage was leaving him. He was drowning, drowning. In the hideous liquid. It was entering through his nose, mouth, ears and through every single whole it managed to find.
On him the wonderful moon gleamed. And the 5 yard away bridge was sparkling.
It was a beautiful sight to behold.
- Writer
