Mrs. Thirumalai
The mist was spooky gray. Fingers of the mist tickled the lake as it passed. It grasped at the calm water. It moved on and unclasped the shrubs. Kalpana was at the window enjoying the misty morning. Her villa was poised on the lakeside, a very old house of her ancestors. It was Sunday, the day she got to enjoy the little things around her. She swooned in the beauty of the sunrise. After a while, she started her daily chores. She was all alone since her husband was out of town for his business and her two kids were on a camping trip.
When she was cleaning the dishes, she heard a vague sound of a heart pounding. She stopped to check whether she had actually heard it or if she had imagined it. But she had heard it right. She slowly began moving towards the sound. As she reached the staircase, the sound intensified and she realized that it was the sound of many hearts beating together. Her heart beat faster, like a bird’s wings, as though in competition with the hearts pounding at a distance. When she reached her bedroom, she figured out that the sound came from her wardrobe.
Though she was scared, she gathered herself together and opened the wardrobe. At once, her sarees started dancing around her as though in an attempt to swallow her. They were invisible figures draped in saree.
Shocked to her bones, Kalpana yelled at the top of her voice. She couldn’t figure out what to do to escape. The wardrobe suddenly cracked open in the middle, with a weird ringing sound. A rope made out of sarees tied together, came out of the crack, started swirling all over her body and tugged her towards the unknown.
Kalpana was terrified and screamed till her throat was raw. It was her scream that scared everything away and she was enveloped in a deathly stillness. She threw her arms to escape from the sarees which were holding her tightly. She heard another scream to her surprise. When she realized that the scream was her husband’s, she was on her bed drenched in sweat.
She looked here and there, puzzled. Then she realized that she was in her house in her own bed near her husband. It was her husband who screamed since she was beating him. He was trying to wake her up. She was very scared and told what she saw. He laughed at her and said that it was her dream. He also asked to check the wardrobe and he said, “See how many sarees you have! This is what happens if you stuff the wardrobe all the time. Please declutter soon or you will get such dreams more often.” Reluctant to believe her husband, she hesitantly opened the wardrobe and all her clothes fell on her feet. She realized that it was a weird dream and laughed out loud.
What a relief!
