The Day I Saw The Ghost

"Srinidhi Ranganathan" is my name and I don't believe in ghosts. I was looking for a place to stop by during Christmas time. It was snowing heavily as I walked on the ice-covered street with a bag hanging on my shoulder. I suddenly saw a house that had a light glowing in the distance. Was it a haunted house? It looked like one, after all. I went near it and knocked on its door, but no one answered. I stood there with my heart beating loudly. I believed that no ghosts exist on earth and I may not find any. It was only like a boogeyman that we sometimes see in our dreams.

I spotted a window, in which the light was glowing. I opened the door and walked into the house. The cold air fanned my face. And the experience I got by walking inside the house was unforgettable. As I walked further, I didn't find anyone. However, I had seen a light, right?

Maybe, yes? Strangely, the further I walked, I got tense. I felt that someone was following me. I didn't want to, but I had to look back. Whoever that was, was as fast as a ghost. It vanished. Again, I started walking. Was it my imagination? I walked up to a door when I felt that someone was about to jump on me from behind. Who could it be? It was just my imagination, right? I opened the door and my ear got the gush of music…

I looked back. No one was there.

When I looked back again, I was shocked to see a lady with white hair, wearing a sweater. There were glasses stuck on her face, so I couldn't see her eyes, at first and then I did. I was pushed by intense pressure, which was my mind trying to explain to me that she was real. With fear, I went near the lady and wanted to talk to her, but she said, "You are the only one who can see me, Srinidhi". There was a caption on her back, "I am Komal".

"Why are you here, Komal", I said as I took the letters of her caption. She didn't answer.

What is happening here, I thought. Am I seeing things? Am I hallucinating or is she real? I wanted answers, but the lady said something that was unreal. She said, "Come with me, dear". She held my hand and we were walking in a dark tunnel. After a few minutes, we saw a light. After walking towards it for some minutes, we came out of it. It was so bright that my eyes were burning. The light was so bright that I could not see her. I closed my eyes for a while and then opened them again. There was a big door in front of me. Through the big door, I could see a painting. In the painting, there was Komal clad in luxurious and fashionable clothes, holding a baby who was having a doll in her hand. I came to the conclusion that the lady was indeed Komal - as I recognized her by the glasses.

"This is a portrait of me with my baby", the lady said. Suddenly, I remembered the portrait hanging on the wall in the storeroom of my house along with the other portraits of my ancestors. The lady said, "I am your aunt. I was a part of your family, but now I cannot meet you often. Because we have had a tragic past. My only child, my daughter, went missing.

Ten years ago, we were living in this house. When my daughter was born, there was a lot of celebration. Everyone was happy to see the baby at last. The next day, we could hear the baby's laughter from inside the house. My daughter used to play with a doll. My husband was very fond of his child too. Everyone was happy and joyful. One fine day, a wicked witch arrived in this house during the night of New Year's Eve. It was a dreadful time for us and especially for the baby too. The witch kidnapped my daughter and took her by force, without any reason. I never managed to see my baby or the witch ever again. For years, I was roaming the streets like a madwoman. My husband married another woman and he didn't visit me again. Every year, I would get stronger, madder and killed people who visited this house. The house you are in now became cursed on that day the witch took my baby."

Komal stopped speaking. I don't believe in the Ghost stories at all. I now came to believe that there exists the spirit of the dead. The lady who calls herself my aunt - her words had shaken me. The front door opened, all of a sudden. I closed my eyes and opened them. The lady ghost was nowhere to be seen. After searching all the places, I slowly walked outside with a heavy heart.

It looked like she didn't exist, and I was confused really. This incident was all like a hallucination. But I was excited to know how and why I could see a ghost. I didn't have the answer.

What really happened to the wicked witch and the lady's baby? Is the lady ghost really my dead aunt? These questions pondered in my head for a little while.

I have decided to come to this house every day after these strange happenings and experiences of mine, to see if I could talk to the ghost again and I definitely will. They call me Legend 'Srinidhi Ranganathan' and I have started to now believe in ghosts, after all.

When I reached my house, I took a bath and came to the living room and opened my bag. I was startled to see a doll in my bag. It was the same doll that the lady ghost's baby in the portrait was holding.

​To my amazement, the doll jumped from the bag, walked to me and said something that made me feel the real horror of the situation. The doll said with a crooked smile, "Hello Dear. Take me to my mother. I want to see her now." A split second later after hearing the horrific voice of the doll, I fell down and fainted.