THE HOUR OF GHOSTLY VISITS

Bua, our aunt, had come to stay B with us from the village for three days, and I was thrilled because her visits always meant a treasure trove of stories.

- Shikha Gola Prajapati

This time, with Halloween, the ghost festival, approaching in three days, my sister and I eagerly insisted that bua tell us ghost stories. For three nights, before we went to bed, she delighted us with new and thrilling tales. Some stories made us laugh with their funny ghosts, while others were scary enough to give us goosebumps.

Today was Halloween. Mum and Dad were taking bua back to her village, and they mentioned over the phone that they might not be back until after midnight.

I turned to my sister and said, "It's Halloween! How about we watch a horror movie? It'll be fun." My sister looked at me with a hint of concern.

"At this hour? Aren't you afraid?" she asked.

"Come on, didn't bua tell us that ghosts only exist in stories, not real life?" I answered with a confident smile.

Around 1 AM, after the movie ended, my sister went to her room. I turned off the light and went to bed, but the frightening stories bua had shared and the eerie scenes from the movie started to replay in my mind. Fearful, I quickly turned the light back on and sat up in bed. The terror I felt was so intense that sleep eluded me. With mum and dad still hours away, I was left alone with my mind racing with terrifying thoughts.

With school exams approaching in a few days, I decided to pass time and ease my fear by studying.