The Old Post Office

oday, Roop arrived at Nanaji’s house with his parents.

- Indrani Nag

The house was very old but beautiful, a little way off was the bank of the river. Near it was a large ground and a sports club.

Rishaan, the oldest son of Roop’s uncle, had very similar tastes to Roop. Roop was younger than Rishaan and studied in class seven and was also a boy scout in school. Rishaan, however, was in the eleventh class, studying science. Roop greatly admired Rishaan bhaiya, who was equally good at studies and sports. He even dreamed of reaching the far-off solar system. Roop was proud of him. Bhaiya always said, “I don’t know the spelling of fear in any language.”

That day, Rishaan bhaiya came home with the Man of the Match prize after a cricket match.

Later that night, Rishaan told Roop that during lunch after the match, the captain of the other team suddenly started speaking to him in front of everyone. “Do you think you’re some smart hero? Try spending a night in that old post office. Then I'll accept that you're a real hero. Hairy hands, long nails, flickering lights... No one has ever managed to stay there the whole night. Anyone who has gone there has fainted. Boxer Ricky went once, and something pushed him from the terrace in the dark—he broke his arm. Luckily, he survived.”

Rishaan said, “He challenged me, and I’ve accepted it. Now I must find out the truth about that place!”

"I'll come with you, too,” Roop insisted.

“No, no. You’re too young. I'll go alone and record a video to show everyone,” Rishaan said.