A Shadow In The Dark
As Julia was getting ready to go to bed, she heard a loud cry from her son Alan’s room. No sooner did she hear it than she rushed into his room. In the room she found Alan who had turned white with fear. He was trembling. She held him close to her and consoled him . Alan told her that he had been watching a horror movie before she came in and that he was horror stricken by it. Julia immediately switched off the ‘telly’ and took him to her room.
Alan was given a glass of water. He felt relieved. He said to his mother,” Mom, I want to sleep with you and dad . I’m scared to sleep alone.” Julia replied,” Ghosts are not real, Alan. They only exist in movies and stories. You are a grown up boy now. So you shouldn’t be sleeping with your parents anymore.” Alan was saddened by her words and started crying and didn’t stop until his father- Williams came in. Williams asked him, “Boy, why are you crying? Watched another horror movie?” He replied,” yes, and mom is not letting me to sleep with you guys.” Williams said, “OK. you can sleep here , but don’t make this a habit.”
Alan’s face lit up at his dad’s response. Soon he was in bed with his parents. While sleeping he had a dream. In the dream he was standing near a window. As he looked outside he saw something moving through the garden. There was a shadowy figure doing something. As he looked more carefully he understood that the figure was wearing a black dress. The figure in black dress was making certain feeble sounds as well. At this moment he woke up from his sleep. Nevertheless to reassure himself he walked to the window and looked out through the window. He couldn’t see anyone or anything, however, he did hear some footsteps.
Alan became a bit frightened again. But he gathered courage and decided to go out and see for himself what was happening. So he quietly took a torch and stepped out of the house. In the garden he saw the same figure which he saw in his dream. He held tightly to a strong stick which he had picked up as he was coming downstairs; and moved forward. He lunged at this figure and hit it with the stick. It cried out loud. That’s when Alan realized that it was a man. It was their gardener!!!
He had come to water the plants( apparently the gardener had been doing it for a long time though Alan had realized it only then). Alan profusely apologized to the Gardner and went back to his bed. Laying on his bed, he remembered his mother’s words: “Ghosts are not real; they are just fictional characters. “He smiled and slept.
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