On A Rainy Night

It was in early eighties. Sudha lived with her parents in the outskirts of Chennai city. The price of the land was cheap there and her father had purchased a plot there and had constructed a house. Her father retired from service three years ago. She had a sister who was married and lived in Mumbai. Her mother had gone to Mumbai as it was delivery time for her sister and she intended to stay there for a few months. Sudha and her father lived alone in the house. The area was developing and there were very few houses which were quite far from each other.

Sudha was good looking. She was working in a firm which was about 5 kms. from her house. As there were no buses or public transport, she used to walk to her office and back. It was the first week of November and it had started raining sometimes heavily and sometimes mildly. One evening when she was about to leave the office, her father called. He told that very heavy rain was predicted in the evening and night and offered to come to her office and accompany her to home. She didn’t want to trouble him and said that she would take an auto and come home. Her father advised her to agree to whatever amount demanded by the auto driver. She agreed. Just then her manager called her and asked to attend an important work. She called her father from her office phone (since those days there were no mobile phones and only a very few houses had land line phones) and informed him that she would be coming a little late and requested him not to worry. She finished the work and when she started, it was already 7.00 p.m. Her manager offered to drop her but she declined politely. She then came out. It was very dark and it had started raining. She waited for auto but no auto was seen nearby. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, she decided to walk home. There was a burial ground on the way. She started walking as fast as she could. When she neared the burial ground, the street lights went off. She became a bit worried and started walking faster. Just then, she had a feeling that someone was following her. She was so scared to turn back and she almost ran. The footsteps behind her also started walking faster. She became so scared that she was able to hear her heart beat. Though it was cold and raining profusely, she was sweating with fright. A corpse was burning in the burial ground and that made the surroundings even more eerie. She started chanting some slokas and walked as fast as she could. When she was almost near her home, the street lights came on. She was relieved a little. She ran to the entrance of her house and started knocking. “Appa, appa, please open the door” she shouted.

“How can the door be opened when it is locked”? someone was saying from behind. She turned back and to her great relief, saw her father. “Where had you been in this rain” she asked her father. “I got worried about you and came to your office. I was standing in a nearby shop and I saw you waiting for the auto. Before I could come and meet you, you started walking. You were walking so fast, almost running, I couldn’t catch you, though I was coming some feet away from you” he said. “Oh, then it was you who was following me? I was so scared that someone was following me and so I almost ran and came home” she said. “Don’t you worry my dear. If anyone dares coming near you, I will just smash them”. He sounded so confident though he was very weak and looked tired. Her love for her father grew even more and she said “Oh appa, your intention to protect me will always save me”. Saying this, she hugged her father and thanked God for giving her such a wonderful father.

 

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You can please read my short story "where is Balram" which is in a different genre