It was the cat that drew our attention to the old abandoned house by the road , on our way to school one day. It was a large , brown tabby cat that kept licking , washing itself incessantly . Hearing us, it leapt on the low boundary wall , and stared at us with its malevolent yellow eyes, as if saying “Shoo ! Off you go ! Don’t disturb my wash !” After having won the staring competition , it relaxed on its haunches , and resumed biting its paws and licking them clean .
“You know , cats are said to be incarnations of evil spirits . You know that , don’t you?” My friend Supi's eyes were fearfully round .She was Supriya, supi for short , and very superstitious.
“Yup. Only black ones . This one is brown.” I tried to laugh her fears away.
That evening , on our way back , the cat was still there . This time , it had plonked itself on the doormat at the front door, and was snoozing .
After that , it was a daily ritual . We would see the cat , it would stop foraging , cleaning and stare at us . Then resume doing whatever it was doing . What was remarkable is that the cat won't budge from the overgrown lawn and the front yard of the house . It had a proprietorial air about it .
"Some one must be feeding it ." One day my friend postulated.
"Come on ! It is an old abandoned house. Who could possibly live here?"
"Lets peek !" Supi was suddenly adventurous.
"It is not polite to peek into houses by the roadside. No one taught you that!" I hissed in righteous indignation.
"Oh come on !" Supi began running , pigtails flying , satchel slamming against her slight frame.
Before I could even say "Shh" she had scrambled over the low boundary wall and was running across the lawn overgrown with weeds and grass. To me , it looked like the prototype of the "Monster House."
Propping her elbows on a dusty windowsill, She wiped the lowermost square of the nearly opaque windowpane clean with her sleeve, and excitedly shouted at me to look, pointing in with her finger, then froze.
I hurried next to her , and propped my face and gasped.
A lady ,statue like, with a white pallor on the face sat next to the window. Absolutely still . Hearing us, she moved her head , in inches , like a rusty clockwork doll, and turned towards us and grinned.It was a ghastly face with gray pallid skin taut on bones, and few sickly strands for hair. We both screamed simultanoeusly and the apparition shrieked in laughter.
We kept running for a fair distance on the now dark road , pale street lamps throwing our ghostly shadows on the road.
We were too busy to notice being followed .
Noiselessly, the cat speeded up behind us . We threw our satchels on the ground and ran for our lives.
It was the most fearsome moment of my life ever.
Supi's father retrieved our bags later and offered to give us a lift to and fro school for few days , till we found our courage back. We were also given sound verbal beratings on "what happens to nosy children "
After our incident came to light , the house attracted lot of attention . Supi's father being the DM , had some one look in. What they found was singularly interesting.
All the grimy windows of the house had one such "human clockwork doll" sitting at the window. It would start shrieking in laughter as soon as the head was turned , by a remote switch , probably . The house was broken into and was found to be a facade for covert drug smuggling.The cache was confiscated and the gang behind it was busted.
Supi's father sat on the verandah, ice cubes tinkling in his glass of mandatory evening sundowner, and smiled at us , "nosy children " with glee. "Well, for once your nosiness came in handy !"
"But papa, what about the cat ?"
Supi squirmed on her chair .
"The cat , was their guard. To keep people away . You were right about some one feeding it !"
"Why would they keep people away, sir ?" I asked
"Because , cats are considered incarnations of evil spirits." Supi's father took one long sip and we looked at each other and smiled.
“You know , cats are said to be incarnations of evil spirits . You know that , don’t you?” My friend Supi's eyes were fearfully round .She was Supriya, supi for short , and very superstitious.
“Yup. Only black ones . This one is brown.” I tried to laugh her fears away.
That evening , on our way back , the cat was still there . This time , it had plonked itself on the doormat at the front door, and was snoozing .
After that , it was a daily ritual . We would see the cat , it would stop foraging , cleaning and stare at us . Then resume doing whatever it was doing . What was remarkable is that the cat won't budge from the overgrown lawn and the front yard of the house . It had a proprietorial air about it .
"Some one must be feeding it ." One day my friend postulated.
"Come on ! It is an old abandoned house. Who could possibly live here?"
"Lets peek !" Supi was suddenly adventurous.
"It is not polite to peek into houses by the roadside. No one taught you that!" I hissed in righteous indignation.
"Oh come on !" Supi began running , pigtails flying , satchel slamming against her slight frame.
Before I could even say "Shh" she had scrambled over the low boundary wall and was running across the lawn overgrown with weeds and grass. To me , it looked like the prototype of the "Monster House."
Propping her elbows on a dusty windowsill, She wiped the lowermost square of the nearly opaque windowpane clean with her sleeve, and excitedly shouted at me to look, pointing in with her finger, then froze.
I hurried next to her , and propped my face and gasped.
A lady ,statue like, with a white pallor on the face sat next to the window. Absolutely still . Hearing us, she moved her head , in inches , like a rusty clockwork doll, and turned towards us and grinned.It was a ghastly face with gray pallid skin taut on bones, and few sickly strands for hair. We both screamed simultanoeusly and the apparition shrieked in laughter.
We kept running for a fair distance on the now dark road , pale street lamps throwing our ghostly shadows on the road.
We were too busy to notice being followed .
Noiselessly, the cat speeded up behind us . We threw our satchels on the ground and ran for our lives.
It was the most fearsome moment of my life ever.
Supi's father retrieved our bags later and offered to give us a lift to and fro school for few days , till we found our courage back. We were also given sound verbal beratings on "what happens to nosy children "
After our incident came to light , the house attracted lot of attention . Supi's father being the DM , had some one look in. What they found was singularly interesting.
All the grimy windows of the house had one such "human clockwork doll" sitting at the window. It would start shrieking in laughter as soon as the head was turned , by a remote switch , probably . The house was broken into and was found to be a facade for covert drug smuggling.The cache was confiscated and the gang behind it was busted.
Supi's father sat on the verandah, ice cubes tinkling in his glass of mandatory evening sundowner, and smiled at us , "nosy children " with glee. "Well, for once your nosiness came in handy !"
"But papa, what about the cat ?"
Supi squirmed on her chair .
"The cat , was their guard. To keep people away . You were right about some one feeding it !"
"Why would they keep people away, sir ?" I asked
"Because , cats are considered incarnations of evil spirits." Supi's father took one long sip and we looked at each other and smiled.
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