Silhouettes

Shadows melt into shadows as dusk deepens into night. The stillness embalms old wounds. The rustle of leaves in the garden is a known song. Birds have downed their chirps in deep slumber. I am alone in my flat.

Preparing dinner in the kitchen I have an uncanny feeling of someone watching over me. I turn around to just witness a swish of something white passing by. In the dimly lit hall quietude resides.

Coming back to the kitchen my ears catch the softness of a footfall. My heart misses a beat. Is the front door tightly bolted ? I check it out.

Dinner is a hurried affair. The clatter of cutlery echoes through the emptiness.Time to retire to bed. As I move towards the bedroom the curtain separating the washroom from the hall waves a little as though invisible fingers have  run over it in a quaint, playful rhythm. I shiver a little. A cold draught must have crept in from an unlatched window.

I take a stroll down the hall checking, re-checking every  door and window. Again an odd feeling of someone watching, someone just stepping back into the dark recesses   of the kitchen, no, the bathroom as I pass by. Aah! I pinch myself. Am I dreaming ? No. Then ?

Receding under the quilt I make a last effort at reasoning.  I dial my sister’s number from my mobile. “Di…there’s someone in my flat…” I rush on. As I pause to inhale in the midst of my strange narrative she laughs it out, “Must be the effect of the horror movie you saw in the afternoon…” Yes, I was at the PVR with her, watching this comic horror film in which both horror and comedy were in equal proportions.

I try to laugh it out with her. Time to say good nigh to my imaginary fears…yet. Creaking of the door just then and I am wide awake. Tossing and turning in bed waiting for the night to give way to dawn. Tearing the silence of the night, floats in the tinkle of melodious notes. Someone’s playing the piano, not very far away, but from the room next.

Who?

Pic: From Google