Riddhi Singhania, Class X D
It was dark when we got down from the train. The place was totally strange to us. Gopi, who had promised to be at the station, was nowhere in sight. The empty platform seemed to go endlessly in either direction and there was no sign of life, except for us, a bunch of mortals, standing sheepishly, waiting for their travel manager, Gopi.
The Shahpur Railway Station had a reputation as the least crowded station of all, yet our hopes were raised, as our eyes lingered upon an old sign board which read ‘Waiting Room’.
Immediately, I took the lead, sure enough to find a good place to sleep, unaware of how the situation would develop. ‘Meow!’ came that ominous voice of a cat from nowhere. The sudden rustling of leaves sent chills down my spine. Step-by-step, walking steadily, we reached the waiting room to find that empty too! I pushed the door open. Creak….. That reminded me of those haunted houses we talk about in stories.
‘Aaaaa….!’ A loud shriek came from inside the room. ‘I told you, don’t wear your purple shirt today. Now see, bad luck won’t spare us tonight!’ my superstitious aunt scolded my uncle. Suddenly, hurrying footsteps filled the whole room and a howling split my ears. Surely, there was someone in the room. ‘I won’t leave you… I am hungry,’ came the whistling voice of a witch!
‘Run!’ I finally shouted, but then I froze with my hands up in the air, my mouth wide open, and the lights switched on. a tall shadow came from behind the chairs, disclosing a weedy man with a laptop in his hands mumbling under his breath, ‘Sorry …. Fell asleep while watching a film…’ and we, dumbfounded, could say nothing but, ‘Gopi, you…..!’
