Halloween

   Last year, late one night we were sitting at home doing particularly nothing worth remembering. The norm for late nights in Seattle is its dark and its quiet. Suddenly, there is a heavy knock on the door. We both fly out of the sofa where, till a moment ago we were comfortably relaxing. I quickly gather the clothes strewn on the sofa and other junk items and deposit it on the bedroom floor. Having cleared the living room, I walk back to Reni who is standing beside the door, peering through the peep hole.

   Before I proceed further, let me tell you that late night knocks on our door are something that we have had to deal with before. Our neighbors were in some kind of trouble with the police and we have had cops coming to check on them. Several times police cars would watch that apartment for a couple of minutes and then drive away. So I was very wary of the folks next door. At times we have also had friends of our neighbors knock on our doors late night by accident. By the time we open our door, they would have realized their mistake and gone into the right house without a word to us. Keeping all that in mind, I kept my voice down and mimed asking Reni who it was. He whispered he couldn't see a thing. Immediately I thought it must be someone who had accidentally knocked and had gone away. My second thought was someone was hiding by the door out of sight. I wanted to take a look too. From past experiences I knew that if I walked past the peep hole, it would obstruct the light and whoever was outside would know that someone was inside. So I bent down on all fours and crawled across.  Reni looks down and seeing me sitting down by the door, he whispers, " Someone has covered the key hole from the outside. I cant see anything because of that." My eyebrows shoot up in shock. Is the neighbor playing with us? Who could it be?

   My detective powers immediately kick in. I jump up and run silently towards the bed room. I part the blinds ever so slowly and look out to see if anyone is hiding. Though we cannot see the door from the window, I look hoping for some clue. Meanwhile I can hear Reni asking who is there but there is no response apart from more knocks. Moments later Reni joins me at the window and we both look out. I strain my ear hoping to pick up some noise. But to no avail, its eerily quiet outside except for the knocks. We both head back to the door. Though Reni continues to ask who is outside no one answers and the knocking continues. Finally after sometime Reni decides to be brave and starts to unlock the door. I step back from the door and move to the side. Reni too steps back from the door and extends his hand towards the door knob and starts to turn the knob.

   Inch by inch he opens the door, hiding behind the door partially and at the same time trying to see who is out there. I can hear noises outside but I am unable to see. I can only see Reni and his face shows surprise and then... he starts to smile. Startled, I walk towards the door and look out to see a hooded figure in black with the Scream mask and a huge knife in his hand.

Nikky emerges from behind the mask smiling.  Along with him is Sanoj grinning.
Happy halloween they say.

Fright walk..

  There are those, who go to horror movies/shows because they are not afraid of such things, and those, who are afraid, but even then like getting spooked. I belong to neither of those categories. I stay far far away from spooky stuff.  I am ashamed to admit, but I get startled by the most silliest of things like, if someone walks unexpectedly into a room. Since I am so adept at scaring myself on a daily basis, I don't fall prey to suggestions of horror movies/shows. But last week, under the joined force attack of a warm sunny day and a crowd of noisy people I found myself suggesting to Reni - "Lets try the Fright Walk".

  As a fright walk survivor, I can tell you that a Fright Walk is a dark maze with spooky noises, props and actors waiting to scare you at every turn. Its meant for kids basically. But when this story begins, I am not even imagining what I am getting myself into. My suggestion was immediately approved by the horror loving husband. However, once we went inside the building and the sun and noises faded, my fears surfaced. Unimaginable horrors were running through my head as we stood wondering how it would be. My heart was pounding incessantly, my ears felt hot and I felt faint. Both my hands were firmly clutched on to Reni, who I imagine, was busy checking out the beach scene outside. I longed to smile - which is what I do when I am petrified, but there were folks behind me and I didn't want them to think I was scared. I blinked a couple of times, took a deep breath and tried to focus on what the skeleton heads above me were advising that I do, once we stepped in. Half way through their talk, I gave up listening since I couldn't catch most of what they were saying. Instead, I adjusted my grip on Reni's arm and fought the lightheadness that seemed to come out of no where. Feeling the tight grip on his arm getting tighter, Reni looked at me and I did what I do best - I smiled. He smiled back reassuringly, patted my hand and seconds later we were going through the door.


    Inside, it was pitch black with a strategic lights placed here and there to guide us on. Black walls, black curtains, black ceiling and floor. I kept away from the walls as much as I could and hurried along. Noises floated above whispering things, blood covered bodies jumped out from behind doors and the path kept on twisting and turning endlessly. With Reni hurrying along and me behind pushing him to walk even faster, most of the motion sensor props got activated way after we crossed them. I saw Reni getting startled by his own reflection at one point but so far I really hadn't been scared. After having covered three quarters of the maze we finally began seeing the Exit signs posted. I was elated that the worst was over. It suddenly seemed to be a bit brighter and my heart rate was definitely sliding back to normal. Out of the blue, the last turn came up and as I rounded it expecting the exit door, someone crept alongside me and I jumped out of my own skin. The last mirror was unexpected and the fright walk lay claim to another victim frightened by their own reflection! We reached the exit almost immediately and the world was bright again.

  Once we stepped out, we passed the queue of those waiting to get in. I could see anxious faces looking at me, like I had been looking at others before. I walked away a zen like calmness on my face, as nonchalantly as if it were just a walk in park.

  Following the success of the Fright walk, I have even attempted a horror movie as well. It went better than expected. I screamed only once and jumped in fright only a couple of times. It does not mean that I have changed but my outlook has improved a tiny bit. But I still continue get startled when someone suddenly enters the room.

Etiquette

I was recently on a linking spree on the internet. Randomly reading stuff, following links from page to page. And I happened to reach a blog of a friend of mine. I was surprised that she wrote a blog, something that I never knew of. But what really made my eyes widen in surprise was that she had listed this blog on the blogs she follows. I even clicked on the blog name to make certain that it was really linking to my own blog. I never knew she had read mine let alone had become my follower! I have a sinking feeling that among several bloggers there is a code unwritten that if I follow your blog then you had better follow mine too. But till date I haven't followed anyone yet, nor do I ever think I will be able to.

     So my friend(s) if I have broken the blog commandment by not following your blog, slay me in your thoughts  but let me remain your friend. Put it down to the streak on insanity that I have.