Forgotten Friend
" Hello, is this Saptarshi?"- ' Yes, who ' s this?" A loud laugh banged my right ear, making me lift up the phone from there. " Oh, you wouldn ' t recognize me. We were friends before. Now you just exploit me, forgetting even my existence."- " I ' m sorry, I don ' t understand ". My timid voice trembled like a dog in the winter nights. " You will, in a few moments." S i l e n c e. M y u n w a n t e d acquaintance disconnected. Few seconds passed. I was just star ting to think again, but something relieved me of that pain. I could see my hairs standing on end, as I heard the door bang. One. T w o. a l o u d t h i rd. � e n t h e footsteps of somebody running down the �oor. My legs are numb. " Who ' s it?" I somehow opened up my dry, choked throat. No answer. I lifted my legs from the bed. Came near to the door. Put my ear to it. A loud banging sound again came, but from the other side. �e window. Someone is doing the same thing to my window. I don ' t know how, but this time my fear transformed into a violent anger. I shouted with all strength," Who ' s this coward? Show your face. Come over to the door. �is time I ' ll open and welcome you with something nice!" Silence, again. I came out of my room, ran down the �oor, came out of hostel. �ere was no creature outside my window. �is is really strange. And all of this had to happen when all my neighbors in the hostel are out on vacation. An owl hooted from the tree nearby. I returned to my room.
�is time, I lost it. �e door is locked. From inside. I banged very loudly. One. Two. A loud third. I ' ll teach this devil a lesson, I promised myself. I ran down to the window, without waiting for any answer from inside. My �st Nearly smashed the glass w i n d o w. A l o u d s o u n d w a s produced, with some pain in my hand. Suddenly, something happened that I don ' t think any mundane mind could explain.
A loud, angry voice shouted from inside- " Who ' s this coward? Show your face. Come over to the door. �is time I ' ll open and welcome you with something nice!"
�e same words, the same tone, same prosody, same pitch.
It ' s my own voice.
I felt my gut crunching inside, my heart palpitating ferociously. Sweat soaked my shirt, and I felt like I ' d fall down. I have to do something. What ' s happening exactly? I don ' t know anymore. My legs carried me to the door again. �is time, it ' s open. I entered, locked the door from inside. I sat down on the bed, lifelessly.
�e door banged again loudly. No mistake. One. Two. A third too.