d spirit

tws a luvly lazy aftrnoon.evryone had left for d weekend. very less souls wer left in d hostel. d unlucky few who cudnt escape,cos dey dint live clos by.d unluckier whose parents wudnt let dem come home 'in college u r suposd to b studyin on d weekends. time to make ur future' dey sed.N d unluckiest who dint hav enuf money to buy train tickets. And had too much self respect to go around asking for d bucks.

So der v wer, d four of us, gtin bored to death.D series wer approaching bt who has d faaltu time to study. N den u r not xpected to study on a weekend...are u.No.So dat option ws quickly put to rest.Even having a system in your room ws no relief. Hw many times can u possibly hear d same songs,watch d same movies,play d same games. Oh n us gals r not blessed wid d knowledge of understanding CS wid birth lik d guys. Der wrnt evn any new movies to b watchd in d city.Aftr a long unintrstd discussion bot wat s to be done we finaly decided on a fav subject.'Lets call d spirits' Anju suggested.'Oh yes' d oder three crooned. We had had many experiences of d same bfore bt only of watchin d procedure. D privelege of touching d coin once in a while wen d seniors got up to take a leak or had an imp fone call to make ws rare.So der v wer, trying to call d so called spirits.I had least hopes of seeing anythin worthwhile.

My room ws chosen for d deed ,it being d regular meeting point of our batchmates.All d oder rooms had seniors as wel.So mine ws d only juniors room. Tws d last on d first floor, to d left. Der wer big windows on two sides, since tws a corner room,a privelege therefore unavailable to d odr rooms. We chose a place on d floor,next to my bed and Anju strtd meticulously drawin a rectangle wid small grids on four sides.By d time tws done, I ws almost asleep. Shy shook me alive and wen i opened my eyes, d room ws pitch dark. Anju, Shy n Cher wer sitting on d floor around d rectangle wid a candle lit in between. The sun had amlost set n der ws a little moonlight streamin in thru d windows. Also d corridor lites had been switched on so dat sum 40 W bulblite came in thru d door edges. I quickly took my position on d floor. D small grids had been filled wid alphabets on three sides and numbers on one. Der ws a circle in d centre, a small one where d candle had been placed. Nw Anju tuk a one rupee coin, n tilted d candle so dat d hot wax wud fall on d coin, n den stuk it to d coin. Den d candle ws placed in d circle and a steel glass, mine, ws upturned on it. 'Come keep ur hands on d top'Shy urged. Reluctantly,me and Cher joined dem in keeping our finger tips on d top of d glass wich ws nw burning hot. Painfully, bearing d heat on our index fingers, v chanted'Good spirit passing by,pls come'.after wat seemed like eternity,i felt a tug on d glass. Shocked I opened my eyes. I saw d oders awestruck too.Only Anju ws calm, bt den she ws d brave one wen it came to handling spirits. We cud feel d coin strikin d bottom of d glass,pulling it out of d circle. I ws tryin to understand wedr tws for real or I ws imagining it.Anju ws in deep conversation wid d spirit.she enquired its whereabouts and den proceeded to ask questions bot our future. Most of d answrs it gave, by draggin itself on d letters,were haphazard. Anju sumhw had an xplanation to evrytin,she put togdr d jumbled letters to meaningful sentences. 'Wow,so dis rly wurks'I ws amazed.D converstaion went on for long. Shy enquired bot her love,marriage n wedr her parents wud consent to guy she chooses.Cher ws more intrestd
in knowin wedr she'll clear d cat.I had nodin particular to ask so I jus enquired bot random events in d future.Den Anju asked 'whos gona get placed first'. A T H I , d glass dragged itself on d letters.

I hurrayed and den ran out of d room,along d corridor, down d stairs,out of d hostel, to d mess,to pick up my glas of milk,for wich d warden had been impatiently brawling for ages. 'D milk s cold' I mumbled. She gave me one look in d eye n I turned around 'Its k. I like cold milk more.' She snatched d glass n tuk it to heat 'U gals dun let me sit down for a minute. Y cant u all come at d same time...'d AIR strtd. I picked up d steamin hot glass brimming wid milk,holding it on d eges,tugged my mobile n charger wid d odr hand, wich I had left for chargin in d mess dis aftrnoon, and den walkd towards d hostel building. Suddenly d whole place plunged into darknes. D power had gone off.I stood der wid d glas in one hand and mobile in d oder,decidin on d nxt course of action. First I thot of going back to d mess,den decided oderwise n switched on d torch of my cel n edged towards d building.As i climbd d last step of d stairs, I saw someone wid wild long curly hair open running towards me screaming. Shocked,I dropped my milk and ran down d stairs, d figure closely followin me,out of d hostel n den i saw tws Shy. Swearing at her,I asked bot d oder two. 'D spirit s still in der. Its not goin. We hav to go n help dem' she cried. All d courage dat I'd summoned , melted away wen I opened d door of my room,Shy at my toes. D poor two wer sitting on d floor, deir fingers on d glass chanting'good spirit,pls go'. D spirit refused to listen n d glass continued to move randomly across d letters,drivin us crazy.

In a moment of pure impulse, Shy shot forward, grabbed d glas n d candle,and threw it out of d window. 'Shit' screamed Anju. 'Stupid. D spirit wun go lik dat. Twil b in dis room'. D power came almost instantly. 'Tanx a ton. Nw i'll hav to change clothes in my room knwin a spirit s watchin me'. I swore. ' Wat if he s young n gud lukin' Shy retorted. 'Hmmm... dat wud b nice'. Evryone strtd laughin. 'anju, r u sure u dint drag d glass' Cher asked. 'No i dint. I swear'. Anju shook her head n pinched her throat. Der wsnt any furder speculation since evryone ws tired and we all
hopped on to d bed to sleep.

So der d spirit stayed wid us in d room,watchin us bathe,clothe,sleep n dream. But how d glas moved n wedr d spirit actually came ,still remains a mystery.D only ting wich tuk me by surprise ws d fact dat I ws actually d first to get placed in my batch. And wel der wer sum oder coincidences too. Coincidence or not, who knoes..