What Ravi Saw

Out of the blue Ravi and it was always him that gave us the fright. We jumped and shouted. He shrieked and screamed in a terrified manner. He screamed, "AH…. There! On the tree! Look!… Look!… A GHOST…"
That was the signal we had been waiting for to sprint again. Without looking back we ran the two hundred metres across the dreaded cemetery like the wind. As we were doing so, I thought I heard the laughter; a chilly and uncanny laughter coming from the direction Ravi had mentioned earlier. Was it a joke; my imagination or just one of us laughing in fear? Up till today I still cannot explain. I did not dare to ask my buddies until we were safely out of the place.
We were panting and hissing and it took quite a while before we could gather enough courage to ask one another what it was all about.
Guna said in between breadth, " Hey, what happened? What did you see?"
Ravi also in exhaustion said, "Oh, very scary. I saw a figure; a ghost on a tree. A dark thing sitting on a tree."
Gopal interrupted, "Yes, I also saw something. It was waving its hand at me. Did you see it, Koong?
I replied softly, "No, but I thought I heard something, a laughter, a terrible laughter."
I then asked the other four if anyone of them had heard the strange and uncanny laughter.
"Me too. I also heard that. A terrible laughter." Thaila added.
That was the last straw. Gopal finally said, "No more. I'm not coming here again; never again."
All of us agreed by nodding. We then promised never to venture into that area again even if it was the shortest possible route. Once bitten, twice shy.

Better go home, guys!

Guna said, "Hey, guys, let's throw all the rest of the worms into the pond. Why must we waste the food? Maybe if we come again the next time, they will remember us."
"Good idea," we said.
So we dumped all the remaining worms into the pond as quickly as possible because back in our minds there was only one fear; the thought of going all the way back home by crossing the cemetery.
Ghosts. Spirits of the dead. Shadows. Dark shapes. Strange noises and all the things of the night! We had to cross the dreaded path to get home.
Hurriedly we walked; at first in brisk walking steps, then to a jog and finally into a sprint. We were not shouting but a kind of whisper because we were really scared. Getting nearer to the cemetery, we were exhausted. We could not run any more. So we slowed to a walk; huddled close together. No one dared to be left behind or near to the tombstones.
It was so silent that we could hear the other's heart beat. Doom! Doom! Doom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Sweat flowed freely down our backs and our hands. We did not realise the weight of the fish on the reeds. We had completely forgotten about those poor fish dangling there. It was the fear that had all of us transfixed.
The fear now was not one would feel sitting at home and watching a really scary movie but one of real terrifying sensation embedded in us. We walked slowly in a group all huddled up; not one brave enough to walk near the tombstones. Although it was dark, the moon and the stars provided a little illumination to guide us. We could still make out the strange shapes that were distinct in graveyards; the tombstones. Once in a while a breeze brought a nice fragrance of flowers; or was it. We were expecting for a sound or something to appear or to spring out. There was none. Only our ears were pricked for anything strange.