She Never Left

Deadline for the submission of a magazine was 2 days away and Sovan still had no clue what story to submit this time. He wanted something more than the usual blogs. “Hey Sovan, come in my cabin right now!” his supervisor summoned him. He worked in a reputed newspaper company. “You have performed well but we still have not received any submissions from you yet! Try to understand Sovan, we expect a big thing from you” explained Mr. Agarwal to which he responded “Yes Sir, you don’t worry at all. I’m on it and I guarantee you won’t be dissatisfied” he consoled his supervisor.

In this thought, he enquired for a few haunted places nearby, he came to know from his sources that in a nearby village it is heard and rumored that a spirit is seen to be haunting at night. Although he did not have any believes in this stuff, still as an entertainment he made his mind to submit his writing on this. For investigation he alone headed to this village named Gobalpur taking a local train.

“Sir, can you please guide me to the direction of school road?” Sovan asked for help after he reached the village. “You just need to take a rickshaw from that gate (pointing towards the main gate of the station) and ask to drop you at Gobalpur”. So he did and headed to the guided direction. Reaching there, he saw the place was quiet deserted that day. Once he enquired the same to the rickshaw puller, he was informed “Today there is a fair in the market place where most of the people have gone, hence the roads are less populated. This is a big fair that is held for many years in this village.”

Reaching at the main school building there, Sovan started checking around for hidden or mysterious things which may help him composing a good story. Seeing his approach towards a building, a local girl came up to him and asked “Sir, are you looking for someone or something?” “Hi, I’m a writer and I’m searching for a story for my company. I’ve heard about the popularity of this place so was checking if I can find something good to write about.” To his words, the girl thought for a moment and greeted him “Of course, you are welcome here. You can take a look anywhere you like”. She added, “I do know a place that you can have a look at and you might also like it for your story”. “Sure, that would be great! Where is it?” being excited, Sovan asked. “It is near the pond of our village but it I can’t take you right now as I’ve to leave. You can meet me here at 12 am and I will show that place, as I’d be able to come once the people at my home sleeps”. “Sure, I understand” he answered remembering the pressure on him for submission, the risk has to be taken. “I’ll be here by 12. Thank you so much” he confirmed and the girl left.

Checking in a local lodge, Sovan got freshened and ready for his assignment. With a torch in his hand, he reached the same place as told by the girl 15 minutes prior to time. Due to the excitement and thrill for the new place, every second was like unending time to him. His patience started to reduce every moment as the time rolled on, however it was almost 1 am and still no trace of the girl. “How could I even trust a girl that also to meet at night?” Just about to leave, Sovan heard footsteps coming from the other side. The girl had finally arrived to his shocking and relieving eyes. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for more than an hour now.” The girl apologizing him explained “Due to the fair, it took some time for everyone to sleep so I had to come out a bit late. Come, let me show you the place before it gets further late.” They both headed towards the pond which is in the opposite direction of the school building.

“Do you often come here so late at night? Sorry I didn’t catch your name, I’m Sovan” he asked on their way as he thought of her bravery. “Yeah, you can say so. Being alone is usually the best time for a person” smiled the girl, “My name is Radhika.” “So do you study?” “Yeah I used to, till 11th grade in the school in front of which we had met. But due to some situation, I could not continue anymore.”

They both reached the pond side, the surrounding was absolutely silent. “Here Sir, you can have a good story to write” she advised him. Seeing the place and the water, he got confused, “I’m sorry how is this place good for me? I’m not a nature lover kind of a person nor am I here to sketch a painting”. Gradually losing his patience and getting irritated after seeing the whole surrounding, Sovan now finally outburst, “Listen Radhika, I’m not here for any tour purpose. I’m searching for a story which I need to submit at the earliest. Kindly help me out or do not waste my time!”

All of a sudden, there was a shout from the opposite side of the pond behind the trees. Losing focus here on the conversation, Sovan got startled and looked at that direction and went nearer to the water to see what was happening. From the opposite side of the pond, he could see 4 guys were dragging a 5th person out of the woods. “What is going on here?” shocked Sovan asked the girl and saw tears rolling down her chicks as she stared at them in a frozen state. Realizing something horrible was going to happen, he started running towards them while shouting for help in the same time.

“Stop right there! What are you all doing?” he shouted while reaching their spot from the opposite direction. The 4 guys seemed to have tied up a girl and dragging her to the water. While the girl was constantly fighting back to the guys’ inspite of she being tied up as she had realized their force and strength was leading to end her life. “Don’t let go of her Gaurav” one of them shouted while the other one shouted “Madhav, get on your hold stiffly”. “She is really a headache to us, we have to end her Pradip” commented another guy as they reached the water body. “It’s time to say goodbye girl, you should have never messed with Deva” smiled one of them wickedly and all the 4 guys threw the girl to the middle position of the pond.

Sovan just reached the spot seeing the girl being thrown. Inspite of taking any action to the guys, he jumped right away into the water to save the girl from being drowned. With his full effort, he went full inside to find the drowning girl. In the meanwhile, the local people gathered by the pond hearing his shouting with lights with them. “Who is there?” shouted the village people. He was trying with his full strength to swim into the depths of the water to find her but was unable to do so with the lack of oxygen and light inside. Despite his full effort, unfortunate Sovan came upwards and swam back to the side. “Please help! Please help the girl, she is drowning” in a drained state, he came and pleaded the people who gathered there.

Everyone was shocked and surprised to see an unknown guy in that state in the middle of the night. “Who are you boy and what are doing here?” asked one of them while the other asked “Who is drowning?” Too exhausted and excited Sovan was not sure whether to explain the situation or dive back into the water again. “Calm down boy, tell me what happened” asked an aged person holding him and trying to make him sit. “Where did the guys go? They dragged that girl here and threw her in the water. We must save the girl” he responded in a startled manner. “There is no one here boy. Calm down! Tell me why did you go in the water?” the aged man asked while the others stood aside watching the incident. He then took a moment to recollect himself and then explained the whole incident that happened starting with the girl who guided him to this place for his story and how he came to the pond and what he saw at the opposite side which compelled him to dive into the water. “We didn’t hear any such voice except yours” commented somebody. “Who were the guys you said who dragged the girl?” asked a person standing within the crowd. “There were 4 guys that I saw, I think there” he responded and after recollecting from his memory he added, ”Gurav, Madhav, Pradip and Deva. They were referring to each other by these names.” “What is the girl like who guided you here and whom you saw drowning?” the aged man asked. “Due to the darkness I could not see any of their faces clearly nor do I know her name. However, the girl who guided and came with me here is a young girl. She used to study in the school of the school road”. “What was the name of the girl?” asked the old man to which he replied “She said her name is Radhika I believe, she is approximately 5 feet, white skin”.

On hearing this, the people gathered were shocked and started whispering at each other. “Why, what happened?” he asked seeing their reaction. “This cannot be true boy, are you making this up?” asked the old man. “Sorry I didn’t get you Sir, why should I do that? I just told you the incident that panicked me” Sovan justified himself. To his convincing words, the old man replied, “She was my daughter! We had lost her 12 years ago in this pond itself.” Adding on this, a person from the crowd commented “It seems, she never left!”

**end**