The unwelcomed guest
This story happened twenty years back in a small village located at Purulia in West Bengal. This village was very sparsely populated and had a scarcity of amenities and basic needs. The people residing in this village were happy with their minimalistic life. They loved their evening gatherings under a tree and were happy spending hours gossiping. The small population was acquainted with each other. They treated one another as a family member. It appeared they all were happy with the limited access to luxuries and were not in a hurry to access new comforts of life.
As time passed slowly and gradually new facilities were streaming into this village connecting them with modern amenities and fulfilling their basic needs. Keeping in mind the villager's financial needs, a new branch of a bank opened in an old two-story building in this remote village. Some local staff was also appointed for the job in this bank. As it was a new bank that's why for supervision, a senior bank employee visited this bank. He came from Kolkata and had to stay there until his work gets over. Now it was the responsibility of the local people to take care of all his needs. Though he was here to take care of some official matters he was considered to be a guest of the village. As there weren't any hotels or guest houses in this small underdeveloped village, a small vacant thatched house was cleaned and a cot was kept inside the room.
In another corner of that room, a water pot was kept. There was a guy who was given the responsibility of bringing and serving food. He was asked to serve him food thrice daily and take care of all his needs. It was not an up-market place. As per the standards of the village, this thatched house was the best option. With lots of effort, this place was temporarily organized for the bank supervisor to stay for some days. Everything was set and done. The senior bank employee arrived on the planned date. He directly reached the bank with his belongings. He spent nearly two hours there. After that, he was taken to the thatched house. The bank employee was well prepared for the hardships. He knew all about the village and had an idea that he will have to do adjustments here. Though he was not happy to see the thatched house as there were no other options so with a heavy heart he kept his belongings in a corner. After some time the caretaker served him dinner. He had plans to explore the village but while he was eating it started to rain. There was no other option left for him rather than staying in his room. He dropped his idea and thought of reading a book.
The caretaker took leave and the visitor grabbed his book and went inside his bed. He was all alone in that room. It was raining heavily and a dim light was lit near his bed. He had hardly read a few pages, and to his sheer surprise, there was a power cut. Oh my god, what a bad day it is, what will I do now? he thought. The residents of that place were habituated to power cuts, but the visitor was not. He thought that as it is a daily problem of power cuts here so let's check out if he could find something in the room. He was delighted to find a lantern and some candles kept for urgency. As it was pitch dark he thought of lighting a candle in his room. Anyhow he managed to take out a candle but could not light it due to the force of the wind. He tried multiple times but failed. The wind was very strong and coming from the underneath gap of the closed windows. He tried burning the lantern but it was his hard luck that there was very little oil in it. Then he remembered that luckily he had kept a torch in his bag. So he took out the torch and turned it on.
Now the concern was what to do in that dark room all alone. His only hope was reading a book and that was not possible in the torchlight. He was not sleepy because he was not habituated to sleeping early. He couldn't go outside because it was raining. He was fed up and thought of trying to sleep until electricity came. Forcible he went inside his sheet trying hard to doze.
After a lot of effort, he had fallen asleep. It must have been a few hours since he had slept suddenly he woke up with a jolt. It was as if somebody forcibly pushed him hard on his back. He woke up to see who hit him and realized that the battery of the torch was dead and he was sleeping in a dark room. It was still raining outside. In that atmosphere, the bank employee sensed somebody was heavily breathing behind his back. He was scared and turned around to find out who it was. Although he could sense somebody's existence beside him but could not see anybody there. Trying to feel the existence of someone he moved his hands all over. Unable to feel anybody's presence there he understood the urgency of that hour- some light so the visitor decided to arrange for some light in that room.
With blurred vision, the bank supervisor went out of the room in search of some wood, coal, or newspaper. He found some wet wood pieces that were of no use. In the adjacent vacant and shattered thatched room, there was a bunch of paper.
He picked up the pile of paper and tried to burn them but the papers were slightly wet so burning them was an impossible job. He picked some bricks lying outside and created a fireplace and managed to light some candles. This time the wind was not obstructing the candles from spreading light in that room. Finally, he was able to do the arrangements for some light in the room. Now he went inside his bed and tried to sleep, but he felt the presence of some entity very close to him. At first, he tried to feel the presence of some entity nearby but when he couldn't feel anybody then he tried to see if he could find some glimpses of somebody. This time his heart was about to stop beating he could see a faded figure of an old man sitting next to him and with his hand gestures asking him to leave the room. The visitor sat there quietly waiting for the night to get over. He was not in a position to talk or do anything. He was too scared and had sensed a ghostly danger encircled him.
The night passed and a new day started. With the start of a new day, the shadow had faded. The caretaker came in the morning and brought tea and breakfast for him. Though he was inquisitive to share his last night-to-death experience but thought of finishing his daily chores before having a word with the guy. After finishing his food with a composed mind he asked him about any ghostly event connected with this place as he had seen an old man asking him to leave the place. The caretaker was not surprised to hear about the incident. He said oh, you have seen that man. Yes, there is a story connected to this place. This thatched house belonged to this old man. He used to stay with his family here. Due to a mishap, his family died. He was alive and took care of his house for a long period. But we have heard that he still stays here and takes care of this place. He does not allow anybody to stay in his house. As this house was close to the bank so we thought of clearing this place and making the arrangement for you to stay here. The villagers think that people residing in cities do not believe in ghosts.
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