It is early evening time; the weather is neither too cold nor too hot. A pleasant weather attracts more people outside their homes but somehow there is always something that spoils the pleasantness.
Tapish is running like a swift car and Hrida running behind him shouting out," चोर! चोर!! ( Thief! thief !!). Stop. I will catch you and then you have to give back everything that you stole. Ughhhh."
Hrida increased her speed and suddenly that thief took a sudden turn and Tapish followed him taking a swift turn but Hrida couldn't control her legs and she ran straight to the road, her feet were deaf and numb to control on her own. Ultimately, she stopped after colliding with someone busy playing a mobile game.
They fell hard and the boy whined," Can't you see that I am doing here serious business? Ouch! My back hurts badly right now. I felt like a train crashed upon me." Hrida's body froze upon hearing his voice.
She stayed on top of him while her brain shot a thousand arrows of questions," How is he here? Does he know about my situation? Or he has no idea at all? After all the phone got broken due to mother's anger. Oh no! How will I escape from here?
And that stupid stealer is also way behind and Tapish also went after him. I have to go. Okay. I will stand up, turn, and run away as fast as I can. That is my only option."
The boy complains," Excuse me! I request you kindly get off from me. Ughhh. My back...My phone! Phew, it is alright. Hello, can you hear me? Oh, maybe you literally can't hear me. Okay, maybe I should do some sign language. Yes !... Wait…. I don't know how. I should give it –"
Before he could try to converse with her, Hrida stood up instantly, turned back, and ran as if she saw some ghost. The boy is speechless and his jaw drops in disbelief at the girl's strange behavior.
Hrida glanced back and that boy was nowhere to be seen. She is a bit relaxed and then her brain reminds her that the thief and Tapish are still missing. She searched here and there in the same path where they both went off. Hrida then reached the end of the path where a vintage-themed house with a wide-spaced garden was located.
She moves towards the house because she feels drawn to the house. As she moved closer inch by inch, she sighted Tapish by the window peeking inside the house; she felt a little better for now. She reached the window and whispered to Tapish," Tapish, It's me, Hrida. You know, just now who I bumped into.....Umm, sorry, this is not the time. Is he inside? Is he stealing again? We have to catch him before he hurts the resident inside. I see something shaking and moving behind the TV."
Both of them concentrated on the TV area. Within a few seconds, a head emerged behind the TV, his body rose in full form, and then he started rummaging through everything. He appeared frustrated as he moved his mouth expressively but nothing was audible because the window was tightly shut.
Then he suddenly looked towards the left but they couldn't see what he was looking at whereas the thief rushed towards the left and both of them were locked outside with no idea of how would they get inside.
Before Hrida could speak a word, a familiar voice near her ear exclaimed in a surprised tone, " Tapish! What are you doing here? Where is Hrida? And you, colliding girl, why are you peeking into a stranger's house? You seem fishy, shall I call the police? "
Hrida panics hearing the police word and pleads without showing her face," Please don't do this. I was not doing any suspicious activity, I just followed that thief's trail who also tried to steal my backpack as well. I am planning to catch him before he hurts anyone. You can go, now as I explained my reason, so go on with your day."
That boy comments," Your voice sounds like you caught a cold. And, why should I trust you? Just because you cooked up some nice story, you think you can fool me. No way, you can't fool me, miss 'colliding girl'. So, I suggest a better plan, why don't I join you in this plan of yours and if you don't want my company then I might dial the police's number. So...Your choice...what do you want ? Police or me ? "
Hrida scolded him in mind," Stupid Shashi. Always does this. You are my best friend, you should ease my difficulty and not worsen it. I have to be careful to not expose my identity. Phew, this handkerchief saved my face. And I had to make a worse and unpleasant tone to hide my real voice. Although I feel happy to see his face after so long time. I missed you."
Hrida voices out a loud ' hmmm' which Shashi identified as ' Yes '. Hrida asks him in her fake tone, " How do we enter inside? The smartttt…thief locked the windows and the door as well. Now what shall we do? "
Hrida by default asks Tapish," Tapish, can you find any another way into the house. You are an expert in…", She realizes her mistake but fortunately Shashi already moved away from her and is now pacing around the house and trying to figure out the ultimate way.
Hrida sighed in relief, and then she also started examining the house in the opposite way to Shashi. She found a door that looked freshly painted and it was locked as well. Hrida inspected the door closely and it appeared strong and thick but she still tried out her luck and banged the door and the door fell out flat inside.
Hrida gasped," I can't believe that I almost got fooled by its appearance. I AM IMPRESSED." She gathered Tapish and Shashi at her newfound discovery, Tapish jumped into the room. Shashi expresses in a convinced tone," I must say whoever living here is quite smart. No one would have expected this. A fragile door in disguise of a newly painted strong wooden door. You know, colliding girl, I feel like I am entering some escape game and in these kinds of games, Hrida always used to be a scaredy cat. Tapish is quite braver than her. Pffft.."
Hrida fumes out but doesn't let her irritation visible on her face and steps inside the room while intentionally stamping her foot on his foot on the way.
Shashi lets out a low hiss," Heyyyy.. Colliding girl. Step carefully, you always bump into me. Ouch, my foot. Pfft, she is just like Hrida although Hrida is a lot better person than her. Hmph. "
Tapish in the front, Hrida in the middle line, and Shashi at the end line prancing straight into the hall room and then Tapish straight went in the left direction leading them to a staircase. They followed behind Tapish upstairs and when reached, they saw two doors, one was locked and another slightly opened.
Tapish, Hrida, and Shashi leaned to the door and peeked inside. The room was quite dark but still, there was ghostly light coming from the window. Tapish stepped inside first and checked for any warning bells, meanwhile, Hrida and Shashi stayed outside the door.
Shashi felt like someone was keeping an eye on him, his body started shaking and he tightly clutched Hrida's shoulder and hid his face in her hair, Hrida felt his body shaking as he completely leaned over her back. She turned back and noticed him covering his face with her hair.
She felt like laughing at him and comforting him at the same time. She assures him," It's okay to be scared, even though I feel scared right now but at least we are not alone. Right? " Shashi breathes a little and his grip loosens a bit. Both of them heard a low meow and they understood the signal and plunged inside with light footsteps.
As soon as they entered, they heard a sound outside the door, and at the next second, they heard a 'door locking sound'.
Shashi banged his fist against the door and spoke angrily," I knew you were the thief who was spying upon us from the moment we reached upstairs. I felt someone behind him but I was too scared to look. You, whoever you are, release us this instant, otherwise, it won't be good for you. I will-"
Hrida covered his mouth before he revealed that he had a phone with him and the thief outside the door asked in a childish and high-pitched tone," What you will do, Mr. Scaredy? I saw you clinging to that pretty girl's shoulder like a scaredy cat. "
Tapish purrs loudly and the thief responds," Grrrrrr. I can hear your growl. No offense, I didn't intend to offend you, black cat. You and that pretty girl should not have meddled in someone's business and stealing is my business. If you do meddle again then you would be in the same condition as that old man lying on the bed in the same room where you are trapped. Haha haha hahahaaaaa.."
Hrida felt the same cold wave ghosting upon her spine, she knew that this was again that creepy shadow thing. Hrida is terrified and she hums under her breath and feels her breath short and her brain replays those horrible scenes in her mind.
Tapish sensed a cloud of fear and tension around Hrida, he immediately arrived by her side by prancing over her shoulder and rubbed his face against her cheek to wake her up from illusions.
Hrida looked around with a hesitant gaze and saw Shashi shaking like a leaf while pointing his hand toward his right side. She followed his direction and was shocked beyond her imagination. She crawled in closer and towered over the person lying on the bed while his wrist was cut open with blood still dripping on the floor.
Hrida remained frozen in that position then suddenly it hit her and she snatched Shashi's phone and searched on the internet ' how to check whether a person is alive or not'. She found many techniques but she chose the simplest technique. She hovered two fingers near his nose to check whether he was breathing or not and the answer terrified her more.
She whispered in a toneless tone," He is not breathing at all. He is no more. That thief not only stole but also killed him. How can such a young boy of our age think of something devious like this? I can't believe it. I feel like vomiting. Shashi-"
Hrida's statement paused when she saw Shashi vigorously shaking and then suddenly sat down on the ground while staring at the dead man with a hollow gaze. Hrida felt her heart twisting into a mess of strings. She rushed to sit next to him and called out his name softly without caring about her identity being exposed.
Hrida constantly called out his name but his body remained still as stone. Out of a sudden, he bursts into tears, then at the next moment, his silent tears turn into loud cries. Hrida felt like needles pinching her heart. She couldn't see him this way, so she hugged him tight, her hands rubbing circles on his back while she spoke softly into his ears," Cry as much you want but don't suppress the need to empty your feelings. Tapish and I are there for you like always. "
Shashi gripped her tight and cried and cried while rambling in between," I- I I have been feeling so scared and alone, I-I....never thought I would witness this in my life. I feel like erasing everything that I saw today except the moment when I collided....with you.
I feel like I have been suppressing my emotions since… since Hrida went missing. Hrida disappeared the night when her parents got arrested for some crime and it was also the...same day....when she stayed out late at night playing online mobile games along with me, I enjoyed it a lot.
But.. I never thought that I would talk to her for the last time that day. I miss her. I miss...Hrida. Ever since she left, I feel...nothing inside. I am scared for her and even more worried for her now, after this situation.
This world would be too cruel like this, I didn't expect of. I just want Hrida to come back. I don't know what happened that day exactly…, the police officer came to our house as he found a photo of Hrida and me. I narrated the whole story to him. I just wish.... I just wish….that.. she is safe out there. I-"
He gets interrupted by her as she hushes him and gently speaks," I think she is safe out there. And I also think that she missed you a lot and...she thinks of you a lot. And about the current situation, I have an idea that might help us escape this room. Though it is not the best logical idea still it is the only idea I can think of."
She suggested breaking the door by force as the wooden door's edges looked rusted and it might break after 3-4 tries. They both bumped their bodies against the door repeatedly and after 5-6 tries, the door broke down and they fell out of the room. Hrida scooped up Tapish in her arms and both of them ran out of the house and scampered far away from the house and stopped at an empty playground.
Then Shashi looked up and gazed at her with a strange look, which did go unnoticed by Hrida and she took deep breaths and thanked him in her fake tone," Thank you, Shashi."
Shashi questions him instantly," How do you know my name ?" Hrida makes a false statement in a convincing tone, " You told me while sharing your feelings with me, I think you forgot as you were behaving like a scaredy cat. No offense, Tapish. And one more thing, Hrida doesn't sound like a scaredy cat to me."
Shashi flashed her a dimpled smile and suddenly grinned but this grin made her feel good inside. She greets him goodbye, turns, and walks ahead with Tapish following behind her.
Shashi comments, " Hrida !" Hrida's feet stopped unconsciously and she realized her mistake, still, she spoke in a forced irritated tone," I don't see here any Hrida. And my name is not 'Colliding Girl', okay! " And, don't wait for Hrida, she might never return here, to the place that haunts her."
Shashi sneaked behind her to whisper into her ear," I know that you are not the colliding girl. I also know that Hrida will surely come back to me cause I know my best friend quite well and she cares enough to return home and her best friend/ her game partner and dollhouse partner as well sometimes. And I know she misses me a lot as well. I will wait for her until she returns, someday. Right, HRIDA?"