The story so far: Ma was out of town, and I was alone with my Pa, when he got a call and had to rush out of the house. Kavita did was supposed to come in a little while. But, I don’t think she came because I fell asleep and when I woke up it was dark...
I switched on the light but nothing happened. The electricity was off. I didn’t like being alone in a dark house. As I thought that, out of nowhere, there was a flash of light. A moment later, there was a rumble of thunder. And then it started pouring.
I heard a noise in Papa’s den. Had Papa returned? Sammy gave a soft growl and at once I knew it was not Papa. Who was it? Was it Kavita Didi ? I opened the door softly and went into Papa’s room. Usually, I love spending time there. It is a good place to be. There are many interesting things lying around plus Papa has an emergency light. Now I switched it on. Oh, it felt good not to be in the dark any longer.
In the study
There was no one in the room, but the window was open. The rain came down, heavier each second. Had I just imagined the noise? It might have been the storm. Maybe a branch had hit against the window.
I turned back and suddenly I spied something that looked like Papa’s phone on the floor, earplugs still attached to it. It was impossible that Papa had left it at home — he always had it in his pocket. I picked it up and swiped it. It was not a phone. It was more like an iPod. Where had he got this? I put on the ear plugs and knelt beside the window with my arm around Sammy. We could see the gate from here and we would know when Papa returned.
I fidgeted with the iPoddish-thing, wondering what music Papa had on it. Nothing happened. There was another flash of lightning and another. The thunder that followed seemed extra loud and crackly and hurt my ears. I tried to take out the ear plugs but they seemed to have got stuck inside my ears. I felt a tingling in my hands and legs. They began to shake.
What was happening? I held on tight to Sammy.
There was another round of lightning and thunder and the whole house seemed to shake. Sammy’s hair stood on end and so did mine and both of us fell down.
To be continued
