The sound of crackling ice...
I looked at the bedside clock. It read 5:00 am, but it was still dark outside. I closed my eyes again and listened closely to the rhythm, my heartbeat and the ice cracking, as it enveloped the empty interiors of my grandmother's wooden house.
I couldn't believe she was not here anymore. No more loud hustling of her footsteps, no more jingling of the curtain rings as she dusted the house vigorously, no more nagging me to 'eat on time', 'rise early', 'exercise daily' and 'find the right girl and settle down'.
It had been a month since her demise and the only way I knew to deal with her death was to clear the house of her memories. The lavish grandfather clock, the delicate chinaware, the lifelike Japanese dolls, the collection of glass animal figurines - all were packed and transported to the local museum of Tulane.
I opened my eyes and started at the blank walls till my eyes hurt. The long hard winters were finally over, I said to myself, and with it the mourning for my grandma. I let out a heavy sigh and rolled over to get up to a new morning. But my body felt numb. I couldn't move a muscle. I tried lifting my hands, my feet, but they were glued to the bed. I realized my body was oozing an icky liquid making my parts stick to each other, making it impossible for me to get out of my grandma's huge wrought iron bed.
I was sinking...
I woke up suddenly, my body in jitters, her shrill nagging voice piercing through my sweaty head, "Rise and shine, you stupid bugger. Go catch the first day of the spring, before I glue you to that bed!" There she was, my petite wrinkly old woman, polishing the foot of my bed.
©AditiKaushiva
Day 1 of the #BarAThon Challenge. Today's prompt is 'Stranger than fiction'
Also linking with 3WW - lavish, icky, jitters.
oh thank god it was a dream... For once I thought you felt something like I did :)
ReplyDeleteDestiny's Child
Very good one Aditi..
ReplyDeleteVery good one Aditi..
ReplyDeleteOh God! I thought it was real! Phew!
ReplyDeleteHaha!!! Good one Aditi!
ReplyDeleteafter all those visions we finally learn it was a dream! Phew!!
Cheers
Geets
Phew! You creeped me out girl! Actually reading this right after Rajlakshmi's post...so I thought of sleep paralysis first!
ReplyDeleteIt was a dream ! Just hoped across from Rajlakshmi's blog and I thought you got her ailment.
ReplyDeleteAah! A dream! It surely spooked him and me too!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an engrossing tale, Aditi! I had to come back and comment, and in that pretext re-read the story again. I love the way you craft the little details in your stories. Look forward to more :)
ReplyDeleteWas it a dream? Maybe ...or maybe a sign of things to come :)
ReplyDeleteNice one, Aditi
I was stuck at icky liquid and was imagining so many horrible things. Thank God, it was a dream!
ReplyDeletehehe... this was smart :) Lots of possibilities for horror too from the 'icky liquid' position of the tale but happy to see this ending
ReplyDeleteWoah! A dream, quite a spooky one I must say. Nicely done Aditi!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you craft the little details in your stories. Look forward to more Sakura Beauty
ReplyDeleteThat was a dream! Was it a dream? I would like to think it wasn't..:-) Spooky one, Aditi!
ReplyDeleteHaha! And hopping from rajlakshmis's blog made me think of sleep paralysis! Well written. I almost imagined the glue part.. cheers!
ReplyDeleteAfter spending the last hour reading spooky stories for stranger than fiction, I was actually panicky about the icky liquid oozing. Thank God the granny is still there to say rise and shine my dear :)
ReplyDeleteI literally missed my granny here! Phee ,thank god it was just a dream.
ReplyDeletePhew. That dream seemed way to real.
ReplyDelete