THE 27TH NIGHT OF THE MOON...

1.Chapter one.

I don't know what hour of night it was when a horrible scream woke me up. It had stunned my body and my brain. my hands and legs felt frozen. I had no courage left to see the cause of the scream by removing my blanket off my face.

The scream was not my imagination. I had been put through the horrors of those screams since my own childhood...The night those screams reverberated someone was invariably found dead in the morning. Today I heard the scream after a long time. I had heard stories and seen deaths occur...but tonight there were only two people in the room..I and my cousin sister,Ellie. It was Ellie who had screamed at seeing something horrible. One of us two was to die...so at leat I thought...

here was another scream. I had to remove the blanket summoning all my courage. No one else was in the house exept Ellie and I. Ellie had come for few days. I was the one who lived permanently with my Grand Aunt who had adopted me in a way.

Earlier Grand aunt,Debbie,lived in Decca the Bangladesh city. Then it was East Pakistan. I also lived there with her. When political situation worsened there, we came to West Pakistan. During that period Pakistan had 2 parts, East and West.

I looked askance at Ellie's bed. she sat with her legs spread and face covered with her palms in that bitter cold.  It shocked and worried me. I called out to her.she didn't respond. I got out off my bed. A rusting sound made me look out of the window. In the lawn outside, a mulberry tree grew, the branches of which brushed the window panes.but the present rustling sound was frightfully special. I had heard it ten years ago....

When I was 10 years old and lived in Decca With MY Grand Aunt. On that day my grand aunt's last surviving daughter,Mia, was sitting on the bed by my side. she had screamed similarly and passed away. But her scream was accompanied by another scream outside like a women wailing, sobbing and painfully crying which appeared to recede in the darkness younder. Mia died with the end of the sound.

I've heard that it had gone for years.Every year on the 27th date of the moon..the screams were heard and someone died. The same rustling sound at the window gave me goose bumps.
I was still terror struck when the door was knocked at. The situation was pulverising. inspite of icy cold air I was sweating but the teeth were clattering. Ellie sat in her position as if frozen. bit before I suffered from a heart attack or passed out,a familiar voice from outside the door saved me,"Kang Mi-Hi!!!"

it was our domestic help, Alex.He was with my Grand Aunt since the time of her marriage. Then he was only 20 years old. The young boy was so fast and hard working that he made people wonder. Now he was a robust young man in mid twenties. He was 15 year old when I couldn't see him toiling alone so I started helping him as best as I could. Alone. He confided me that he had no one to call his own in the world. I tried to console him with my friendly attitude. finding sympathiser in me was a big morale booster for him.

So,when I heard Alex's voice a feeling of great relief swept through me. At his arrival Ellie too raised her head. she had turned chalk white and her eyes reflected terror.
"what happened Ellie?Saw Some Bad Dream? "I Put My Hand On Her shoulders.

Ellie merely shook her head.she looked at the window and shivered.

Alex looked towards the window and spoke,"Hey..Ellie,perhaps you r frightened by the moving shadows of the branches on the window panes!"

Ellie said nothing,she was still shivering.  I thought she was terrified.

"I will bring hot coffee for you."Alex turned to go to the kitchen. I noticed that he was very worried.
A few moments later Alex gave us a cup of coffee each. The coffee warmed us up and we felt  our senses reviving. Ellie's shivers had also calmed down.

"Go to sleep, both of you". Alex softly assured us,"I will go again outside to look over . Really it's just nothing.Thete was a cat I shooed it away."

when Alex retreated I asked, "what was it?"

"A strange shriek woke me up. It was as if some women had cried in pain. then there was some sobbing.  I thought you were sick or something. So, I removed blanket off my face and saw you sleeping peacefully. Yes, there was a black cat  on the window which started at me angrily with her red glowing eyes. Then, it jumped off the window to disappear. "

what he said was enough to tell me that in the morning one of us will be dead...