The Window ZWING…ZWING…ZWING…ZWIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!! It was dark. I lay in my bedroom in my uncle’s house. My parents’ had thought that it would be a good idea if I spent my summer vacation in India, studying tuitions. I had gone along with the idea for I longed for some independence and a sense of freedom from the suffocating walls of Saudi Arabia. Besides, I knew the tuitions would really help me prepare for the exams ahead. So here I was, in New Delhi, Fareedabad, staying in the spare bedroom of my uncle’s house, listening to the strangely hypnotic noise of the cooler which seemed to be having fun spooking me out of my skin. ZWING…ZWING…ZWING…ZWIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!! The fan of the cooler would move smoothly for some time, and then suddenly it would go crazy with speed. As if some devil from hell was powering it up occasionally just to see me jump with sudden surprise and fear for his own enjoyment. I didn’t like it at all. The other thing that I even liked less was the view from my bedroom window. There were two big windows in my room right next to my bed. The one immediately to my left had a full view of the house’s backyard. The other one beside it was fixed with a cooler which stood outside the window on a small balcony that we used for storing old and useless things. From the first window, I could see the vegetables and the rose bushes that my aunt had planted around the yard. The grass was not mowed regularly, and it covered the ground thickly. There was a building opposite to ours and its balcony was parallel to my room’s windows. Climbers had been grown from the ground to the balcony. One of these climbers had broken apart in the middle and the half-broken climber hung from the balcony, swaying side to side because of the heavy breeze which was blowing outside. It brought to my mind the terrible image of a hangman’s noose oscillating slowly before a criminal who is going to be hanged to his death. The backyard which usually, especially in the daytime, looked so green and lively, right now looked to me very dark and scary. Dogs barked and howled some distance from our house. Their insistent barking and howling only added to my feeling of uneasiness. A particularly strong wind blew outside and I had the disturbing feeling that I had just heard someone walking outside. Someone walking stealthily over dry leaves which cracked when you stepped on them, coming slowly closer and closer to my window… I knew these fears were probably irrational. But when darkness spreads, and strange sounds are heard, rationality goes on a vacation and leaves us to ourselves. It leaves us with the images of all the horror movies and books we have ever gone through. It deserts us in the time of our need and scampers. ZWING…ZWING…ZWING…ZWIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!! ‘That damn cooler!’ I cursed under my breath when it suddenly accelerated wildly again. I was at my wits’ end. I fervently prayed to God to make my fear go away, so that I would be able to fall asleep and end this terrible night. I had just closed my eyes trying to clear my head and somehow fall asleep, when I heard the unmistakable sound of dry leaves cracking. I sat up as if I had just been galvanized. My heart started pounding hard on my chest as if it wanted to escape. I perked up my ears to listen to any sound outside my room’s windows. A moment or two passed had when I heard it again. The sound of dry leaves cracking when someone steps on them. I was filled with terror I hadn’t known existed before. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would probably explode. Adrenaline fused into my blood and sharpened my senses. My first instinct was to just flee from the room. But what would I tell my aunt and uncle? That I had come running to them because I had heard some leaves cracking outside my window? They would probably send for the people in the white coats if I said something like that. From my position on the bed, I could only see the balcony of the building opposite to ours. The broken climber plant oscillated lazily in the breeze that stirred the trees and bushes nearby, and an occasional bark was heard from the dogs outside. I knew I had to get up and look out the window to reassure myself that everything was normal outside. That no ghost or zombie was roaming around in the backyard of my uncle’s house. I finally stood up on my wobble legs, and saying another prayer to God to have mercy on me, I moved in front of the window and peered down carefully. For a moment I didn’t see anything. Just as I had been ready to turn around, weak with relief, I saw something in the darkest corner of backyard. When my brain finally told me what I was seeing, I opened my mouth to scream myself to blissful insanity. The only problem was my voice-box had suddenly been disabled. I just stood there at the window, my mouth open in a scream that refused to come to my lips, gaping down at that THING moving slowly in my direction. Each step that that horror took, the sound of cracking leaves was heard clearly in the night. The full moon had come out of its refuge behind the clouds and it shone its light in the backyard. The creature that was slowly making its way towards me was in the form of a huge man. It had a head, two arms, and two legs. But that’s where all the similarity it had with a man stopped. The creature didn’t seem to have any skin. Its whole body was covered with what looked like leaves. But these leaves were no ordinary leaves. These leaves were brown colored, and they seemed to be jagged and cracked. They seemed to be a cross between leaves and stones. On its face were two black gems that shone with unearthly light. And perhaps the most repulsive and frightening thing of all were the thick snakes that seemed to be stuck on its body. These snakes were alive, and they slithered on the surface of the creature’s body. Filled with utmost dread and horror, I took a few backward steps and almost collapsed on the bed. I was so terrified that I could not even move my muscles anymore. I tried to crawl out of my bed to the door of the room that suddenly seemed to be miles away. Just as I had managed to break out my paralysis, the creature appeared at the window. It FLOATED inside my room. I opened my mouth to scream, but only a terrified croak came out. The creature stood next to the noisy cooler, its two black eyes shining with brutality, staring straight at me. Some jagged stone-leaves moved on his face and an uplifted curve appeared where it should have had its mouth. I realized with crazed fear that the thing was smiling. When it took a step towards me, eyes shining, and mouth opened in a deathly smile, I knew with full certainty that I was going to die. I turned to God in what seemed to be my last seconds of life and prayed from the depth of my heart to destroy this abomination from hell which was standing in front of me. ZWING…ZWING…ZWING…ZWIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!! ZWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!ZWIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!!ZWIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! Suddenly the cooler went completely mad. Its fan started rotating so fast that I thought it would just come unstuck from the window and fly away into the sky like a helicopter. The creature loose from hell turned to it in surprise, and suddenly blinding white light erupted from inside the cooler and enveloped the creature completely. My eyes squeezed shut in the blinding light, and my ear drums were assaulted with the creature’s agonized shrieks. The shrieks were so terrifying and out-of-this-world that I fainted. When I awoke in the morning, there was no evidence of what had transpired the night before. No evidence, that is, except some brown stone-leaves that lay scattered on the floor near the cooler. The cooler was running completely smoothly. The End Author's Note : I would love to know what you guys thought about the story. So do review and let me know. Peace.