025 Damsel in distress

Yesterday, we went out and did a lot of shopping. At first, everyone was happy. But soon things started going bad.

Dad bought a toy bow and arrow for Anu and a bone-shaped toy for Doodu. The arrows had soft rubber tips. Anu happily shot at the wall and leaves for some time. But soon, she lost interest in immovable targets.

Naturally, Doodu became her next target. The rubber tip of the arrows didn't cause any injury. But it was still painful. So Doodu ran to mom and hid behind her. He was also vehemently complaining to mom. Mom got angry. She took away the toys from Anu for a day as a punishment.

That's when the trouble began.

Anu came to our bedroom and started sulking.

I was in the cradle. Mom stopped keeping me on the bed and started putting me in the cradle. I knew this would happen the moment I started rolling. That was one reason I didn't want to roll.

"Mom does not love me anymore. She always sides with Doodu." She complained to me leaning on the cradle.

I wanted to correct her. But decided not to. Talking too much wasn't a good idea. If my mother happens to see me talking, she might call an exorcist.

"Woo Woo..." Doodu came in. He had trouble talking. Because he was biting his bone toy.

He came in dramatically with his head held high and with a rhythmic gait. He was clearly showing off his bone toy to Anu.

Then he got on the bed and started chewing on the toy with a smug look on his face.

"I want to bite it." Immediately Anu started another fight with Doodu.

"Woof woof..."

"My father bought it. So I can also play with it."

"Wuu Woof..."

"No. Humans also bite bones. Just watch."

Both the stupids started arguing. I sighed helplessly. Long since I had given up on mediating between them.

"Hihihi..." Suddenly, I heard a giggle.

I looked to the source of the sound.

There was a teenage girl right beside us!

I never saw her coming in. She had a bright smile on her face and she was wearing a bright red dress with white dots on it. She looked about 16-17 years old.

"Whoo aa oo?" (Who are you) Anu, who was biting one end of the bone-shaped toy asked.

"I am a Yakshi. I will be haunting this house from today onwards." The young girl declared confidently. For those who don't know, yakshi means a typical female ghost in the local language.

"Liar..." Anu ignored the girl and returned to the fight with Doodu.

"Do you really think I am lying?" The girl asked with a mischievous smile as she flew through the air and floated in front of Anu.

A shiver ran through my body.

'Flying? It's real! A real ghost. Should I scream? No... That might alert her and force her to take drastic measures. I must act dumb and get help secretly.' I made a quick judgement. I have no idea how I was able to make such a rational decision in that situation.

"WOOFF... WOOFF..." Doodu jumped between Anu and the ghost and started yapping. Clearly, the instincts of the animal were better at sensing danger.

"Yes. You are lying. Can you not disturb? I have a bone to pick with this arrogant dog."[1] Anu completely disregarded the ghost and returned to fighting with Doodu.

I could see the face of the ghost twitching. She was clearly angry. 'This is bad. The ghost is getting angry.'

"Why do you think I am lying?" The ghost controlled its anger and asked.

"Because you don't have breast," Anu replied without sparing another look at the ghost.

"What?" The ghost suddenly covered her chest embarrassed.

"Wha..." Even I was a bit surprised by the ridiculous reply from Anu.

"I have seen in movies and serials. Yakshis always have big breasts." Anu ruthlessly replied to the ghost.

"That... That's not true..." The voice of the ghost was feeble.

"Do you know any ghosts?"

"... No."

"I know. I have seen many in the movies and serials. They are not like you at all. Yakshis are very beautiful and they always wear a white saree. You also have very short hair." Anu gave one after another blow to the confidence of the poor ghost.

"How... How can you say like this to me?" The ghost started sulking.

Even I felt a bit bad for her. I hated the movies and serials for creating over sexualising ghosts. Their stereotyping was making it hard for the normal ghosts. 'Wait. That's not right. I shouldn't be sympathising with the ghost. I have to make  sure that the ghost won't hurt Anu.'

"See... I can fly." The poor ghost tried its best to reclaim her lost dignity.

"See... My dog can fly." Anu threw Doodu up and down.

I really wanted to get up and beat some sense into the stupid girl.

"Why are you so mean to me." The ghost was on the verge of crying.

"I am not mean. I am just teaching you the harsh realities of life." Anu replied calmly.

'You are barely five years old!' It was indeed weird hearing a kid teaching life lessons.

At the same time, Doodu was still threateningly barking at the ghost. Unfortunately, he was a child and his threatening barks were nothing but cute 'woofs'.

"Why do you want to be Yakshi so bad?" Anu asked.

"Because I died."

"How did you die?"

"That... One day, I woke up late. To avoid getting scolded, I decided to turn the time back a bit on the clock. But the chair slipped and the clock fell on my head."

'What a dumb way to die!' I felt sorry for the unfortunate ghost. I understood that the ghost came from the new clock we got. I also realized the reason why the shopkeeper wanted to get rid of the clock so badly.

"What a dumb way to die! You are definitely not a Yakshi." Anu blurted out my thoughts without any mercy.

"Why?"

"Yakshis are the ghosts of girls who die because of love failure. Usually caste issues." Anu shared a part of her endless wisdom.

'I have to stop her from watching all these ridiculous movies.'

I felt really bad for the clueless ghost. Of the billions of people on earth, she ended up haunting the dumbest one.

"What do I do now?" The sad ghost asked helplessly.

"It's not too late. You should change your career." Anu advised.

'Seriously? The ghost is seriously taking career advice from the kid! Looks like the clock hit her head really bad and made her dumb.'

"Anu, who are you talking to?" Mom called from outside.

The young ghost turned into a wisp and scooted into the clock.

"I'm talking to my new friend," Anu replied.

"Okay." Mom assumed that she was talking about her imaginary friend and decided to leave.

"Woof woof..." Doodu jumped in front of mom and tried to tell her about the ghost.

"He is lying," Anu interjected.

Mom didn't understand what Doodu was trying to say. She looked around and made the best guess she could.

"Don't bully him." Mom left the room after leaving a few words.

"Your mom is scary." Ghost came out of the clock.

"No. She is a very good girl."

"No. She is scary. I am a ghost. I can feel danger from her." The ghost was a bit nervous.

"Are you really a ghost? How can you be so scared?"

"..."

"Don't worry. I will help you." Anu consoled the poor ghost.

"Really?" Hearing that the ghost was really excited.

'Yup. The clock hit her head so bad that even her ghost became dumb.'  I concluded.

Finally, I concluded that the ghost wasn't dangerous. Also, I look forward to how Anu would help the ghost.

________________________________

Thanks for reading

Please comment and vote.

Thank you.

[1]: Pun intended.