030 Goodbye

Anu was scared at first. But once the trouble passed, she was back to her old chatty self.

She excitedly narrated the entire story to everyone.

"I heard the kidnapper coming. So I hid Alex under the bed and gave him the phone to call the police." She started with how she hid me. Then how her intelligent little brother started Facebook live and how brave Doodu saved them. She didn't forget to mention that the kidnappers were left to the mercy of her elder sister Priya.

That was the first version of the story.

As you all know, every story she tells would evolve. After a few times of telling the story, the pistol in the hands of the invader became a flame thrower and the burly man transformed like the hulk. In the end, Lakshmi aunty had to shut her up.

All the news channels were broadcasting the incident and Facebook live. Many tried to talk to Anu. But Lakshmi Aunty mercilessly blocked them outside the hospital. Apparently, her father owned most of the hospital. I knew that her family was rich. But I didn't know that it was this rich.

Dad checked up on us multiple times. We also visited mom twice. She was doing fine. Anu's exciting storytelling put smiles on the faces of mom and dad.

Dad and Anu called our neighbour to check up on Doodu. After we were taken to the hospital, Doodu returned to the house. Later he was taken away by the neighbour and his kid. Doodu was upset and throwing a tantrum. But after Anu talked, he calmed down.

After a while, dad's elder sister, the annoying aunt came and took us with her. She made a unilateral decision that we would be staying with her till the election is over.

Later, dad brought Doodu. He was very excited to see Anu. He jumped on her and licked all over her face. Lakshmy aunty had asked dad not to separate them. Doodu was Anu's best friend. So separating them during difficult times was not a good idea. I also agreed with them. Not that my approval matters.

Later, we were playing in the bedroom. The aunty was against having a dog inside the house. But she had to follow Lakshmi aunty's instructs.

When we were alone, we had an expected visitor.

"Anuuu..." Priya came out of nowhere.

"Elder sister!" Anu jumped up excitedly. I and Doodu were also happy to see her.

"I am so happy to see you." Priya hugged Anu.

She couldn't actually touch Anu. So they made up a virtual hug and a kiss so that they can feel close.

"Why are you like this?" Anu asked. Priya was still in her scary form. I also found it a bit odd. But that wasn't the only thing I found odd. It looked like the ghost girl wasn't happy.

"I decided to be like this from now on. I think I look better in this form."

"That's why I told you to go like this." Anu was excited.

"I know."

"But why are you here? I thought you couldn't go far from the clock."

"The... the clock broke. So I am free to move."

"You sound sad." Finally, Anu was able to notice the irregularity.

Priya sighed sadly and continued. "Do you know about heaven?"

"Huh?"

"That is the place where God sits and watches over little kids like you."

"God sounds like my mother after she lost her job."

"Hahaha... Ya... But a bit more needy." Priya complained.

"Doodu... Watch over your elder sister. Ok?" Priya requested.

Doodu confusedly nodded.

"Anyway, be a good girl. Celebrate your life for me too. Promise?" Priya asked Anu.

"You are leaving?" I asked. I could no longer keep my silence.

"Huh? Aaarrhhh... Ghost!!!" She was surprised by my talking. She flew up in shock and hit her head on the roof. Her horn hit the ceiling and one of it broke.

"Stop being dumb. You are a ghost and I am not." I was tired of the stupidity of the ghost. Anu started laughing seeing this. Even Doodu had a grin on his face.

"Ahhh... I broke my horn. But it's fine. I will stick it back." The ghost girl completely ignored me and turned towards the mirror. A huge tube of glue appeared in her hand from nowhere.

Alas, there was no reflection.

"Duh! I am so stupid! I forgot that I have no reflection." Priya slapped her own forehead.

Anu was laughing even harder. Doodu was also making weird sounds.

"Fine. I will just put it back." She poured a large amount of glue on the broken horn and put it back.

It was glued instantly. Unfortunately, it was the wrong angle and now one of her horns looked crooked.

Seeing this, Anu started rolling on the floor and laughing.

Only then did I realize an issue.

Priya didn't have a physical body. She could never hit the roof. In other words, she was acting from the beginning to make Anu laugh.

"You always knew." I realized another truth. Priya always knew that I could talk. I underestimated her a lot.

At the same time, I realized that my speculation about her leaving was true.

I could see her cloth being pulled back as if she was standing against a heavy wind. It seemed like the wind was getting harder.

"Anu..."

"Hmm?" Anu struggled to respond as she was still laughing hysterically.

"Please don't forget me." Priya made a sudden request to Anu. Anu didn't pay any attention as she was struggling to breathe because of her laughing. But Priya didn't mind it at all. Because it was more like a prayer than a request.

I could see the wind on her getting stronger and stronger. I understood what was happening. The clock was what bound her to the world of living people. But now that the clock was broken, it was time for her to leave. She was being forced out of our world.

Tears were leaving Priya's eyes.

It rolled through her cheeks and fell down.

She smiled looking at Anu who had finally calmed down and was panting.

"Looks like my life and death weren't that meaningless."

Then she disappeared.

I stared at where Priya was.

She was gone.

At some point, Doodu had stopped laughing and he was also looking at where Priya was.

Anu had started laughing again. She hadn't realized that her precious elder sister had left her forever.

I suddenly felt anger at Priya for leaving without telling it to Anu.

It turned out she was a coward and couldn't bring herself to tell the words.

I felt a sudden pain inside me.

She was gone. And Anu didn't even realize it.

In my previous life, the ghost girl wasn't there. But Anu had memories of an imaginary friend with the same name. In simple words, Anu forgot her and memories of her were replaced with the memories of an imaginary friend.

"Anuchi..."

"Hnngg??"

"She is gone," I said.

She started laughing again.

"She... She is embarrassed.. because... I laughed." Anu managed to say a few words while laughing.

Seeing her laugh made me sad. She lost someone very important to her and she doesn't even realize it. Kids don't understand the concept of death. That makes it a lot hard for others to explain it.

Priya wasn't close to me. She kind of avoided me. But still, it hurt me knowing that she was gone.

'Wuu wu wuu...'  Doodu said something.

"No. She will be back... when she is tired of hiding." Anu still denied.

I didn't know what to say.

Then, the aunty came to check upon us. She was confused by the laughter of Anu.

Time passed slowly. I didn't get to talk to Anu after that. In the evening, dad took us to the hospital.

Anu happily told the story of Priya hitting the roof and breaking her horn to mom and dad. Seeing her happy was painful to watch. That night, I stayed with mom at the hospital.

The following day, mom was discharged from the hospital.

We all went to our aunt's house. Her husband was abroad. Also, from my past life, I knew her disposition. So I knew that our presence was not a trouble for her.

Her eldest child, our cousin had gone to school. Mom and dad decided not to send Anu to school for one day. So she and Doodu walked around the house all morning.

By noon, Anu started getting fidgety. She started biting her nail and playing with her hair. She started looking at every possible hiding spot for Priya. Doodu followed her and tried to convince her.

"No. She won't go anywhere without me." Anu was still in denial. She simply couldn't understand the idea of her elder sister leaving her to go to someplace called heaven.

"I am getting angry. Come out now. Otherwise, I won't talk to you anymore." Anu started threatening.

Mom saw this and ignored it with a small smile. In her eyes, Anu was having a fight with her imaginary friend. She never interfered when we were playing or fighting.

Slowly, Anu's denial changed to anger. She started making threats and scolded Priya. Then, it became fear. She kept murmuring incoherent things as she looked for her elder sister.

Finally, she broke down.

She started crying. Her cry wasn't cute like you see in movies. She was loud and her face was full of tears and booger.

"Anu-baby, why are you crying?" Mom hugged her and asked.

"She... she left." Anu managed to get some words in between her cries.

"Who?"

"Elder... sister Priya."

"It's okay. She will come back soon."

Mom started consoling her. But it didn't work.

Anu sat in mom's lap and continued crying.

At first, mom thought it would end soon. But she didn't stop. She continued crying. Occasionally, Anu would go searching for Priya. Once she realizes that she can not find her, she would return to mom and continue crying.

By evening, mom realized that it wasn't a small issue. Because Anu kept on crying without any sign of stopping.

"My dear girl please stop crying and eat something. Look, your younger brothers are not eating anything because of you." Mom tried her best to persuade her.

It was indeed true. Once Anu started crying, I and Doodu lost appetite. Doodu simply laid down and sulked. He completely ignored our cousins when they came to play. I wasn't any better. It felt like my throat became narrow. Simply swallowing a bit of milk became a difficult task. Much less the baby food. Even my chest felt heavy.

I did not regret telling her the truth. Because Priya was a real sister she had. The memories of Priya were real. I couldn't let Anu replace those precious memories with the made-up memories of an imaginary friend.

Anu should remember the truth. She had the right and she must mourn for the elder sister she lost on the way.

In the end, mom called dad. Dad was already on the way home.

He carried Anu and consoled her. Anu was no longer a baby. She was a five years old child. Dad still carried her for nearly two hours. She finally fell asleep while hugging him and crying.

[Will continue in the next chapter]

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