031 Aftermath

Anu had a very rough night.

She had many nightmares throughout the night and woke up multiple times.

Mom and dad patiently consoled her every time. Doodu also consoled her. He was sleeping under our bed. Dad tried to move him out of the house. But he resisted fiercely. He wouldn't move away from Anu. Dad couldn't do anything as Doodu had indeed rescued us earlier.

In the morning, Lakshmi aunty came. She talked to Anu for a long time. She was good at what she was doing. I could see Anu's mood improving slowly.

After talking with her, Lakshmi aunty instructed mom and dad to send her to school.  So Mom went to prepare her for school. I was in dad's care. Once mom was away, dad called Lakshmi aunty out of the house.

"How is it?" Dad asked.

"This is probably her mind's way of coping with the scary incident. She is a very brave girl. So just leave her with her friends and she will be back to the naughty girl in no time." Lakshmi aunty was confident in Anu.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Kids have wonderful minds. In this incident, her mind imagined that her imaginary friend died. That way, all the trauma she was expected to have was replaced with sadness. It can be healed easily."

"About that... there is a small issue." Dad was reluctant to talk about it.

"What?"

"Did she tell you how her imaginary friend Priya jumped up and broke her horn?" Dad asked.

"Yes. She indeed has a very good imagination."

"About that, the two criminals who tried to kidnap her claimed that they were haunted by a ghost."

"I know. It's in the news. They are just making up stuff so that they would be considered mentally unstable. That way, they can escape the law." Lakshmi aunty was not happy about it.

"Not necessarily. I talked to a friend I have in the police. He said that they were truly scared and needed help from a doctor. They also gave a rough description of the ghost." Dad explained.

"Hahaha... Are you saying that it matched with Priya?" Lakshmi aunty laughed and looked at dad.

'Ahh... This is bad.'  I realized a new problem. There was indeed a loose end. In my previous life, Anu didn't know that Priya was gone. Because no one told her. So she wasn't sad like this. So this conversation between dad and Lakshmi aunty never happened and no one realized the truth. But thinking again, it might not be a bad thing.

"It did match with what Anu said. I know that no one will believe it. But I am a bit worried." Dad ignored the ridicule from Lakshmi aunty.

"Fine. If they talked to a doctor, most probably it would be Professor Anandhaswami. He taught me in college. Later he joined a government medical college and he usually handles cases related to police. I will ask him." Lakshmi aunty took her mobile phone out and called someone.

She walked away as she talked on the phone. The call lasted for about five minutes. She was a bit nervous when she returned. She took me from dad's hand.

"It's true. The description from criminals and Anu match exactly. Even the pointed tail was there in the explanation by both. Normally, ghosts or Yakshis don't have such a tail or even horns. Is there any chance Anu heard about it from the news or anything?" Lakshmi aunty asked.

"Absolutely not. We followed your instructions strictly and made sure that she heard nothing about the incident. We even got rid of the newspaper and never turned on the television. Also, no one knows the details of the ghost."

"Is there any chance the criminals heard about it from Anu?"

"There is an incredibly small chance that they investigated or talked to Anu before the incident. But even then, Priya with horns is something new. According to Anu, Priya is a gentle girl who flies around in a red dress with large white dots."

"That's... fashion from the last century. She might have seen from movies or something like that." Lakshmy aunty pointed out an important observation.

"There is more. My neighbour called me to tell me a puzzle that confused them. After the girls were taken to the hospital, Doodu returned to the house. He went inside and tormented the criminals a bit. He even bit off three fingers. My neighbours were scared to go in because of the gun. So they watched everything from the windows. Even while being tormented by Doodu, the perpetrators didn't run out. They kept crying for help."

"Why?"

"Nobody knows. It was as if they couldn't see the door."

"My professor said that they weren't lying. The mental shock they received was real. The big guy had gone mad from fear."

"This also explains why Anu was able to think so quickly and put Alex under the bed. Because she was simply following the instructions of Priya. There is also a chance that Facebook live was started by Priya." Dad added.

He was wrong. But still, I didn't mind her getting the credit.

"Then you should be thanking those criminals for helping you get rid of the ghost." Lakshmi aunty joked.

I didn't like it. I kicked her on the chin.

"Oooo... The little guy here is getting restless." She played with my nose. My kick was too weak to hurt her.

"Your mind is still so narrow. If the ghost is real, then she was with us for the past five months and she was protecting my family. She was guarding Anu and she saved all three of them earlier." Dad was upset. He grabbed me from Lakshmi aunty and returned to the house.

"Don't talk about it to anyone. I absolutely don't want Riya to know anything about it." Dad gave a final warning to Lakshmi aunty.

Finally, I was able to see a flaw in Lakshmi aunty. She was very beautiful, well educated, filthy rich and had a very good job. Still, dad and she broke up. I never understood why dad would let such a perfect girl go. But now, I saw a small clue. Lakshmi aunty was a very nice person. But her mind was a bit rigid and narrow. She could never consider the possibility of a ghost guarding Anu. At the same time, dad had no difficulty reaching that conclusion.

Mom managed to feed Anu and Doodu. Then gave her a bath and we all went to our house. Two policemen accompanied us. The house was still under the investigation of the police. A politician's son tried to kidnap a child and threatened a pregnant woman. Also, the entire thing was broadcasted online. So the police were extra thorough with every step.

They didn't take Anu to the house. Dad went with the police and came with her bag and uniform. Anu changed into the uniform and went to school by school bus. Lakshmi aunty specifically asked us to send her to school just like the normal days.

"Doodu, the bad guys were missing three fingers. Did you eat it?" Once Anu left, dad questioned Doodu.

"Wuuuwuuwu..."

"What did he say?" The policeman asked dad curiously.

"I am not Dora." Dad was annoyed by the curious policeman.

"Your daughter is." The policeman replied without being offended. Only then did I realize that they were friends. But they pretend not to know each other.

Doodu lead them to the place where he buried the fingers. Dad was relieved after he confirmed that he didn't eat it. The two policemen were impressed by Doodu's intelligence. He also didn't forget to get a flower for mom on the way back.

After a day with friends at school, Anu was a lot better. Later, the police interviewed mom and Anu. Anu was still sad. But she was getting better.

Dad returned to the election campaign. With that, the event came to a temporary end.

After a week, we all moved to our own home. The annoying aunt's kids were also studying in the same school as Anu. So she also moved with us.

Anu drew many pictures of us. Her favourite one was our family picture.  But I wasn't happy with the picture. Because the only difference between me and Doodu was that I didn't have a tail. In the picture,  I and Doodu were on the floor playing. Priya was flying above mom's head. Dad was reading a newspaper and mom was patting her big belly.

Seeing that picture actually made me smile and tear up a bit. Every time Anu was being scolded by mom, Priya used to fly behind mom and make funny faces. This made Anu laugh and mom angrier. It was a good memory and I was happy that Anu finally got to preserve it.

Dad started repairing the clock. He was very busy with the election work. But still, he found some time every day to tinker with it. That wouldn't bring Priya back. But dad made up an excuse. "If we make the clock run again, then your elder sister Priya will be able to watch over you from heaven. So you have to behave properly. Okay?"

"Ok." Anu agreed excitedly. She also promised to play in front of the clock every day. It was good to see her smile returning to her face.

Anyway, my family slowly returned to the way it was. We also had more people at home. The aunt and her children were staying with us. Aunt took one month leave from her job.

At the same time, I was planning something. Mom's birthday was a few days away.

I wanted to give her a memorable birthday present.

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Alex Philip (Age: 11 months)

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