Coastal summer. Of course, it was humid and hot as hell. The only good things about that summer were the holidays and IPL. Those were the times, me and my parents used to fall asleep in front of the TV after finishing the match( well, my mother was always a fast sleeper so it was me and dad cheering most of the time)

April 30th

The match got over and we went to sleep. Since the bedrooms were unbearable cooking pots, me and my family had to sleep in the living room the past few weeks. I had sleeping issues even back then. I just kept thinking about the homework which I didn’t finish and fell asleep.

At unknown time

I woke up abruptly from my dream and saw it was still dark outside. The old Nokia keypad cellphone showed 3:02 am. I was pissed obviously. I changed my side towards the window for the cool breeze and tried my best to sleep. 

That’s when I heard it.

Somebody is cleaning the side yard where all our cashew trees are. Since it was not possible for anyone to be on our grounds at that ungodly hour, I concluded it was my neighbor’s dog. After 5 minutes I knew in my core it was not the dog.

As any teenager, stupidly I woke up and peered into the dark abyss through the window. I could see nothing. But to my surprise, I was able to hear the broomstick sound crystal clear. I waited for 60 whole seconds to understand this unexplainable phenomenon. I was disappointed and came back to my bed that was laid on the floor.

Another failed try. Sleep was not nearly in the same town as I was. Now the cleaning sound was hitting my ears the way waves hit the shore on the full moon.

AND IT STOPPED !!!!

I was relieved. I even told myself that I was dreaming. Half a minute of silence broke by a thud. And another. And another. This time it was more clear and I knew I was hearing footsteps. Somebody was out there. But why would anyone clean it !? The intensity of the footsteps reduced but I was sure the reason whoever this was, playing with me was circling my house to get to the main door. 

AND THEY DID 

The knock was faint but was enough to give me chills. What was happening !?  Then came another knock. With my unusual hearing skills, I could guarantee you, that it was almost at the bottom of the door. A cat may be !? That’s ridiculous.

Knock grew stronger, louder, and more frequent. The urge to open the door and confront this thug inside me was solid. I looked at our inverter. It was no wonder that the scheduled power cut was still going on and my dad had disconnected the battery to save some charge. I laughed at myself for not noticing the actual reason I woke up was because I was soaking in my sweat. Now don’t say gross. We all had been there. 

Why couldn’t I hear knocking anymore?

JUSHHHHHHHH !!!! 

I started to sweat for a different reason. Someone turned on our garden tap. I made up my mind to jump across the room because I didn’t wanna disturb my sleeping angel ( My mother uses weird words to swear) and see for myself who this vampire is. Bugging people when they are asleep. The electricity came back almost at the same time the pipes were dragged outside. 

See, we usually keep watering pipes next to our compound wall. We used to use it every other day to water the flower plants. And surprisingly I recognized the sound of dragging. Call me “Bluffy” but I know my hearing skills in my core. With the running fan over my head, I got the patience to think and reason this strange occurrence. There is no way anybody would be interested in watering the plants and cleaning the yard. We have had workers but they were done with their work and paid for. 

The watering went on for the next 15 minutes or maybe more. I can’t be sure as I drowsed off after a few minutes.

May 1

It is my birthday month. I was all ready to have a blast. Not every day you will turn 15. To be honest, I don’t care for birthdays. The only thing I want is Jamoon and my mother prepares it for every birthday. I never celebrated with cakes or parties and I liked it this way. Now I am almost 25 and I still prefer a birthday text over a call, my mother’s Jamoon over a cake, and a beach day over a party. 

The experience I encountered the day before was bugging me. I told everything to my father over breakfast. You wouldn’t know but my father has insomnia and refuses to go to the clinic for a check-up. I guessed he was awake last night when the knocking happened. My dad used to sleep next to the door so he MUST have heard it too. To my luck, he was sure that he couldn’t sleep till 4 but shockingly he didn’t hear any knock or watering sounds. 

THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE !!!!

It bugged me. A LOT! I was one of the bravest people I knew. I never reason anything if not with logic. The only conclusion I settled for was that I was dreaming. I couldn’t let it go but there was no other explanation.

Later that night
Me and my dad watched another match that day and went to sleep around 12.30 am. I entered my dreamland very easily that day. 

I was seeing only darkness. The ceiling fan was making its ksk-ksk-ksk noise as always. I am no longer asleep. My ear was grasping another familiar sound. Someone was cleaning the cashew yard again. 

DEE, YOU ARE JUST DREAMING !!! TRY TO SLEEP

Whatever happened last night was happening again. FREAKING EXACTLY THE SAME!

The only difference is that I didn’t bother at the knocking at all.

May 2

My dad asked how I slept. Nice of him but he asks that every day. Extra nice of him then. I told him about the noises. Lucky me, he didn’t hear it at all. My mother blamed my horror books. Well, she is not completely wrong. That story is for another day.

Later that night, followed by many other nights, the same series of sounds reached my ears. I had learned to ignore this bullshit. Very difficult for my curious nature on top of it. But I did.

May 6 

I don’t remember any of it now. I have no photos either. I am gonna go ahead and say “My birthday was amazing” 🙂

Hated the summer but I was enjoying my free time reading encyclopedia

.

May 27

Opening your eyes at 7 is a real torture believe me. Shush! morning people. It is difficult for a few people like me. But I had a job today. To clean my room and prepare for school reopening, waking up early was indeed necessary.

My parents were having breakfast in the dining room. They were clearly whispering. I don’t usually eavesdrop but they mentioned my name. I tried to concentrate while my brain searched Google how to function.

The conversation happened in my mother tongue. I will translate it for you guys.

” No no. She should know”

“She will be bothered by it. You know her. She won’t stop”

“But we took an oath that we never lie to her, remember”

“It’s for her own good”

My dad’s voice was more than a whisper this time ” GOD knows what that creature is. Why is it bugging us? Knocking is creepy enough. What’s with the watering? I let her believe that it was in her dream you know”

THE BOOGEYMAN 💀