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| Sunday, 16 May 2004 |
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The invisible visitor by Sriyanthanie Jayawardena
Even my son and daughter became extraordinarily silent. Curled up in a chair, my son became contemplative while his younger sister lay on the floor hugging a huge toy bear. Sidath's cough did not let him have a peaceful sleep at a stretch. I had to check him several times at night and it made me tired and to have a feeling of unrest. I may have slept for some time, when I heard a loud noise outside. Abruptly I got up and listened. "Bang ! Bang !! Bang !!! I was horrified by that sudden loud banging on the door. Shaking with fear I got out of bed looking at the wall clock. It was past 1.30 a.m. The banging started once more. Shaking with intense fear I looked at my sleeping kids. They were undisturbed. Shaking I kept my trembling hand on the door knob. I believe I heard a faint sound of foot steps moving away from the door. The sound subsided. I listened, awestriken. I kept motionless for a second, feeling dizzy. Then dragged my weak feet towards the little cupboard, on which I kept a mug of water, handy. I gulped the water down, mustered up every ounce of courage, breathed hard and opened the door making a big noise. I turned on the light which illuminated the indoor garden, and opened a window of Sidath's room to see how he was. To my horror I saw him kneeling down on he floor, keeping his head on the bed. His hands were hanging down loosely. The door was tight shut. "Sidath ! Sidath !!" Hysterically Crying out hysterically I managed to open the door and ran to him. He was breathing hard, sweat pouring down his whole body. I shook him and a groan escaped his throat. He motioned me not to drag him. I massaged his chest drenched with sweat. He finished the tea and I helped him to rise and he leaned on the bed. He tried to talk but I waved my hand motioning him not to do it. I propped up two pillows behind his head and made him comfortable. "What happened ?" I inquired. "A series of coughs made me breathless. I gasped and gasped for breath. I couldn't bear it up, so I climbed down the bed and kneeled on the floor. It made coughing a bit easier". He went on "Don't talk so much. Wait and tell slowly," I pleaded. "No, it's alright now. I felt I was unable to breath in. I hit the bed with my hands and tossed my head right and left. I felt alarmed", he continued. "God ! why didn't I hear ? I might have fallen asleep" I felt guilty. "Still my chest and stomach ache", he complained. "You know, I heard a loud banging at my bedroom door. That's why I came out" I revealed. "I know I heard it too" he said. "No ! I thought it was only I, who heard it" you heard it, eh ? How very strange ! I heard foot steps too. But when I came out, nothing was there", I went on. "It can't be imagination, No ? Both of us heard it, no ?" he said. "Your guardian deity must have informed me, that you needed help. You are pious, no ?" I said, not jokingly, but not so seriously either. He smiled and asked me the time. "It's 2.10 a.m. Are you OK now ?" "Yes, That hot tea made it easy. Go and sleep". I took leave of him and went to bed. Before that I looked under the bed and behind the almirah to make sure that there's nothing strange. As usual I got up at 5 a.m. to prepare both breakfast and lunch. Sitting on the bed I arranged my hair in a knot, when I noticed my six year old daughter turning on the bed and muttering something. She seemed to be uneasy. "Amma, see, isn't my whole body hot ? Have I got fever like father ?" she inquired. Touched I touched her little body to feel the hotness. To my utter dismay I learnt that she too was down with high temperature. She started crying slowly and silently. I had not much time to spare. I gave her a Panadol and lowered her head to her pillow. "Amma, I feel like vomiting. Take me out. E...e..e..e.." she started crying again. I helped her to sit on her little plastic chair and she started vomiting. Hearing our hustle and bustle, Sidath too came out to help her. Hurriedly I finished cooking and prepared. Bed tea for all. I arranged everything for them to have breakfast and got ready to go to work I dressed daughter too, to take her to our family doctor. Before 7 o'clock in the morning we could go to the doctor. When our turn came my daughter entered the consulting room first. She bade the lady doctor good morning and turned her attention towards the fish tank there. Laughed "See, doctor aunty that big white fish is eating something" she said. "It's eating breakfast. Then he gets ready to go to school" jovially the doctor added. Daughter laughed. The doctor examined her and prescribed medicine. We hurried back home. I went to work with a light heart. In the afternoon I came home to find her up and about. Son was reading his favourite book "Our Universe". Sidath was coughing in his sleep. By evening Sidath was better. Finishing an early dinner I got the kids into bed. Since it was a Friday I knew there would be a good film on TV. As Sidath was feeling better I suggested him to watch it. He agreed and checked the programme. He said there was a good detective story, a thriller movie. The film started. From the beginning it proved to be really exciting. We watched it for about twenty minutes and it came to a really thrilling point. We were glued to it. At that very moment we heard someone walking inside the house. The steps were getting closer to the room where we were watching the movie. Though we were so absorbed in the film we couldn't help taking our eyes away. We kept on listening. Now the steps were heard passing the living room. We were staring at each other flabbergasted. A chill ran down my spine. Still someone was walking across the living room towards the front of the house. In a jiffy, both of us ran out of the room, switching on lights everywhere. I started running to the bedroom where the kids were sleeping and Sidath ran to the front. I looked under the beds and everywhere possible, in the adjoining room, in the toilet, on the passages, in the kitchen and the indoor garden. Sidath had searched in the front room living room and verandah. We could find nobody, not a hint of any mark of a shoe or a slipper! Bad I sensed something bad was going to happen. I got into bed since I heard daughter muttering something. I kept my palm on her forehead to find it blazing hot! Once again she muttered something incomprehensible, stretched her limbs and started biting her teeth. Her whole body started shivering. A horrified cry escaped me and I yelled, "Sidath, hurry up will you bring some cold water. Bring the fan, Oh! quick....run....run." When he gets excited he is no better than I am. He brought a bowlful of water spilling it all over the place. I started applying cold water on my daughter's forehead. She gave a cry of discontentment. I have had the horrible experience of fits little children develop on account of high fever. I have once seen my son get a fit. How the little body got rigid, how he yawned and how he rolled his eyes until the pupils of both eyes vanished! A mother could never bear it to happen to a child, never ever could she bear it happen to her own child. We fought about ten minutes and brought my daughter's temperature down. We got her to swallow a panadol and sighed in relief, that the danger was over by then. I remember that the TV was still on and told Sidath to switch it off. "We missed the really thrilling part of that movie. It's still running but there's no point in watching it now. How is she now" he inquired. "The panadol will work. She'll be alright". I answered. "I can't sleep in my room today. I'll come to this one" saying so, Sidath left the room. As there was no other bed in the room, Sidath brought a light mattress and lay down. I lay beside my daughter but we were unable to sleep. Then Sidath started. Message "Did you realise something, Gaya? Somebody gave us a message today." "Who? What do you mean" I enquired. "You couldn't understand that - eh?" asked Sidath. "Please don't talk in riddles. What's that?" I was getting impatient. "No, no. I mean that strange sound of footsteps. What do you think about them?" he put the question to me. "O! Yes I nearly forgot that. It was a real warning, no? My God! If not for that sound we would never have come to this room. We would never have known what happened until....until....? My...........I get goose bumps even now. See...I just can't imagine what misery awaited us. We could act just in time, because of that sound. Otherwise?....." I poured out my feelings. Heard "Of course, can you remember, last night too both of us heard the banging on the door. Today too, two of us heard the footsteps. That cannot be imagination then. Some unseen power gave us the warning. I have to believe it" Sidath continued. "Yesterday it was you. Today it's daughter. That's very strange no? But unlike yesterday, the footsteps sounded just like a female's. As if a female in leather soled shoes. Can you remember" I asked Sidath. "Yes, I agree. Those steps were quick and light." We stopped talking. A few minutes later I heard Sidath's deep snoring. While I was dozing off, I remembered something my son used to say when he was about one and a half years old. On some evenings, he used to lie in bed and point his little index finger to a corner of the room and say. "There, there he is" "Who? Where" I used to ask. "There...."Mutuva". He's there." He'd say. "Mutuva? who's that?" I used to inquire. But he was too small to say anything further. Yet, he smiled and waved his little arm, pointing to his "Mutuva." We did not take it seriously. We just ignored it. Until now, I too had forgotten all about it. A series of questions flashed in my mind. "Who was 'Mutuva?" my baby son talked of? "Who banged at my door last night?" "Who walked across the living room tonight?" |
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| Produced by Lake House |
It was a hectic day. My heart was heavy. Two days before my husband
fell ill. He had a bad attack of viral fever. He broke rest two on nights
and seemed to be a wreak. Two days stubble added an unfriendly,
disheartening sickly look to his face to cap it all, he developed an
unceasing cough. His groaning filled the whole house and an air of
wretchedness prevailed within an without the house.
