It was raining heavily. The three siblings- Sam, John, and Britt were sad. The rain ruined their playtime. They were sitting gloomily in the hallway.
'Why it needed to rain now! ', exclaimed John.
'To prevent us from going outside to play,' Britt replied in a disgusted tone.
'I hate it. I hate when it rains,' John continued mumbling.
'Yes, me too,' Britt supported her brother.
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'You do not hate rain. You hate it when it rains during your playtime. If it was at midday, you both would be outside showing in the rain,' finally Sam, the oldest among three spoke.
Both replied, 'You have a point there.'
'But what can we do? We cannot go out in this rain in the afternoon. We cannot watch TV because there is electricity now,' told John.
'Not to worry, the electricity will be fixed soon. Then we can watch our favorite show,' Sam tried to reassure John.
'I know electricity will be back any moment. But we are getting bored! What can we do in the meantime?'
'We can play rock-paper-scissors,' Britt suggested.
'No, that is childish. Moreover, we are three, and there can be no result,' John told Brett then looking at Sam asked, 'Why are you not suggesting anything?'
Sam seemed to be thinking something. After some moment, he replied, 'We can read stories.'
It seemed a good plan to them. Their Grandma was observing their conversation. She called them to come and sit beside her.
'Wouldn't it be better if I tell you a story?' Grandma Beth asked them.
'We would love to hear stories from you,' all shouted excitedly.
'Okay, okay, no need to shout that much. I have a weak heart. Who knows I may pass out,' Beth said with a smile. Then added, 'What kind of story do you want to hear?'
It was again time for a group discussion. Everyone had different opinions, so it took them some time. Finally, they all agreed at this dusk with the heavy rain and occasional lightning the ambient is set for a ghost story.
'Okay I will tell you a ghost story. But you need to know, ghosts do not exist.'
The three started chattering, saying otherwise.
Smiling, Grandma Beth said, 'Alright, first listen to the story and you will understand. Oh, and it is my life experience, not something I made up.'
She then sipping water, started her story.
It was the early days of my internship. People have been always using the interns, sometimes abusing them. But, the interns' hands are tied, they need to listen to everything their superior says. I was no different. I was trying to give my highest dedication to the work. So that I could become an employee at that firm or get good recommendations.
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'So there are bullies everywhere?' asked John.
'Shhh! Let Nana tell her story. You can ask questions later,' Sam hushed John.
One day, I was working late. But, there was something wrong with the records. One half of my mind was telling me to stop working and get back home. The other half poked, Mr. Alberto wanted this to be finished today, next morning he will check it, what will you say to him if you cannot finish it?
It was around 7:30 in the evening. Most of the coworkers were gone. I decided to finish the work tonight. For that, I needed to go to the record room to check the record. So taking the report, I went to the record room which was on the opposite side of the floor. To reach there I needed to cross a long corridor.
I lost track of time finding the record. After finding it, I needed to recheck and match it and update my report accordingly. It also took some time. Then when I finished and was satisfied with it, I looked at my wristwatch. It was 10 already!
Exiting the record room, I found out only one dim light was on. I realized, there were none but me in the building. And my mistake was to shut the door of the record room after entering. I felt discomfort. Closing the door I walked towards the stairs as there would be a guard who could open the gate of the ground floor so I could get out.
I was having an eerie feeling. I was hearing footsteps. I thought there might be someone still left. But when I stopped the sound of the footsteps also stopped. As if I was being followed.
I panicked and started running. The sound also started running! I was getting nervous because whenever I looked back there was none to be found.
Finally, I reached the stairs and hurriedly rushed down several steps. Then I sat taking a cover. Then a thought crossed my mind. One hand was occupied with the files in the empty hand, I opened my shoes took them, and started going down the stairs again. Magically the sound stopped!
Getting down to the locked door of the ground floor, shouted to get the attention of the guard who then noticing me opened the door. He said that he thought no one was there. If he knew he would not have locked the door.
I told him not to worry and thanked him. Putting on the shoes I went out of the main gate and walked towards my dorm, as it was only a five minutes walking distance. Locking the gate, the guard came with me to ensure I returned to my dorm room safely.
'If there are no ghosts, then who followed you that night?' asked Sam.
'You could listen but could not see. Does it not make it a ghost?' added John.
'You were very afraid right? If I was there I would have fainted,' told Brett.
'You have thrown many questions at me, I am injured,' smiled Beth. 'Yes Brett, I was afraid. But remember, even when we are afraid, we must use our wit, thus we can get out of situations.'
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'I have a doubt though,' Sam was shaking his head and added, 'Why whatever was following you stopped when you had taken off the shoes?'
'Because that is the real ghost,' laughed Beth.
'What?' all exclaimed!
'The floor was wooden so as the stairs. What I heard were the echoes of my footsteps, no ghosts or stalkers were following me that night,' she continued laughing, 'See, if I was not witty enough to put off the shoes, I might end up fainting. So, never lose wit. Remember wit prevails always! Well, the rain has slowed down a notch and the electricity is back. Why not we watch our favorite show now!'