I have seen and spoken to ghosts of Simon and Linda!

The house was far away from the town and there were no other houses in the vicinity . I opened the gate, walked through the garden path and after climbing a few steps stood on the verandah.

Front door and windows were open, curtains were fluttering in the air. It was summer and night was just beginning to fall.

A very pretty girl peeped through one of the windows. She smiled and asked me to get inside the house and take a seat. I sat on the couch and waited for Simon to come. The ceiling fan was running at top speed.

The girl did not introduce herself but I was sure it was Linda. Simon had shown me her photo and told me that they were planning to get married.

‘ Of course you will be the first person to know when a date is fixed and my friend you have to be here .’ I recalled every word Simon had told me over phone.

Last week Simon phoned me again to say that he has bought a house and asked me if I could come and stay with them over the weekend . I promised I would. He gave me his address and directed how to reach there.

It was so boring to sit in the room all alone. I got impatient and called ‘ Simon, where are you?’ My repeated calls echoed back at me. I hesitated for a while and then walked through the corridor searching for him in all the rooms but there was no sign of him. All of a suddenn I saw Linda entering the kitchen hurriedly. I said ‘Hello!’ There was no response. I followed her to the kitchen but to my utter astonishment she was not there!

I was scared. I came out of the house but felt relieved to some extent as I found Simon coming in. He was carrying a big shopping bag filled with grocery items. When I told him about the time I came to his house he laughed and said ‘Sorry I am late! So sorry you had to wait for me! ’

I asked him about the girl. ‘ She is Linda, Isn’t she?’

‘Gosh you have seen her?’

‘Yes but where did she disappear?’

Simon smiled, said ‘She hasn’t disappeared. She is definitely hiding,that’s all. I am sure she is watching you with all curiosity, Ha Ha Ha! She will come, don't worry. By the way, tonight we must not sleep. After dinner we, three of us, will have a great time doing chatting, playing cards and of course drinking. I am so delighted you have come. Please excuse me, let me put the groceries in the kitchen. I shall be back soon with drinks.’

Half an hour gone past, Simon didn’t return. ‘Hello Simon, where are you?’ I shouted. There was no answer. All kinds of fear started to enter my head and I came outside the house as fast as I could. As I was about to run for my life Mr. Hardy, a local shopkeeper whom I knew well, stopped his scooter and asked me what was I doing here and why I was panting.

When I told him the story he said ‘How could it be? Don’t you know Simon has died?’

‘Simon died? When? How?’

‘Listen my dear, both Simon and his girlfriend Linda died in a car accident day before yesterday! I am sorry to give you this sad news. Their car collided with a truck on the highway. and both of them died on the spot. You say that you entered the house but how could you? See from here the house is locked!’

“But believe me the front door and the windows were all open and I was inside the house for quite sometime. I have seen both Simon and Linda and in fact talked to them!’

‘I don’t understand how could this be possible! . But if you are sure you have really seen Simon and Linda I can only tell you that you have seen their ghosts!... Come with me, you can stay the night at my place and leave tomorrow if you really have to. ’

‘ Will no train be available now to return to Jodhpur?’

‘ Oh no, not this time of the night. Last train left at 8PM. You will have to wait till 5.30 tomorrow morning for the next train. No problem I shall drop you at the railway station to catch the train. You cannot go to the railway station now and spend the night there.’

I kept quiet and wondered what to do!.

Mr. Hardy laughed and said ‘Forget the idea to spend the night in the waiting room. You haven’t had even a cup of tea as yet! What about your dinner ? Besides, how would you like if Simon and Linda turn up there to give you company! For God’s sake please take your seat – be quick or we may be in trouble’.

I jumped and sat on the rear seat of the scooter as soon as Mr.Hardy gave a kick start.

Tears ran down my cheeks thinking about the tragic accident of Simon and Linda. I also kept on wondering what would have happened to me had I not met Mr. Hardy just at the right time!Years have gone past but the incident of that night frightens me even now.

I bumped into Mr. Hardy recently in a shopping mall. When I asked him about the house he said ‘ The house has been on sale for good many years but no one is interested to buy the property.’

‘You mean to say that the house remains unoccupied till date?’

‘I did not say that’ Mr. Hardy laughed and added ‘It could well be that the house appears to be vacant but actually not – it is still under occupation of Simon and Linda. Oh I forgot to mention I don’t go past that house in the evening any more. I have chosen a different road to travel’

‘Why, have you seen them?’.

‘ I haven’t seen them, thank God but a friend of mine who is quite a brave fellow and won’t tell me a lie said that he had seen a young couple sitting in the garden in the middle of the night and that too when it was raining heavily. Thank God he managed to drive fast and reach home. And about a month ago I heard the same story from my brother-in-law, Jeremy, who for the first time was driving that way with his friends at night . Their car broke down a few metres away from that house. As they were trying to fix the problem they saw the young couple sitting near the front door and then they started laughing,giggling, dancing and running around the garden. Jeremy and his friends could not stay there any longer. They were scared to death and found no other alternative but to leave the car there for the night and run to reach their homes as fast as they could. Next morning when they all went over there to see the condition of the car they found everything was O.K. What was more surprising when they didn’t find the car on the road where it was left last night, it was parked in front of Simon’s house and the car was facing the other way! Doesn’t it sound so strange! It could well be that Simon and Linda managed to put the car right and took a test drive !’