‘deep breaths, in.. and out.. in… and out.’ I told myself. ‘maybe counting sheep will put me to sleep’ I thought. Living along isn’t always great as you think. Seeing things you can’t explain, makes it worse. I can’t sleep. I want to, but I can’t. Something is keeping me up.

More like someone.

Not only do I see, but I can also hear her. Her voice, calling me to help her. ‘PLEASE! PLEEASE LET ME GO! MUUUUMMM SAVE MEEE! WHERE ARE YOUUUU!’ I can hear her scream when I close my eyes. When I open them, there she lies, beside my window, a young girl in ripped clothes sobbing. ‘Why didn’t anyone save me?’ she would ask. She wasn’t angry, but she was broken.

At first I was terrified, but the more she came the more I realized, what I feared wasn’t her. I actually feared what she went through.

For days I ignored her presence. Every night I slept making myself not to look at my window. The more ignored the more I began to realize that I’m never going to not see it.

I was afraid to speak out loud, but one day I really wished I could have asked her, her story. ‘What happened? Who did this to you?’. As paranormal as it can get, she heard my thoughts. For the first time that night. She stopped crying. A second later, I was not in my bedroom anymore, I was now standing on the side of a road. I can see the beautiful sunset from the side, and passing by me was a familiar face. I heard my heart drop. She looked like the happiest girl I had ever seen. A side bag hanging on her right shoulder, with a trophy on her hand, she looked excited. I followed her. Listening to her hum Nina Simone’s ‘feeling good’ in an off-pitch tone, I couldn’t help but smirk.

I could hear her thoughts and for a second I saw what she was thinking about as she walked down the lane ever so happily. She was thinking of her mum. From what I saw, it looked like she lived with mum. And I felt saddened to see how sad she was seeing her mother struggle to bring her up alone. I now knew why she was happy. She wanted to make her hardworking mother proud. She wanted to see her mum’s beautiful smile.

The sun was down now; I can hear the silence on the road. She was still walking, I’m guessing home. I was busy looking around trying to figure out what was around me, when out of nowhere, a van comes in drags her to it. ‘HELPPPP!! SAVE M- ‘, I heard as the door closed. I can hear my own heart beat thundering in my ear, I didn’t know what was happening. A massive wind blows around me, causing the dried leaves on the road go flying. I cover my eyes in protection, and as I take my hand off, I was in front of an old rusty warehouse. ‘SAVE ME! SOMEBODY HELPPP!!’ I can hear her voice. She was inside the warehouse. I tried to open the doors, but it was locked! I hit it hard, but not a slightest sound was made. Then it hit me; I can’t change what was happening, or what has happened. I couldn’t stop myself from crying. Behind the doors I can hear her cry. Calling out to her mother, begging whoever was inside to show mercy on her. I didn’t stop banging: I wanted it to stop. I wanted to save her. I screamed loud as I can, and everything around me changed once again.

I am now standing in a cemetery. I stood behind who looked like her school friends that were crying holding a middle aged woman. She looked like the mother in her thoughts, yet devastated. She hugged a framed picture of the girl as she cried out loud. I fell on to my knees near her grave and right as I touched her grave, I was forcefully pulled out of the place back on to my bedroom. I got up from my bed in sweat and tears. The girl is now in front of me, staring at me with tear filed eyes.

As the sun rose, she disappeared. I stood still, thinking of everything I saw. As I started to think about it, I realized that I knew the cemetery she led me to. It was the cemetery downtown. I wanted to see for myself if this is all just a bad dream and decided to find out.

I got up, and took the bus to the cemetery road. As I got down, I noticed that I was standing in the same road she walked happily in my dream. The surrounding started becoming more familiar as I continued to walk but unlike in my dream the road was now filled with people and vehicles.

Just as I was passing by a garbage truck, I noticed something shining to the sunlight from it. As I took a closer look, it was a trophy. A trophy that was all too familiar. It wasn’t in the greatest condition but I realized it was the trophy she held that day. It had fallen as she was taken away.

Picking it out from the truck, I washed it from a tap on the street and wiped it clean. The trophy read ‘ANNUAL PRIZE – SCIENCE’. I continued my way to the cemetery. As I got to her grave, I saw the middle aged woman that I predicted to be the mother sobbing at her grave.  Holding on to the trophy tight, I walked up to her. 

As she saw me, he sobs became quite, she looked at me in tear filled eyes. ‘I think she wanted me to give you this’ I said, giving the trophy to her hand. A little confused, she took the trophy from her small wrinkled hands. Taking a look at the trophy and running her hand on the name engraved on it, her sobs turns into cries out loud. She hugged the trophy to her chest and wailed in pure heartache. I couldn’t stop my tears from falling but I tried to stay calm and turned to go back home.

As I turned, I saw her. The girl that sat by my window for days.  She now stood right in front of me. Her torn clothes were not torn anymore. She was back in her school uniform like in my dream. She smiled at me in tear filled eyes and with a mouthed of ‘thank you’ as she disappeared into the sky. 

From that day on, she never came to visit me in my room. She had taken her leave.

By Rtr. Sajani Mayadunne | Email: sajanimayadunne@gmail.com