The Tragic Teenage Girl

My dad was transferred to Goa due to his job. He decided to take my brother with him, they stayed at a building with neighbours living next to and below them. As soon as they entered the building, they could hear the sound of a puja happening. It was assumed that the downstairs neighbours were very orthodox whereas beside our apartment stayed a young man who was a computer engineer.

After settling down, my dad left my brother in the living room to watch T.V. so he could go shower. He turned to the dark bedroom to go get his clothes that’s when he saw a silhouette of a young girl, she had something in her hand and she was striking the base of her palm with it. He ran and switched on the lights to see that there was nothing. He just brushed it off and thought he was too tired to think about it.

My dad started going to the office and left my brother with one of his friends at the

house. Both my dad’s friend and my brother were having fun, playing video games and all. They got hungry and my dad’s friend left my brother at home and went to get food. On his way up, he was greeted by one of the downstairs neighbours, “You shouldn’t be living there.” he said in a low voice. “Excuse me?” asked my dad’s friend surprised. The

neighbour then just turned away and went into his house.

My dad’s friend then went up and entered the house to see that my brother wasn’t in the living room, so he went and checked the bedroom. That’s when he found my brother

hiding in the closet. “Hey, buddy, what’s wrong? Why are you hiding?” asked my dad’s friend. “The girl with the bloody forearm was chasing me!” my brother wailed. My dad’s

friend, scared, grabbed a pair of scissors and checked the whole house. He closed all the windows and doors and calmed my brother down. As soon as my dad came home, he

told him everything. “Anyways good news I can go back to Bangalore,” said my dad. “Oh, that’s good. Maybe you could leave tonight” said my dad’s friend. “Yes, I will. Can you check for a flight or train ticket?” asked my dad. “Sure,” said my dad’s friend.

My dad and brother started packing up. My brother was really happy to leave the place. Just when my dad, his friend and my brother went down with the luggage. They saw the

downstairs neighbour’s wife approach them. “I need to tell you all something,” she said. “Yes?” asked my dad. “Are you leaving because of the girl?”. “What girl?”. “The one who haunts the house you stay in”. “Oh. Umm, no actually. But can you please tell me about the girl?”. “Well, a girl moved into that house long ago. She was really dull and gloomy.

After a week, they found her on the floor with a deep cut in her forearm and a blade in her hand.”

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Writer: Malvika Satish