The House of Rat

On a Sunday evening with lights off in the hall, Mithran was watching a Christopher Nolan film on Netflix with a bowl full of caramel and cheese popcorn. Mithran, an IT employee, lived alone in the city leaving behind his parents in hometown. Once finishing the schooling in his hometown, he moved to the city for college and stayed back for job. He was about to get married in a month time.

When the core plot of the Nolan movie was about to kick-start, Mithran was interrupted by the calling bell, which rang thrice continuously. He had to freeze the movie, turned on the lights and walked towards the door annoyingly.

Mithran, “Who the hell is that? Why don’t they allow me to relax even on a Sunday evening?”

He peeped through the door hole and it was Lekha, one of his classmates from school. He was surprised and nettled at the same time. Lekha was a girl with a wacky character who doesn’t take things seriously. The door was opened and she greeted him with utmost excitement to which he greeted back with a slightly lesser excitement.

Mithran, “It’s been ages since we met”

Lekha, “Yeah dude, we haven’t met since school. It’s been almost 8-9 years now”

Mithran was yet to invite Lekha inside the house instead wanted to know the reason behind her visit. She informed that there were some errands to run in the neighbourhood and decided to pay a surprise visit to Mithran’s.

Lekha hesitantly, “Dude... Can I come in?”

Mithran apologised for not welcoming her and invited her to the house. Once entered, she noticed a movie being paused in the TV, a bowl filled with popcorn and with guilt, questioned Mithran if she disturbed the movie time. Though it was true, he denied it and offered her a seat to sit.

Lekha sat on the sofa while Mithran grabbed his seat that was placed opposite to her. Once comfortably perched, Lekha apprised him on knowing about his marriage.

Mithran shocked, “How come you knew about my marriage? I haven’t told many about this”

Lekha jocosely answered that she had ears in nook and corner of the city, for which, she was called the female James Bond sarcastically by Mithran. She chuckled for being compared with James Bond.

At that point, Mithran realised that the main door was unclosed and walked towards it to close. Lekha requested him not to close the door as it was extremely sultry inside the house. But, he turned down the request as that area was crowded with rats and also that they enter the house to bite off the wires.

At once the word ‘Rat’ was mentioned, Lekha was shocked and the fear in her started to tickle up. Mithran also added his frustration that he was unable to keep the door open with fear on rat.

Lekha questioned, “Why don’t you shift to some other suburb? Why do you have to stay in this rat cave?”

Mithran irked, “Rat cave? This is own house, idiot!”

Lekha sarcastically, “Own house for the rat or you?”

The question pestered Mithran a big time and eventually she noticed his expression.

Lekha, “Relax dude. Generally, people have to think on house owner’s mindset and act accordingly. In your case, you’re acting according to the rats so I doubted if this is your house or the rats”

Mithran didn’t express much on that and asked if she wanted tea or coffee? By the time he was asking about the tea/coffee, Lekha instantly interrupted to say ‘Rat-Kill’.

Mithran casually, “Does it taste better than coffee?”

Lekha, “Huh?”

Mithran, “The Rat-Kill!”

Lekha wackily, “Dude, I meant about feeding it to the rats!”

All Mithran could do was a face palm, informed her that the rats gained strength with Rat-Kill and also called it a waste of time and money.

Lekha, “A coffee should do!”

Mithran comically asked, “For you or the rat?”

Lekha confused, “Errr???”

Mithran, “Coffee! For you or the rat?”

Lekha with a funnily distorted face, “Coffee is for us, dude”

Mithran, with a smile, got off the chair to make coffee for his friend. Unfortunately, the box of coffee powder was empty and it had to be bought in the nearby shop. Instantly, he walked towards the hall to inform his friend on the same. But before he could open his mouth, on looking at him walking out of the kitchen so early, Lekha questioned if the coffee was prepared in a flash.

Mithran, “Huh? The coffee powder’s done. I will go get from the nearby shop. You stay and I will be back in a minute”

Lekha felt petrified to be alone as that house was vulnerable to rat attacks and requested if she could join him to the shop. Mithran rejected the request since he had to lock down the whole house if she joined him. So, asked her to stay home.

Mithran ordered, “Close the door properly, Lekha”

Mithran left the house once ordering Lekha to close the door. She closed the door and was on the sofa, terrorised of being alone in the house of rat and wished Mithran to be back as early as possible. She had her eyes onto the door without a blink.

After a few minutes, Mithran was returning back from the shop and from a certain distance, he was shocked to see the door opened. He rushed to enter the house in a trice and the sight inside the house took him further aback. Lekha was standing near the TV with a broomstick, searching for something.

Mithran, who was in shock, questioned her on the need to stand there with a broomstick. That was the moment Lekha realised that her friend was back home and had a sigh of relief.

Lekha, “Thank god, you are back. The bloody rat entered the house”

Mithran was highly infuriated once he heard that from Lekha. He started yelling at her for leaving the door open even after telling her to close. She denied it as the door was closed and the rat entered the house despite being closed. The fact that the rat entered the house with doors closed worried Mithran even more.

Mithran anxiously, “From where did the rat enter? And where did it go?”

Lekha showed the way in which the rat entered and it was nothing but the front door which she claimed to be closed. Mithran was confused on the possibility for the rat to enter through the closed door and asked if she had the latch on while closing the door.

Lekha fuddled, “Do we have to put on the latch? You didn’t tell me that, buddy”

Mithran was extremely displeased but he had to know the direction in which the rat went once entering. Lekha responded by pointing towards the bedroom.

Mithran was unnerved, “Shit! That’s my bedroom, Lekha” took a deep breath, “You get in and check for the rat. I’ll go grab another broom”

Mithran rushed towards the storeroom to grab the broom while Lekha to the bedroom to check for the rat. She searched under the bureau, bed and dressing table but had no luck in finding it. Mithran entered the bedroom and asked if she found the rat but all he got was a negative reply.

Mithran stressed out, “Are you sure, Lekha? Did the rat really come inside this room?”

Lekha swore, “I am damn sure. I saw it with both eyes, Mithran. Maybe, it must have escaped when you were wasting time interrogating me in the hall”

That tested the annoyance threshold of Mithran and had him leave the room without any word. He scratched his head in the height of confusion and frustration while Lekha followed him to the hall trying to console.

Frustrated Mithran ordered Lekha, “Whatever! You thoroughly check the hall and I’ll go take a look in the kitchen”

While he was ordering, she saw the rat running inside the hall and shouted at Mithran to look back. He instantly looked back at the direction she pointed. Still, he found no rat there and again asked her if she really saw the rat. Lekha fiercely ordered Mithran yet another time to look at the floor where rat was running and using the broom, she started hitting the rat.

Mithran, who instantly looked back to see the rat, was shocked and confused to look at that scene. He found no rat there but she was still banging at the floor. He looked horrified.

Mithran softly, “You’re hitting an empty floor, Lekha”

Lekha yelled, “Hey, can’t you see the rat there? Help me man, I couldn’t kill it”

Mithran stood right there gazing at Lekha as the words found it hard to come out of his mouth because of the shock he was into. He slowly nodded negatively to notify her. On looking at him nodding, she gradually stopped banging.

Lekha slowly replied after a brief thought, “Oh wait!” and paused for a moment, “Maybe... this could be that”

Mithran instantly, “This could be what?”

Lekha casually replied, “It’s not a big deal, dude. But, people who knew me say ‘Fear is my biggest Enemy’”

Mithran demented, “What fear? What enemy? Stop blabbering and be clear”

Lekha, “I’m not blabbering, dude. I have a complication that whenever I hear something that fears me, I imagine the fearing issue happening around me. It appears more real to me. This complication has a very good term to it. I couldn’t recall it right now”

Mithran looked at Lekha in dismay and asked if that term was ‘Hallucination’. She instantly affirmed it with a bright face and also added to flummox Mithran that she was confused and not sure about seeing the rat for real as there was a possibility for the hallucination impact. That mystified and pestered Mithran, who was more concerned to find the trueness of the rat in the house.

Lekha coolly, “I swear I saw it with...”

Irked Mithran interrupted, “...both eyes? Tell me if you saw the rat for real”

Lekha thoughtfully, “Is that real or hallucination? It is up to you to figure out, Mithran”

Mithran was stunned hearing that and stared at Lekha. On the other hand, Lekha walked towards the door informing him that it was getting late for her and wanted to leave. To top it all, she requested him to send her the marriage invitation. The door was closed while Mithran stood still, holding the broomstick, looking at Lekha leaving the place.

Mithran puzzled, “That idiot walked in, saw the rat, called fear her enemy and called it hallucination. Hell, she made fear a communicable disease, gave it to me and left. IS THE RAT REALLY THERE INSIDE THE HOUSE?” and turned to look into the house dreadfully.

At that point, when he turned back to look into the house, he noticed a woman leaning onto the bedroom’s door, crying and staring at him. She was speechless, helpless and shocked looking at him. Once he noticed the woman, he went back few steps and fell onto the floor.

Mithran perplexed, “Mom?”

The woman was none other than Mithran’s mother. Mithran slowly stood upright, walked towards his mother and asked her when she came to the city.

Mom unnerved, “Thank god, you are back. I never went anywhere. This is where we live. And all this time you were speaking to an empty space! I tried to get you back to your senses but you were yelling at someone called Lekha, scratching your head. We never have rat problems here but you were frustrated for not finding it! You even mentioned hallucination. What does that even mean? What the hell happened to you? I’m so afraid to see you now! Let’s go consult a doctor!”

Mithran bemused, “Lekha felt very real to me! Is mom trying to fool me or am I afraid of guests that I hallucinated a guest coming home?”

*NONE CAN PLAY MIND GAMES BETTER THAN YOUR FEAR*