I was really thrilled when I received a lovely silver and blue coloured bicycle on my fourteenth birthday! It also had a small basket and a bell attached to it. I rung this sweet, musical bell so many times that my neighbour’s son yelled out and asked me “Nancy, is your bell stuck? Why don’t you go and get it repaired?” But I only smiled at him and cheekily rung the bell more loudly!

The very next day, I decided to practice cycling on the street where I lived. Just when I thought that I had got the hang of riding well, I dashed into a pretty flower bed. My friends, it was not at all my fault. A silly kid had dropped fine sand on the garden path where I was practicing. An old man taking his regular walks stopped and smiling toothlessly spoke “Young girl, you will learn some serious cycling only when you fall and get badly bruised!” “Mmm, I think he was right, because there-after, I did have some nasty falls. When a mad dog chased me once for half a kilometer and the second time when my dad was teaching me. There was no problem going uphill, the real test was speeding down! I completely lost control and dashed into Jaya, my neighbour, whose father was also teaching her how to cycle. At last, say a fortnight later, I was permitted to go where-ever I wanted!

Much to my joy, I could now go around the block, getting bread, cheese, fruits and vegetables for my mother!

It was windy when I set off to go cycling that evening. My parents had gone out for the day so naturally I was getting very bored. As I started on my journey; taking a new route, I noticed that the sky had become dark and sinister. It had already started to drizzle. Dead leaves blew every-where and it looked as if it was going to rain cats and dogs! But this atmosphere only excited me! All I wanted to do was to enjoy cycling and experience the raindrops licking my face and the wind blowing in my hair. As soon as I joined the traffic on the main road, it started raining heavily. People who were unprepared ran helter-sleter, trying to find a roof to protect themselves. Huge, black clouds bumped into each other, groaning loudly. Trees swayed in the wind, there was sudden thunder and lightning.

After sometime, I noticed that I had come to a quiet lane called ‘Gulmohar.’ It was a narrow street with old, run-down houses. Since it continued to pour heavily, I decided to wait in one of the houses with a veranda. Then I stopped. Wasn’t this the lane where that old woman stayed in the spooky house? My heart began to beat twice as fast as I recollected my friend Clara’s words: “Nancy, that lady is a witch! Since I live close to ‘Gulmohar’ street, my parents have told me not to visit that house as it is haunted! Also, there are many weird looking cats living with her. My grand-mother had also warned me often saying: “Clara, be careful! That hundred-year-old lady died in a fire in the house last year. Ever since that day, her soul haunts the house searching for her beloved cats. I forbid you from going there!”

Since I am fond of taking risks, I, ignored the advice given to me and cycled towards the house. “Witches, giants and ghosts only exist in fairy stories!” I told myself, studying the eerie house. Also, I was thirsty, and so I decided to take shelter. The gate creaked loudly as it was worn out and tarnished. The garden was full of weeds, cacti, shrubs and tall, un-kept grass. There was no doorbell, so I knocked on the door Rat-ta-tat-tat! Rat-ta-tat-tat! There was no light in the balcony, but only a faint beam emerged from below the door. I waited patiently, my nerves tingling with excitement and fear! Just as I was about to knock on the heavy door again, I heard a soft, rustling sound. Some-one was walking silently across the length of the house! I shivered, realizing that I was a wee bit afraid…

The door suddenly swung open; and out jumped two huge brown-grey cats onto my shoulders, snarling and licking me, their thick, bushy tails tickling my nose. “Yuck! I don’t like cats at all!” I heard myself speak aloud. Go away! Shoo! Get away from me,” I cried trying to ward off the big cats, but they continued to cling onto me, mewing loudly. “Now, now, what is it Blackie and Sooty? Whom are you troubling this time?” I watched in fascination as an old, bony woman came staggering towards me. She had a high pitched voice, long, silver hair and wore silver spectacles’ over a long nose. On her shoulders sat two enormous black cats, their green eyes gleaming in the darkness of the night. “Buzz off!” The woman chuckled loudly “Blackie and Sooty, you are becoming extremely naughty.” The cats sneered and then vanished into the darkness of the bungalow.

I had started shivering as it was quite cold. In a quivering voice, the lady spoke “Young girl, what do you want?” I shrank into the corner of the balcony but some-how managed to say “I want some water. Also, since it was raining heavily, I stopped to take shelter.” I shuddered, noticing that this creepy looking lady had one yellow and one green eye! “Do you like Bonvita or Complan lass?” “B-Bonvita will be good…” I mumbled. “But, tell me first child, where is it raining?” She asked bending almost double on her stick. “I can only see dazzling sunshine pouring in through these windows. Don’t you dare lie to me!” She cried snapping her bony fingers in the air. “But, but, it has been raining non-stop for the last one hour,” I protested and then stared out in surprise as I realized that she was absolutely right!

Bright sunshine poured in through the garden and the Gulmohar trees were covered in bright orange, gold and red petals. Sparrows chirped and cuckoos sung sweetly in them. The dirty garden was now full of lush-green lawns, dotted with lilies and beautiful red, yellow and pink roses. It was all very queer. “But, but,” I fumbled trying to pinch myself. “There were cactus bushes, weeds…” “Rubbish!” She screamed and wobbled back into the house muttering “Wait here, I will get you a cup of Bonvita and some chocolate cookies.”

This was a golden chance for me to dash out of this horrifying mansion! I didn’t want any water, Bonvita or Complan! All I wanted to do was to run towards my bicycle and paddle away at break-neck speed to safety. But some-how I remained there, mesmerized and stood there, rooted to the spot.

The sky still looked dark and scary. I then realized that there was no electricity and the surrounding area had plunged into gloom. I could hear the cats mewing angrily, their claws sharp on the wooden floor of the house. On top of that, I had forgotten to carry my torch with me. I could hear the woman talking to her cats as they continued to purr loudly. “Here, here, have this Sooty, some warm milk for you and some tasty rat soup for my beloved Blackie!” “Thank-you,” I heard another deep voice next to me. All of a sudden, a sinister feeling made my skin tingle as I understood who had actually spoken. But, before I could even react; I heard the woman’s shrill voice speaking to me “Here you are, my girl - hot Bonvita for you. Drink it before it gets cold.” “That’s right - Taste it, it’s so creamy!” I once again heard the intense voice now close to my ears.

I yelled out loudly as I raced out of the house and my own voice sounded so peculiar in the dead of the night. “I don’t want your Bonvita, in fact I don’t want anything! What if you are giving me that horrifying rat soup?” As I raced across the street, I fell down into a ditch; twisted my ankle, but I refused to look back…

“What a kid!” Sooty spoke laughing loudly. “Yes, all I did was to give her this cup of Bonvita as instructed by Madam Gale,” she said adding two sugar cubes to the cup. “Silly kid - doesn’t she know how tasty the milk is that is served by our mistress herself?” Blackie spoke in an amused voice. Sipping the creamy milk, Sooty said “Oh, forget about her, I think it is delicious!” The cat grinned widely as she watched Nancy jump onto her cycle and disappear round the bend of the road.

My friends, while I rode at break-neck speed, I recollected Clara’s words… “That hundred-year-old lady had died in a fire along with her strange looking cats! Her soul keeps haunting that huge mansion!” Was this tale really true? Or was it just my imagination that those cats could actually speak? Who cared? I said to myself as I continued to ride my bicycle into the darkness of the night…

Mini Dictionary

1) Bruise – an injury that discolours the skin without breaking it.

2) Sinister – seeming evil or dangerous

3) Raining cats &- dogs – (Idiom) raining unusually or unbelievably hard.

4) Haunt – ( of a ghost) appear regularly, or linger in the mind

5) Weird – bizarre

6) Forbid – ban, disallow

7) Ignore – take no notice

8) Tarnish- cause metal to become stained, a stain on metal

9) lWeeds – a wild plant growing where it is not wanted

Wee bit – little bit

11 Rustling – make a sound like paper being crumbled

12 Snarl –growl with bared teeth – in an aggressive way

13 Ward off – repel, fend of

14 Quivering – tremble, shudder

15 Lass – girl or a young woman

16 Wobble –stand or move unsteadily

17 Mumble- speak indistinctly

18 Gloom- dark, dim, glum,

19 Shrill – high pitched, piercing

20 Peculiar – strange

21 Fumble – use your hands clumsily, grope about

22 Spooky – sinister or ghostly in a way that causes fear and uneasiness.

23 Eerie – mysterious and frightening