Speaker 1: It was a chilly winter night. The snowfall was going outside.
Speaker 1: I threw woods in the fireplace just when my grandpa said,
Speaker 1: tonight is bringing back memories of my young days. How
Speaker 1: was about your age, then, haleix I looked at him
Speaker 1: and smiled. My fiance Rose was sitting right beside Grandpa.
Speaker 1: We came to spend the winter holidays at my grandparents' house.
Speaker 1: Grandma said, in a soft voice, which memory are you
Speaker 1: talking about? Grandpa replied that incident regarding the winter night Watch.
Speaker 1: Rose said in a curious voice, what is this winter
Speaker 1: night watch? Before Grandpa could reply to her question, Grandma said,
Speaker 1: in a serious tone, come on, Steve, don't scare these
Speaker 1: children with your horror story. They have come here for
Speaker 1: the holidays. Hearing this, I got interested as well. I
Speaker 1: sat down on the porch beside my grandpa and said,
Speaker 1: what horrible story. Grandpa said in a calm voice, Well,
Speaker 1: it is indeed a scary story, but it is one
Speaker 1: hundred percent true. But I won't blame you for not
Speaker 1: believing me. Rose looked at me and said, in excitement,
Speaker 1: please tell us I love your horror stories. Also, this
Speaker 1: is a perfect night for scary tales. Grandpa took a
Speaker 1: sip from his glass of wine and said, this is
Speaker 1: not a story I can tell you, but you sure
Speaker 1: won't get scared, right, I said, in a confident tone. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: we are not kids, Grandpa tell us. My grandpa started.
Speaker 1: I was living with my mom back then. I lost
Speaker 1: my father at a very young age. After finishing high school,
Speaker 1: I opened up a shop of my own and decided
Speaker 1: to take care of my mother. The locality where I
Speaker 1: grew up was a small town those days. Cases of
Speaker 1: theft and robbery often took place during winter nights, so
Speaker 1: our local sheriff built a small group of its own
Speaker 1: to patrol the area. The group was divided into two
Speaker 1: sections to work as night watch. Alternatively, this was a
Speaker 1: way for young boys like us to earn some extra
Speaker 1: cash and also provide some community service. Also, it was
Speaker 1: fun to roam around the snowy streets with their childhood pals,
Speaker 1: drinking whisky from the flask. We caught four thieves and
Speaker 1: stopped four robberies from happening due to this night watch practice.
Speaker 1: The town people appreciate this gesture of community service, as
Speaker 1: everyone felt safe because of us. We were a group
Speaker 1: of three people including me. It was me, Rob and Simon.
Speaker 1: We all grew up in that town and were close friends.
Speaker 1: Every Tuesday and Thursday nights we used to patrol the
Speaker 1: area with flashlights. Simon carried a rifle for safety purposes,
Speaker 1: but he never used it except one time. Rob was drunk.
Speaker 1: Most of the time, I used to carry an iron
Speaker 1: rod casually. One night, we were patrolling near the kid's
Speaker 1: playground when we heard someone's scream. Rob pointed out to
Speaker 1: a house situated on the opposite side of the playground.
Speaker 1: We noticed a small cloud of smoke was coming out
Speaker 1: of that house. At first, we guessed that the house
Speaker 1: was on fire, but as we walked close to the house,
Speaker 1: we realized it wasn't the house that was on fire.
Speaker 1: As Grandpa paused to take another sip of his wine,
Speaker 1: Rose asked, in a tense voice, then, what was it? Grandpa?
Speaker 1: Grandpa got back to his story and said it was
Speaker 1: the person who lived inside it. Hearing this, I got
Speaker 1: a bit startled and said, what what do you mean
Speaker 1: by that? Grandpa went on saying the house belonged to
Speaker 1: a woman named Julia. After her husband's death, she was
Speaker 1: living alone in that house. She was a depressed and
Speaker 1: lonely woman. That night, Julia set herself on fire to
Speaker 1: commit suicide. As we got close to her house, we
Speaker 1: saw a horrible scene. Julia was on her bedroom balcony.
Speaker 1: She was burning like hell fire. Her screens pierced our ears.
Speaker 1: We could see her melting flesh dropping from her body.
Speaker 1: She wanted to end her life, but I hope she
Speaker 1: didn't realize that she chose a very painful way. The
Speaker 1: smell of burning human flesh made Rod vomit on the ground.
Speaker 1: Before we could get inside and save her, she fell
Speaker 1: down from the bedroom balcony while burning and firing. What
Speaker 1: hor horrible sight it was. The local sheriff arrived with
Speaker 1: the paramedics. Most people of the town came to her house,
Speaker 1: but by the time they all came, she was already dead.
Speaker 1: It was a terrible night for the three of us
Speaker 1: to witness her that way. There was no one to
Speaker 1: arrange for her funeral, so the hospital staff took care
Speaker 1: of her corpse. Her house remained empty and soon became abandoned.
Speaker 1: No one was ready to buy her house. After hearing
Speaker 1: how she died on that balcony, I said, in a
Speaker 1: casual voice, this is indeed a horrible incident to witness.
Speaker 1: But what is scary about this? My grandpa smiled and
Speaker 1: replied The scary part began after her death. After three
Speaker 1: to four days of this incident, another night watch group
Speaker 1: reported to the local sheriff. They said that last Monday night,
Speaker 1: while they were patrolling the area, they heard a sudden
Speaker 1: scream of a woman. They thought someone is in trouble.
Speaker 1: After following that sound, they reached Julia's house. The house
Speaker 1: was dark and looking haunted. The group stood there for
Speaker 1: a few minutes, but nothing happened. When turned round get back,
Speaker 1: their eyes got stuck. At the end of the road.
Speaker 1: They saw Julia was standing there with a vicious look,
Speaker 1: burnt face and body. She watched them with their spine
Speaker 1: chilling grin, and then suddenly started to run towards.
Speaker 2: The group, screaming.
Speaker 1: The group lost their mind and ran away to save
Speaker 1: their lies. After this incident, the entire town was afraid
Speaker 1: to go out after dark. Many people started to see
Speaker 1: Julia's haunting spirit. No one dared to go near her
Speaker 1: house or even in daylight. One winter morning, a man
Speaker 1: was coming from his late night shift. It was around
Speaker 1: four a m. The street was filled with fog. He
Speaker 1: was walking with a flashlight in his hand. Suddenly he
Speaker 1: felt a shadow was moving in the fog. He said,
Speaker 1: in a fearful voice, who is it? As usual, no
Speaker 1: reply came. He started to walk fast to get home early.
Speaker 1: He was about to take the left turn leading to
Speaker 1: his home just when Julia came out from the fog
Speaker 1: and stood in his way. The man got terrified, seeing
Speaker 1: her vicious face laughing at him. He fainted on the
Speaker 1: ground after screaming. Local people heard his voice and came
Speaker 1: to his rescue. They carried him into his house. Incidents
Speaker 1: like this became regular and the town was terrified. After
Speaker 1: the sunset on Tuesday, our term came for the night watch.
Speaker 1: We three were quite brave as we were the first
Speaker 1: one to witness Julia's death. My mother told me not
Speaker 1: to go out that night, but I didn't listen to her.
Speaker 1: Around eleven PM, Rob and Simon came to my house.
Speaker 1: We took strong brandy and flask and began patrolling. The
Speaker 1: first few hours went like every other normal night. We
Speaker 1: were walking in the empty streets when Rob said, look,
Speaker 1: someone is trying to break into Julia's house. Simon and
Speaker 1: I saw a thin guy going inside the house with
Speaker 1: the porch window. I said, in a low but sarcastic voice,
Speaker 1: don't think this guy is from our town. Otherwise he
Speaker 1: wouldn't have dared to go inside the house at this
Speaker 1: hour of the night. Despite the ghost rumors and supernatural occurring.
Speaker 1: It was our duty to stop any kind of robbery
Speaker 1: or theft inside the town. So we walked to her
Speaker 1: house to catch this intruder. Without making much sound, we
Speaker 1: entered inside the house. The house was dark and dusty. Inside,
Speaker 1: cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling. The stairway to Julia's
Speaker 1: bedroom was lying in front of our eyes. We were
Speaker 1: just about to take the first step when we heard
Speaker 1: a spine chilling scream of a woman's voice. What we
Speaker 1: saw next scared us for our entire life. We saw
Speaker 1: a burnt's female figure coming down the stairs. She was
Speaker 1: grabbing a man's neck with her fleshless, burnt hand. The
Speaker 1: man was choking and gasping for air. Simon fired at
Speaker 1: the female figure to stop her from killing the man,
Speaker 1: but the bullet went through her as if she was
Speaker 1: made of thin air. The woman was coming towards us
Speaker 1: out of fear and shocked. We ran out of the house.
Speaker 1: We heard the man scream and saw him stomping over
Speaker 1: the heard ground. The sound of the skull cracking after
Speaker 1: hitting the hard ground echoed in her eyes. We looked
Speaker 1: back and saw Julia's ghost disappearing in the fog as
Speaker 1: the man died, lying on the street, choking in his
Speaker 1: own blood. The next morning, the sheriff came and identified
Speaker 1: the man as an escaped convict. It came to know
Speaker 1: this guy broke into this house to hide, but he
Speaker 1: chose the wrong house. The townspeople were adamant and terrified
Speaker 1: to this. Someone came up with the idea of arranging
Speaker 1: a proper funeral for Julia and burning her house to
Speaker 1: the ground. Rose and I were highly disturbed hearing this
Speaker 1: entire incident. I asked in a shaken voice, what happened
Speaker 1: after that? Grandpa said in a low voice, we arranged
Speaker 1: a funeral and burnt her house. After that, none of
Speaker 1: us ever saw her in the town again. Every winter,
Speaker 1: that night comes to my mind whenever I smell something
Speaker 1: burning at the back of my brain, it reminds me
Speaker 1: of Julia's face.
Speaker 2: The memories of this accident are very fresh. As it
Speaker 2: happened last week. Winter is the season of relaxing ourselves
Speaker 2: at home, but this year's winter gave me a really
Speaker 2: hard time. At the very beginning of it, I stay
Speaker 2: in Montana on my own. It's been almost five years
Speaker 2: now I have moved out and made a life for myself.
Speaker 2: Due to the winter season, most people in my neighborhood
Speaker 2: were either out for holidays or went to visit their families.
Speaker 2: I also planned to visit my parents, but due to
Speaker 2: the unavailability of flights, I couldn't. My plan for this
Speaker 2: Christmas was to eat junk food, watch movies, and drink
Speaker 2: wine as much as possible. But this sudden incident from
Speaker 2: last week has turned my world upside down. It was
Speaker 2: a cold winter evening. I'd opened my door to look out.
Speaker 2: The whole locality was covered in snow. Street lights were
Speaker 2: glowing in the dark. There wasn't a single person on
Speaker 2: the streets. I got a bit upset about being alone.
Speaker 2: Just then I received a call from my dad. He said,
Speaker 2: all good, Kim, I know you are upset. Your mother
Speaker 2: and I are going to visit you soon. His words
Speaker 2: put a smile on my face, and I replied, how
Speaker 2: did you know? I was feeling upset. My dad smiled
Speaker 2: and said in a caring tone, that's what dads do,
Speaker 2: my dear. I talked to them for a while, then
Speaker 2: hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to
Speaker 2: prepare dinner. Around nine p m. I was eating my
Speaker 2: dinner sitting at my dining table. Now, the table is
Speaker 2: placed near a glass window. I always prefer this spot
Speaker 2: for eating or working. The entire view of the street
Speaker 2: and houses near by are visible from this window. While
Speaker 2: I was eating, I saw the snowfall as started. It
Speaker 2: was a pretty sight to watch. I was enjoying the
Speaker 2: view outside when suddenly my doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting
Speaker 2: anyone at this hour. I stood up slowly and walked
Speaker 2: to the main door. As I peeped from the eye hole,
Speaker 2: I saw a man wearing a black hoodie standing outside.
Speaker 2: I asked, Hey, who are you. The man took off
Speaker 2: his hoodie and said, with a big smile, here's your food, ma'am.
Speaker 2: He then lifted up his right hand. There was a
Speaker 2: brown paper bag like those take away packaging. Without opening
Speaker 2: the door, I replied, in a confused tone, but I
Speaker 2: didn't order any food. You must have come to the
Speaker 2: wrong address. The man looked at his phone and said,
Speaker 2: this is twenty two c our Avenue right. I replied, yes,
Speaker 2: the street is right, but what is the house number.
Speaker 2: The man now scratched his head and said, Umm, they
Speaker 2: told me the house on the right. Your house is
Speaker 2: the only house nearby with its life on, so I
Speaker 2: guessed this is the one. The man was of average height,
Speaker 2: bud very bony. I could spot his facial bones underneath
Speaker 2: his skinny face. His eyes were extremely big and bright.
Speaker 2: He didn't seem like a delivery guy. I asked him
Speaker 2: which restaurant are you coming from? Suddenly he seemed all confused,
Speaker 2: and I could tell from the pause that he was lying.
Speaker 2: He fumbled and said, well, I'm from Can you just
Speaker 2: please open the door and check for yourself. I have
Speaker 2: the complete bill on my phone. Now my suspicion grew
Speaker 2: even more. Why couldn't he just say the name of
Speaker 2: the restaurant unless he is lying about this entire food
Speaker 2: delivery thing. I said, in a strict voice, Look, I
Speaker 2: am telling you I didn't order any food. Please just
Speaker 2: leave now. The man gave a cold look and lifted
Speaker 2: up his hoodie and left. I came back to the
Speaker 2: table the entire awkward encounter made me quite uncomfortable. I
Speaker 2: couldn't help but think was he really a delivery guy
Speaker 2: or was he just making it all up. I finished
Speaker 2: my dinner and once again went to check the lock
Speaker 2: on my door. I was just setting the alarm standing
Speaker 2: near the door when someone knocked. I got close and
Speaker 2: looked at the eyehole. It was that same guy. I said,
Speaker 2: in an irritated voice, what are you doing here? I
Speaker 2: already said, this is not the house you were looking for.
Speaker 2: The man replied in a hesitant voice, Sorry to bother you, ma'am,
Speaker 2: but my bike's not starting. I tried calling the food station.
Speaker 2: My phone battery is dead too. Can I please come
Speaker 2: in and use your phone? The entire street was empty
Speaker 2: and there was no way I was letting this guy inside.
Speaker 2: But I thought to myself, what if he's telling the
Speaker 2: truth and he really needs help. I was thinking about
Speaker 2: what to do right now, but suddenly a doubt popped
Speaker 2: in my mind. I could see the streets from the
Speaker 2: eyehole behind this guy, but there wasn't any bike parked nearby.
Speaker 2: I asked, in a doubtful tone, where is your bike?
Speaker 2: He said, in the same hesitated voice. I have parked
Speaker 2: on the side. If he opened the door, I can
Speaker 2: show you my ID too. I don't know why, but
Speaker 2: I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling about this guy. Also,
Speaker 2: the way he was pleading me to open the door
Speaker 2: seemed really odd. I remembered there's a payphone nearby, I said, spontaneously.
Speaker 2: I just remembered, there's a payphone nearby. You can use that.
Speaker 2: You know. So far, the guy was being somewhat polite
Speaker 2: and hesitant, but what happened next made my heart skip
Speaker 2: to my throat. The guy broadened his angry eyes and said,
Speaker 2: in a rusty, threatening voice, you can just open the door,
Speaker 2: you little bitch. My body froze in fear. I could
Speaker 2: see him breathing like a hungry wolf standing at my doorway.
Speaker 2: I said, in a scared voice, what did you just
Speaker 2: say to me? The guy said, in the same rough voice,
Speaker 2: just open the door and let me in. Open the door, Open, open, open.
Speaker 2: He then started to bang on the door like a maniac.
Speaker 2: I was terrified and almost broke down in tears. There
Speaker 2: was no one in the locality to come to help.
Speaker 2: Right now, I got my shit together and screamed in
Speaker 2: a loud voice. Listen, you asked, Oh, if you don't
Speaker 2: back off from my door right now, I'm gonna call
Speaker 2: the cops and make sure you rot in jail for
Speaker 2: harassing me all this time, the sound of banging on
Speaker 2: the door stopped immediately everything He became completely silent for
Speaker 2: a moment. Then I heard the sound of footsteps on
Speaker 2: the snow fading away. I rushed through the door and
Speaker 2: looked from the eye hole. I saw the guy walking away,
Speaker 2: and eventually he disappeared in the dark street. I heaved
Speaker 2: a sigh of relief. I didn't call nine one one
Speaker 2: because I thought I had managed to scare him off.
Speaker 2: I came back to my table and sat down. Even
Speaker 2: on the cold winter night, I was sweating like a dog.
Speaker 2: I wiped my face with my hand and poured myself
Speaker 2: a glass of water. I drank water, and the next
Speaker 2: twenty minutes went without any further trouble. I was calmed
Speaker 2: down finally and sat near the television to watch a movie.
Speaker 2: I wanted to take my mind off this creepy and
Speaker 2: scary encounter. I didn't realize when I dozed off on
Speaker 2: the couch while watching the movie, a sound woke me up.
Speaker 2: The sound was coming from the main door. I rubbed
Speaker 2: my eyes and stared at the door. A sense of
Speaker 2: fear grabbed me. The doorknob was moving, as if someone
Speaker 2: was twisting it from the outside. I could tell someone
Speaker 2: is trying to break in. I was completely sure that
Speaker 2: this was the same creepy guy. I didn't want to
Speaker 2: make any noise. I wanted him to think that I
Speaker 2: had fallen asleep, so I slowly got up and went
Speaker 2: to the table to get my phone. I was at
Speaker 2: him at this time. I wanted to teach him a
Speaker 2: lesson for life, so I made up my mind to
Speaker 2: call the cops. I reached the table, picked up my phone.
Speaker 2: I slowly walked to the door, just to check what
Speaker 2: he is up to right now. As I went to
Speaker 2: peep through the eyehole, I immediately sprung back in horror.
Speaker 2: There was already an eye on the eyehole from the outside.
Speaker 2: The guy was trying to look inside my house. I
Speaker 2: don't know what he saw, but he backed out a
Speaker 2: little and said, with a spye chilling stare. I know
Speaker 2: you are awake. I can hear your heavy, warm breath.
Speaker 2: My hands were shaking. I was completely terrified. Gathering all
Speaker 2: the courage inside me, I said in a firm voice,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna teach you a lesson now. I walked to
Speaker 2: the table, sat down, and calmed myself. I then DIWED
Speaker 2: nine one one and reported how a fucking creepy guy
Speaker 2: is harassing me for a long time and right now
Speaker 2: trying to break in. The cop at the station told
Speaker 2: me to hold on and be brave. The roads are
Speaker 2: covered with snow, so it might take fifteen to twenty
Speaker 2: minutes for them to arrive. Needless to say, I was
Speaker 2: shit scared, but I didn't want to let this guy
Speaker 2: take control over my fear, so I said out loud,
Speaker 2: just wait, you freaking jerk, the cops are coming to
Speaker 2: get you. A few minutes passed silently, there was no
Speaker 2: sound of him. Suddenly I heard a strange sound on
Speaker 2: my glass window. Something inside me was telling me to
Speaker 2: go to my room and lock the door until the
Speaker 2: cops arrived, but I couldn't stop myself to check what's
Speaker 2: going on right now. Just when I pulled on my
Speaker 2: window curtains, I fell on the floor, screaming at the
Speaker 2: top of my lungs. I don't think I will be
Speaker 2: able to get sleep for at least a cut couple
Speaker 2: of weeks from what I saw next. That bony, creepy
Speaker 2: guy was standing near my glass window and looking at
Speaker 2: me with his hungry eyes. His face was cold and cool.
Speaker 2: He then did something very bizarre. He got really close
Speaker 2: to the glass and started to lick it horrifyingly. The
Speaker 2: entire scene was beyond any worse nightmare any of you
Speaker 2: will ever see. I started sobbing. I was shaken by
Speaker 2: the situation. I was praying to God for the cop
Speaker 2: to awive. Just when I heard the car's siren. The
Speaker 2: man looked at the street and then looked at me.
Speaker 2: He gave a blood freezing ear to ear smile and said,
Speaker 2: do you know what would look good on you? And crutches?
Speaker 2: He then walked away. I don't know how I should
Speaker 2: be feeling right now. I don't know what that guy's
Speaker 2: problem was. I just know he is a filth walking
Speaker 2: over the society, making women feel miserable and unsafe. The
Speaker 2: cop searched the area and obviously couldn't find any trace
Speaker 2: of them. I am now staying at one of my
Speaker 2: colleagues's house. My parents are coming tomorrow to get me.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I will ever be able to
Speaker 2: go back to my house. Even if I do, sitting
Speaker 2: at my favorite spot will be my biggest nightmare.
Speaker 1: This happened last winter. My husband Samini, shifted to a
Speaker 1: new house in Texas. The neighborhood had a maximum of
Speaker 1: twenty to twenty five houses. We were shifting our luggage
Speaker 1: inside the house after the helper's truck dropped them at
Speaker 1: her doorstep. My eyes went on the window of the
Speaker 1: opposite house on the other side of the road. I
Speaker 1: saw someone, a woman at the window. She was peeking
Speaker 1: at us behind the curtains. Just when she noticed me
Speaker 1: looking at her, she closed the curtain. Immediately I felt
Speaker 1: a bit odd, but then I thought she was only
Speaker 1: being curious. It often happens when people get new neighbors
Speaker 1: next door. The house was cozy and comfortable. I was happy.
Speaker 1: We were having dinner that night. Just when the doorbell rang.
Speaker 1: We weren't expecting any one, so my husband said, in
Speaker 1: a confused voice, who can that be? I shrugged my
Speaker 1: shoulders and replied, I will check it out. As I
Speaker 1: opened the door, I saw a woman age between fifty
Speaker 1: to fifty five years standing at my door with a
Speaker 1: very disturbing smile on her face in an awkward voice.
Speaker 1: Um yes. She smiled even bigger and said, in a
Speaker 1: squeaky voice, Hello dear. I am miss Miller. I live
Speaker 1: in the opposite house. We are neighbors. I saw you
Speaker 1: two moving in, so came to welcome you with the
Speaker 1: little gift. I noticed there was a home made vanilla
Speaker 1: cake in her hands with red jelly. It had the
Speaker 1: word welcome written on it. The red color of the
Speaker 1: white cake seemed really bright, as if it was written
Speaker 1: with blood. I accepted the cake from her and said,
Speaker 1: that's so thoughtful of you. I am Mona Jones. Thank
Speaker 1: you for this kind gesture. We really appreciate it. She
Speaker 1: then stopped smiling and said, in an overpowering tone, of
Speaker 1: course you do, and left. Strangely, I locked the door
Speaker 1: and came back to the dinner table. I told my
Speaker 1: husband how weird she was. He laughed and said, it's okay, Mona.
Speaker 1: People seem strange when you're a stranger to them too.
Speaker 1: I agreed with him and said she gave us this
Speaker 1: welcome gift and showed him the cake. My husband has
Speaker 1: always been a sweet tooth, so he seemed really happy
Speaker 1: to see it. After finishing our dinner, we decided to
Speaker 1: watch a movie and eat the homemade vanilla cake for dessert.
Speaker 1: But as I began to cut the first piece, a
Speaker 1: weird sound took place. It felt like the knife cracked
Speaker 1: something inside this cake. My husband was standing right after him,
Speaker 1: and even he got surprised too. He took a fork
Speaker 1: and dig the cake to look what's inside. I might
Speaker 1: have vomited right at that moment, but somehow controlled myself.
Speaker 1: There were broken nails and hairstrands inside the cake. My
Speaker 1: husband said in disgust, what the fuck? How can someone
Speaker 1: send a cake like this to anyone? I was utterly
Speaker 1: disturbed and said, is she trying to prank us or something?
Speaker 1: My husband said, don't know, seems like you were right
Speaker 1: about this woman's weirdness, Mona. We threw the cake immediately
Speaker 1: in the garbage bin. Since that night, a sense of
Speaker 1: suspicion started to grow in my mind about this woman.
Speaker 1: One day, my husband was at work, I was alone
Speaker 1: in the house. It was around five pm in the evening.
Speaker 1: The chili winter started to take over the town. I
Speaker 1: decided to head to the local store to get a
Speaker 1: bottle of wine and some other stuff to prepare for dinner.
Speaker 1: As I got ready and came outside, I noticed that
Speaker 1: women walking towards me with the same creepy smile. I
Speaker 1: didn't pay any attention and started to lock the door.
Speaker 1: She came near the porch and said, hi, dear, looks
Speaker 1: like you're going out. Huh. I smiled carelessly and said yeah.
Speaker 1: She was standing there irrespective of the fact that I
Speaker 1: wasn't showing any interest in talking to her, She said,
Speaker 1: how do you like the cake deer. I was really
Speaker 1: surprised to see her audacity this time. I looked at
Speaker 1: her and said, will you please excuse me? I am
Speaker 1: in a hurry. I was walking away just when she
Speaker 1: asked me for a completely unexpected question. She called my
Speaker 1: name and said, Mona, can I ask you something? I
Speaker 1: turned back and said, what is it, Miss Miller? She said,
Speaker 1: in the same squeaky voice, are you pregnant? Though I
Speaker 1: wasn't at the time, her question was very rude and
Speaker 1: extremely personal. I lost it finally and said, in a
Speaker 1: coarse voice, listen, miss Miller, I think you are crossing
Speaker 1: your limits now. We hardly know you and honestly have
Speaker 1: no interest in being around you. It would be better
Speaker 1: if you just leave and mind your own business from
Speaker 1: now on. I saw her face turning red in anger.
Speaker 1: But then she spoke in a cold voice, you can't
Speaker 1: help but be around me, dear, after all, we are neighbors.
Speaker 1: Then she turned back and walked away. When my husband
Speaker 1: came from work, I told him about this entire incident.
Speaker 1: He was shocked to hear it too, but he called
Speaker 1: me down and said it will be better if we
Speaker 1: just avoid her from now on. A few days passed
Speaker 1: away and we didn't see miss Miller. One night, I
Speaker 1: went to dump the garbage in the backyard. Our backyard
Speaker 1: was a small garden area. My husband planted some seasonal
Speaker 1: flowers along with some basic vegetables like cherry, tomato, and
Speaker 1: chili's in the garden. I was dumping the bean bag
Speaker 1: in the dumpster when my eyes got caught up at
Speaker 1: our fence. I saw a trail of ashes surrounding our
Speaker 1: fences from the outside. As I followed the fences, I
Speaker 1: discovered our entire house was marked with ashes into a
Speaker 1: square from the outside. I was scared of seeing this
Speaker 1: suspicious marking of her house. My husband checked it too
Speaker 1: and said that someone might have done this. When we
Speaker 1: were asleep last night. I knew very well who could
Speaker 1: be that person. I wanted to confront our freak neighbor,
Speaker 1: but my husband stopped me. He said, Mona, we can't
Speaker 1: just accuse her without any proof, you know. He then
Speaker 1: washed the lines of ash with soap water and we
Speaker 1: finally went to bed. I couldn't sleep well the entire night.
Speaker 1: I had nightmares and woke up cranky. The next morning,
Speaker 1: it was a Sunday. I went to the main door
Speaker 1: to pick up the milk bottle just when I noticed
Speaker 1: burnt out candles and essences were lying on our door
Speaker 1: mat I was fucking angry this time. I cleaned the
Speaker 1: entire area and came back in a very bad mood.
Speaker 1: I didn't say anything to my husband about this because
Speaker 1: I knew he will tell me the same thing. We
Speaker 1: were invited to lunch that day by a couple who
Speaker 1: lived beside our house. Gina and Charlie became our friends
Speaker 1: in no time. They were really sweet and we kind
Speaker 1: of bonded. So it was the first time we were
Speaker 1: going to a neighborhood event. They invited others from our locality.
Speaker 1: We arrived at their place in the afternoon and saw
Speaker 1: a small gathering of people partying in their backyard. We
Speaker 1: were doing barbecues and drinking beer. Sam got mixed up
Speaker 1: with them immediately. I was sitting in a chair in
Speaker 1: the corner. I was a bit off that day. Gina
Speaker 1: came to me and handed me a bottle of beer.
Speaker 1: She sat down beside me and said, what's wrong, Mona,
Speaker 1: you seem awfully quiet today. I smiled hesitantly and asked her,
Speaker 1: you didn't invite miss Miller. Gina's face turned really annoying
Speaker 1: hearing Miss Miller's name. She said, in an irritated voice.
Speaker 1: Everyone in this neighborhood avoids her. We all have good
Speaker 1: reasons for that. She is so creepy and weird. You know,
Speaker 1: when Charlie and I moved here for the first time,
Speaker 1: she suddenly came one night to greet us with her
Speaker 1: welcome gift. Do you know what that old hag did,
Speaker 1: she said in an angry tone. I was surprised to
Speaker 1: hear that Miss Miller has approached Gina the same way
Speaker 1: she approached me. I said, in a curious tone. What.
Speaker 1: Gina replied, She gave us a pie. When I went
Speaker 1: to eat it, I found fallen teeth and some tiny
Speaker 1: animal bones inside it. Just think how shitty and fucking
Speaker 1: creepy it was. I told Gina about the cake Miss
Speaker 1: Miller gave me as a welcoming gift. Gina told me
Speaker 1: in a strict voice, Mona, you do not want to
Speaker 1: talk to a person like that. You know what. The
Speaker 1: entire town calls her a witch. Some people even say
Speaker 1: she is into all the voodoo and black magic stuff,
Speaker 1: and she secretly watches people from her window. I have
Speaker 1: seen her peeking behind her window curtains many times. It's
Speaker 1: just better if you just avoid her. Gina's words scared
Speaker 1: me even more. After the party, I came back home
Speaker 1: and search on the internet about this black magic stuff.
Speaker 1: I read online that burning candles and incenses were actually
Speaker 1: part of voodu ritch. I wanted to teach this woman
Speaker 1: a lesson, so I came up with a plan. One morning,
Speaker 1: I was sitting on my porch facing the streets when
Speaker 1: I saw Miss Miller leaving the house to buy groceries
Speaker 1: in her old red car. I noticed her going out
Speaker 1: only twice a week. I was waiting for that opportunity.
Speaker 1: As soon as she left, I went to her house
Speaker 1: and placed some burning candles and incenses on her doormat.
Speaker 1: I trapped the rat in her basement. I wanted to
Speaker 1: give this woman a taste of her own medicine. I
Speaker 1: placed the dead rat on her footstep. I wanted to
Speaker 1: scare her just how she was scaring me, so I
Speaker 1: put some mashes around her house, making it seem like
Speaker 1: someone did black magic on her this time. After all
Speaker 1: of this, I went inside, locked my door and waited
Speaker 1: for her return. After an hour, I heard the car
Speaker 1: horn and realized that she has come back. I stood
Speaker 1: behind the living room window curtain and washed her silently.
Speaker 1: As soon as she came out of the car walked
Speaker 1: to her door, I heard her screaming like a maniac.
Speaker 1: She was screaming at the top of her lungs, as
Speaker 1: if she had seen a ghost. But I never expected
Speaker 1: the matter to get out of hand. She screamed like
Speaker 1: this for a few moments and fainted on the ground.
Speaker 1: The next door neighbor called the paramedics and they took
Speaker 1: her to the hospital. My husband went to the hospital
Speaker 1: along with some other people from our locality. I was
Speaker 1: sweating like hell, thinking my little prank made her seriously sick.
Speaker 1: When my husband returned home. His face seemed very serious.
Speaker 1: I asked him, in a scared voice, what is it, Sam,
Speaker 1: How is she now? Sam said, in a sad voice.
Speaker 1: She died of a heart attack. The doctors are saying
Speaker 1: she got surprised to see all those weird stuff at
Speaker 1: her door and couldn't handle the shock of it. I
Speaker 1: wonder who kept all that near her door? Sick jokes
Speaker 1: people play these days. I was out of words. I
Speaker 1: sat down on the couch nearby and said, in a
Speaker 1: shaken voice, Well, Gina told me she used to put
Speaker 1: this weird stuff at people's doorstep. Someone wanted to stop
Speaker 1: her this time so that she learns a lesson, you know.
Speaker 1: Sam looked at me and said, come on, mona. Miss
Speaker 1: Miller is a fifty five year old woman. She is
Speaker 1: lonely and insane. Don't tell me you believe all this
Speaker 1: witch rumor about her. She lost her husband in a
Speaker 1: car accident and had no children of hers. She was
Speaker 1: not thinking right at all. I sat quietly for an hour.
Speaker 1: My husband thought I was just sad to know about
Speaker 1: Miss Miller's sudden death. He consoled me and told me
Speaker 1: not to be upset. It's sad. But after all, she
Speaker 1: died of a heart attack. There's nothing that could have
Speaker 1: been done to save her. I like to think that
Speaker 1: my husband is right, but I still can't shake the
Speaker 1: feeling that her heart attack was caused by my stupid
Speaker 1: revenge idea. I don't know how her black magic and
Speaker 1: all that voodoo stuff was real or not, but I
Speaker 1: just wanted her to stay away from us. I didn't
Speaker 1: kill this woman on purpose. Do you think I did