As the red winter sun set in the west, a dark gloomy shadow shrouded the grey skies. The heavy December wind raged mercilessly against the thick tinted windowpane of Arun’s house. With every angry stroke, it tried to enter through the window gaps making an eerie swishing sound, sending chills through and under Arun’s skin.
Arun was sitting all alone on his bed, clutching tightly his light blue blanket. He wished he had not been naughty enough to watch the horror movie his mother had rented. Apart from being sent to his room as a punishment, he was now all alone fighting the scary images of the movie in his little head.

The swishing sound was now growing louder and louder, as if the window had finally given way. Unable to bear it any longer, Arun rose to seal all the gaps. As he looked out of the window, the dark grey sky had begun to turn bloody red. Ghastly weird faces started developing all across the crimson backdrop, faces with blood shot eyes and sinister grins. The two-horned devil was at work, there was something inexplicably gruesome about this evening.

Arun firmly secured the window, and swiftly drew the curtains. He did not have the courage to look out of the window again. He leapt into his bed and downed his head under his favorite blanket. He would spend the night with the lights on, he decided.

Suddenly, a roaring thunder tore through the sky. Loud heavy drops banged at the glass window, with ever-increasing intensity. The light flickered abruptly. A moment later, the room went into complete darkness.
Arun peeped out of his blanket, trying to adjust his eyes to the astounding darkness. He rubbed his eyes and looked harder. The window he had secured a moment ago was wide open. The wind was blowing the curtains away; a silhouette of a woman was forming before his very eyes.

Panic stricken, Arun screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘Mommy, mommy!’ His lips were moving, his chest was bloating, but there was no sound. He tried shouting, again and again, clutching his throat, louder and louder, with every strength left, but he could not hear anything but the sound of the wind and the rain.

The silhouette had now become more pronounced; it was a woman, old and haggard, smiling wickedly at him with her crooked yellow teeth. She was dressed in white, with white unkempt hair and thin pointy hands.  As she started walking towards Arun, he tried to get out of his bed and run towards the door. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not move his hands and legs. His screams were still not audible.
 
His heart was now palpitating with horror; he did not know what lay ahead. He began praying to God, to help him, to save him. Many beautiful memories flashed past his mind, the happy moments with his parents and friends. He gave one last scream.

His ears could not believe what they heard. His scream had become faintly audible, and then became louder and louder. A short gasp of breath later, he could hear another one reaching its acoustic peak.  The door flung open, and his mother came in. The old woman had vanished and everything was normal. Or so it seemed!

Suddenly, Arun realized that his eyes lids were still closed. His mother was not there after all. As he opened his eyes, he found he was in the same position as before. The lights were off, and the door was closed. He was sweating profusely. The window was open, and the wind jostled back the curtains. Only this time it was calm outside.

Arun decided to get up and sleep next to his mother. As he tried to move his hands and legs, he realized he could not move. He screamed again, tears now rolling down his cheeks; he could feel the wetness of sweat on his face, taste the saltiness of tears on his tongue. But he still could not hear the sound of his own voice.

Suddenly, a gentle hand touched his shoulder and shook him. It was his mother. She had come there to check up on him and found him tossing and turning in bed. She had turned the lights off and opened the window earlier. Arun got up and hugged her. He did not know if this moment was real, but he did not want this dream to end.