I moved into this beautiful neighbourhood an year ago. My next door in neighbourhood is home to a lovely family comprising of grandparents, parents, two teen boys, a rescued pet bird and a cringe cat. The cat is a certified cringe because he is mostly living in my house than his own house. He sits in my window sil, walks in my house, meowing and watching my every move. Some mornings I wake up to find the cat sleeping in my bed. On several occasions this cat threw the food that the neighbours gave me to eat. To add to his cringey-ness he is also brutal to dogs and cows. Yes! Even those large size animals are afraid of this guy. Though unruly he was the beloved of this beautiful family and was treated like a human in cat’s body.
Just like any family this family also had its dramadies, funzies, parties, family functions, weekend get aways and oh yes the food experiments. I must mention that I was by default ‘the experimented’ in their food experiments. In short , they are a very kind and nice family to be associated with.On one weekend they decided to go their ancestral farm in a remote village some where in the outskirts of the city and closer to the state border. Despite retaliation they persuaded me to join them. They planned the departure at early hours on Saturday in one SUV vehicle along with their cat. Considering the number of people, space constraint and particularly that cringe cat, I reached out to the grandma and suggested,
“Ajji, I will get my car and some of you can hop in”
Grandma replied in a little weird manner “ NO! We all need to be together and we cannot leave any space empty in the car”
“But , we are eight of us and wouldn’t that be too compact?”, I questioned
“Thats how’s we need to be when we travel there, even number and no space for anybody else”, replied Grandma with a smile
“Oh common , its gonna be fun with all of us together “, suggested the teens’ mother as she was packing some snacks for the journey
“Uh ok . I get that. I will get some chicken kebabs as well. It will be fun”, I replied with a smile , though a little uncomfortable with idea of seven humans and one unruly cat
“NO! NO! No non veg during this journey.”, interrupted Grandma sternly and continued “you modern day kids don’t understand the forces in nature. Meat attracts negative forces and we cannot take any chances. Few years ago our friend's car toppled several feet in the air , they did not listen to the instructions and got way too casual and we lost our grand daughter ….cannot loose one more life”
The usually fun Grandma felt weird all of a sudden. But I realised her trauma of loosing her granddaughter makes her so superstitious and I hopped into their car. We zoomed and vroomed until the highway but slowed down as we entered the gravel road with scenic view that connects to their ancestral farm in the remote village. On Grandma’s lead , Grandpa turned off the English songs and switched over to devotional music. The teens and parents put all the snacks back in the bag, fully sealed and packed.
I wanted to click pictures of the scenic road but the family told me not to open the windows or stop any where until we reach the farm. My curiosity was at peak as I observed their superstition. I asked them “whats happening?” But they shushed me and suggested to chant the mantras in the back drop of the devotional song. Everything was very confusing and so were there chants. I don’t believe in these negative or positive forces in nature , moreover their behaviour was appalling. About, thirty minutes later we arrived at a junction where three roads intersected. There was no sign board, cars navigation system stopped working, I opened my GPS but there was no network either and for some reason the car did not move ahead despite raising the accelerator.
“Oh no! Its here! Throw all the food outside” yelled Grandma
Everyone swiftly threw all the snacks. For some reason, the snack packs never landed on the ground, the packs were torn half way with snacks flying around in the air.
“Hey, you need to throw your snacks out as well”, ordered teen’s father
I sneaked in chicken kebabs and my heart refused to throw it. But with all the pressure from the six humans and one cat , I gave up and threw the box outside the window. Unlike the snacks , my kebab box landed on the ground. There was pin drop silence like a vacuum around us, it was strangest feeling I ever experienced in my life. Teens’s father raised the accelerator once again and this time the car moved. They took a left turn and as I turned back to look through the window, my kebab had turned black . Shocked, I wondered the logic behind this episode. It occurred to that the soil was kind of black in this patch and perhaps this could have been the reason for the Kebab to go black.
Finally, we reached our destination. It was a beautiful ancestral home amid the lush green fields. The family ( husband, wife and their two 3 year old twins) who took care of this farm arrived and welcomed us. They had a weird ritual of welcoming, they used garlic, lemon and chilli garland and made us soak our foot in salt water before we entered the beautiful home. Their almost occult approach made me laugh but the sight of the cringe cat made me raise my brows . The silly cat was also wearing a tiny garland around its neck and soaking its foot in salt water. Ohh I so hated that cat! He behaves like a know-it-all cat! He pounced on me when I was getting into their car, not just that, he slapped me on my face and deliberately meowed right into my ears. I so hate him!
I came up with a plan to take revenge on this cat. Slap right on his face and tush when no one is watching us. However, as I entered the beautiful room I was allotted, this cat dug its nails on my feet as if he read my mind on the revenge plan and wanted me out of his ancestral home. I chased the cat in the hallway where Grandma was relaxing on the chair.
She said “ Hey, So good to see you playing with our cat. Now listen to me carefully, you can venture out during the day time but after sunset, do not step outside this house no matter what sounds you hear or who ever calls you out by name”
“Oh boy! Whats with all the suspense. Common, this is a lot of superstition. There are no such things out there. And now it feels like some prank you all are playing with me”
“Well, its new moon day and lots of things happen on this day. DO NOT STEP OUT after sunset. Its matter of a night and we leave tomorrow noon”, responded Grandma in an assertive tone before she got up and walked to the kitchen
Ignoring her, I walked into the fields , had fresh coconut water, ate fresh plucked fruits, clicked several pictures and played few games with the teen boys. Even before we realised, the sun had set. Everyone was in rush to close doors and windows. Feeling claustrophobic I asked them to at least keep one window open, but they refused. The hush hush commotion was paused by a child's cry. They said “oh my god , everybody stay quite”. The child was crying louder and knocked on the door. As I went to open the door , they all screamed “ Hey back off from the door, its not what you think. This is how it behaves and its new moon today”
I turned around and looked at every one and asked “ where is the other twin child?”
I urged them to open the door and get the child inside. They searched for the child in the house but they couldn’t find. They looked from the window and identified the child as their own and got her in. I also, gave them a piece of my mind on their stupid superstitious beliefs and how its ruining the beautiful weekend. Everyone ignored me and Grandma repeated “ DO NOT STEP OUTSIDE THE HOUSE NO MATTER WHAT YOU HEAR NEXT”
We had wholesome dinner and as I was just about to hit the sack , I heard another cry! This time along with the cry it said “HELP ME”
It sounded like a woman in distress. I looked out of the window but didn’t see anyone. So, walked down the hall to the main door. I slowly, sneaked out of the door to find the cat staring at me . It spoke , “HELP ME”
Scared, I took a step back to get inside the house but I noticed a fluid like black being standing behind the cat. And there was Grandma and her entire family sitting next to a bonfire with the dead body of a young woman and few headless chickens lying on the ground. That woman was their older granddaughter who died eight years ago. It really creeped me out , as I was about to close the door another look alike cat walked in from main door and cried very loud “HELP YOURSELF, RUN!”
All I noticed was Grandma who came to rescue me , she pulled the cat and me inside and as she shut the main door ,I shut my eyes. I don’t remember what happened next but when I opened my eyes, I noticed the cat sitting next to me and I was inside the car , while the neighbours were unloading the luggage at their home.
Everything felt so lucid, I couldn’t speak a word. Grandma, who was seated next to me looked at me with great love and said “ So good to have you back my love! Freshen up quickly , we have ordered nice chicken kebab for you!”
I walked up my home, wanting to splash some water on my face but the wash basin seemed so up high. I tried to open the tap but couldn’t . Then I saw my reflection in the mirror , to my horror I looked like a cat. I was terrified and jumped to the window sil to call out neighbours for help. I cried for help but all anyone heard was a meow. I noticed that dead lady (their granddaughter ) all alive and walking in their house.
I felt stuck, I cried and then I heard a voice “ I warned you about them, you never listen to me”. It was the same unruly cat that I hated the most! Now I know, why he was cringy because I also was turning into one.
It turns out that I can write and besides being the cringe cat who sits on the window sil with this other unruly cat , I leave notes for people hoping some day somebody will help us!
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