Agreement

It was the ghost who broke the agreement.

We were about to conclude the deal when the owner said, rather diffidently, ‘I won’t deceive you; this is a haunted house. If you wish you can back out, even at this stage.’

‘There is no such thing as a ghost,’ I almost rebuked him. I had always pitied the people who believed in things like ghosts and spirits. We concluded the deal.

The day I moved in, I was stunned to see an old, miserable man sitting in the bathroom. He was shockingly stark naked.

‘Who are you and how did you enter my house?’ I wanted to shout but couldn’t. Rather I sensed a slight tremor in my voice.

‘I am a ghost; I live in this house,’ his voice was sad and painful. ‘But you needn’t be afraid of me. We can peacefully share this place if you agree not to evict me.’

‘Evict you? But how does one evict a ghost?’ I forgot that I did not believe in ghosts.

‘You men are very devious. You contrive to evict even the most abominable ghost.’

‘If I agree not to evict you………..’

‘You would not even notice me.’

I agreed, just out of curiosity.

We stuck to the agreement till one day the ghost came rampaging into my bedroom. His eyes were like burning coals.

‘Why can’t you live like a normal being? It’s so chaotic here; I don’t get even a minute’s peaceful sleep,’ the ghost shouted at me.

‘How dare you enter my bedroom?’ I shouted back at him. But I knew my righteous indignation was a mere façade; my profligacy had crossed all decent limits. 

‘Leave this place or I would start inviting my friends and, mind you, they are not as respectable as I am,’ he said in a menacing tone.

‘Don’t you break the agreement or I will……I will……I will evict you.’

He didn’t seem impressed. He smiled; it was a fiendish smile.

Later in the night his friends were everywhere in the house; I was hiding in the bathroom, miserable and stark naked.

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Post for A to Z Challenge 2016

My next story B for Boiler Room