An original story written by our student Asmi Gupta.

Asmi is 15 years old and from Jaipur, Rajasthan. She is inspired by the inequalities, taboos, and superstitions that are prevalent in society. She loves to write because she believes she can bring a positive change in society through her writings. We are proud to have her as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Asmi for this exemplary true self-expression.

The Mystique Mansion

Lily always hated visiting her grandmother. The mighty mansion which stood in front of it terrified her. She had heard mysterious tales about it, an old lady who lived in their ages ago was murdered by a band of brigands. It was known that the economic value of the mansion was around 1 million pounds. Later, the murderers were found dead deep in the dark forest and the lady was lost forever. People said that she had died but lily’s grandmother warned her that the old lady is a demon and she would not like anyone, anyone in her lovely mansion, she said frowning at lily.

Lily and her grandmother just had their dinner and her grandmother ordered her to go into her bedroom. In the dark midnight, Lily was having a perfect refreshing sleep when a peculiar sound broke the silence and created a monotonous atmosphere in the room. She opened the curtains and glanced through the window; a small girl was weeping and whining just at one of the corners of the mansion. Lily was scared but she was a munificent person and ran downstairs.  Went near the mansion and saw what. The girl was gone. It was a cloudless black night and the moon shone brightly. The mansion was guarded by a black cat whose monstrous green eyes were blood-curdling. Lily removed the branches and twigs, opened the door, and walked on the pathway. A large oak tree nestled at the corner and looked as dull as grey as if it doesn’t have the will to live anymore. The broken windows shuttered, the pale leaves rustled, and the wind was as loud as a lion’s roar and as cold as misery. Lily shivered and stood rooted to the ground for some time, at one point in time she thought about the warning but on the other hand, was eager to know about the tale of the old lady. She unlocked the massive monolithic door which made a creepy creaking sound. it was a massive corridor as cold as the arctic, as black as midnight, and as desolate as a desert. She shuddered at each creak of the old enigmatic stairs, but it didn’t interrupt her determination to make it to the room on the first floor when her eyes came out of her sockets, a shadow flickered at the corner of her vision. Shivers went down her spine and a puff of breath on the back of her neck. She shrieked the girl was right after her, her face covered with untangled long-lasting hair and her creepy smile piercing from it and ………………… They were gone. A couple of weeks passed, and lily’s wanted posters were pasted on every single tree and pole.

Lily’s grandmother was aware that the old lady’s soul had abducted her adorable granddaughter’s soul and a séance needed to be performed. Without any delay, she called her friend tom who was an expert in talking to souls and frequently performed séance. It was difficult to catch that evil phantom, but lily’s grandmother was so obsessed with a lily that she could not leave her alone. All the requirements were performed and finally, the séance started, after a couple of hours the phantom arrived and with her was sweet little lily who was screaming in pain and fear. Terrified. the phantom had to kill lily for her freedom but at the right time when he was about to stag the dagger right in the center of her heart, Tom sprinkled an auspicious powder which burnt her, and she was gone forever.

Lily hugged her grandma tight and apologized to her, in spite her warning she entered the mansion. But her grandma kissed her and told her that she was so brave. These few weeks were the most memorable yet horrifying experiences of lily’s life. She understood what can happen when you do not listen to your elders.

The next day lily’s parents arrived and cuddled her, they knew what had happened in the past few weeks. Lily was going to enter the car when she finally looked at the mansion and………… the little girl was looking at her from the window on the highest tower of the mansion, lily felt a sensation of a hand on her shoulder. She was speechless.

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