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Long bony fingers

By Gargi Pant; Illustrations by Anup Singh

Somu loved to read ghost stories. Every time he paid a visit to the library, he got back a teeth-chattering horror tale. It was a signal that he was getting ready to play a scary trick on his friends. He was 10 years old.

His parents had learnt to recognise the signs now. The days on which the slim boy's cocker spaniel eyes shone brighter than ever, and his brown wavy hair seemed to have a movement of their own, they knew that he must have read a ghost tale and was hatching a plot to scare someone.

The problem was that Somu loved reading. And so he did a lot of scaring too. But he was liked for his funny jokes and his helpful nature, so no one really minded. Though a few friends had often thought of making him feel a sense of fear. Fear that was very different from sitting in bed with a whole lot of munchies, bedsheet pulled up to the chin and reading a story for the pleasure of its thrills.

One day Somu's friend Pavan asked him over to his house after school. Somu's mum and dad said he could go - but they told him to come home before dark.

"Remember, now," said his dad, "you'll have to walk home through the park." (something about the park....)

Promising he'd leave early, Somu set off for his friend's house. He had a great time reading stories and looking at the pictures in some of Pavan's exciting monster books. Time flew by and when Somu looked up he saw it was pitch dark.

"Oh no!" he gasped. "I have to get home"!

Somu began to walk along the path through the park that had fallen eerily silent. How dark it was. Why couldn't the park officials put some lights? And then remembered that most of the park lights had been broken by them during their inter-locality cricket matches. In fact, if a boy succeeded in breaking a park light with a soaring sixer, he was considered a hero! Now it didn't seem a bright idea any more. Especially when the chirping sound of the crickets had become deafening. If someone came up behind him, he wouldn't be able to hear their footsteps.

And then he heard that noise. It came from behind.

It was a human voice.

"Guess what I can do with my long bony finger and my long pointed teeth"?

Somu yelped and started to run, but the pounding footsteps followed him. Finally, out of breath, he stopped and asked in a quavering voice:

"Who's there"?

But all he heard was the voice saying:

"Guess what I can do with my long bony finger and my long pointed teeth"?