The Midnight Mystery

After a long tiring day I usually sleep in my cozy little bed with a pink blanket over my head and dream about the strangest possible things that could ever happen to me.
That night was no different as I murmured in my sleep about the things I hardly cared for, things which were always there at the back of my mind, which I chose to ignore most of the time. My sleep vanished when all of a sudden I heard a sound, which seemed more like a tap on my old wooden window.
I ignored it, thinking it must be my mother trying her various tactics to wake me up. So I tried getting falling asleep again.

Time ticked away and I heard the sound yet again…on my window.
WINDOW!!!…why for heaven’s sake would anyone be outside my window? After all I was on the seventh floor. I woke up startled, threw my blanket away, without even bothering to put on my slippers I rushed towards  the doorway to call on someone for help.  Then realized it would be such a foolish thing to do when the entire household was fast asleep.
So the other option was either to ignore it once again or bravely go and open the window. I would have readily done the former but somehow my instincts told me that I should go and check the window.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and carefully tip toed towards the window. Unlatching it gently, I pushed it with a jerk and stepped two steps behind but as I did so I tripped against something sharp and fell down with a thud. That was the most disastrous thing that could have happened at that moment and I screamed at the top of my voice, stood up and ran out of the door as fast as possible not daring to look back.
The lights were off, the house was pitch dark and somehow my fear made everything look even scarier. As I climbed down the stairs I slowed my pace, trembling and sweating profusely.
I reached the last step and looked behind slowly.
Everything seemed so normal as if nothing had happened at all. With a heavy sigh I sat down on the stairs. Placing my head on the railings I tried to relax and clear the confusion in my mind.
I gradually got up and paved my way into the kitchen still wondering about what had just happened. Was I over reacting about nothing or was there really something that I should be concerned about?
As my fear gradually subsided I decided to walk back to my nest with several thoughts racing in my mind. I reached my room and as I was about to open the door, I realized that I had never closed it!
Fear gripped my heart and I shuddered with the thought that there was something untoward going on in the house.
For a second I froze, I could not budge from where I was standing. It was as if there was something stopping me from entering the room. I took a deep breath and mustering up all my courage I pushed open the door that creaked and broke the deadly silence of the night.
I carefully stepped inside and ran to the switch board to turn on the lights of the room. As the entire place flooded with brightness just one look around my room was enough to make my blood run cold.
The room was an absolute mess.
My cupboards were open and all my clothes were strewn across the floor, my books scattered everywhere, my bed littered with all possible things and on my table stood a broken lamp and something was amiss.
I was certain that something was missing from there but my mind had stopped working. I was shocked, confused and tired. I tried shouting out to my parents but my voice betrayed my already parched throat. I slumped on the floor, tears gushed out from my eyes as a looked frantically around for some clue as to what had happened in my room.
I stood up and quickly checked all my belongings, money was untouched, and all my books and clothes intact, all my documents in place and so were my important files.
MY DIARY!!!!
Yes, it was my old diary that was missing; it had nothing which could be of such importance that someone would want to break into a house to have it. I was always possessive about my things and especially my personal diary. It perplexed me to no end, as I stood there staring at the empty shelf where it had once resided.
I remembered the sound I had heard and I walked to the window in order to find a clue. I felt guilty for not having explored the reason behind the mysterious sounds, before running off in haste. I decided it was time to unravel the mystery as it was making me go crazy. As I leaned over and looked down I saw a rope hanging out leading to our neighbor’s balcony. Strange indeed!!
As far as I remembered the house was locked for the past few years. Reportedly, the owner had died in a car crash and thereafter his family had shifted to Dubai for good.
The only thing that I could think of was to run down the stairs and check if there was anyone still occupying the house. As I turned back, my eyes caught a silver key lying on the floor which certainly did not belong to me even though I felt I knew this key well because I had seen it somewhere. Unfortunately, to add to all the confusion was yet another problem, I just could not recollect who it belonged to.
Quickly I put the key in my pajama pocket and left for my neighbor’s house.
I reached the dark corridor and went straight to the entrance wherein all the mystery lay. The door was locked as usual but I was sure it had been opened because the dust was wiped off from the lock and it seemed as though it had been tampered with recently.
All of a sudden I heard voices inside the house. It seemed as if two men were discussing something. The one with a husky voice seemed to be quite angry while the other seemed to be earnestly trying to convince something to the guy in a hushed tone.
I put my ears against the door and tried my best to overhear the conversation
“Do you realize what you did just now? How on this earth could you be so careless?”
“But Sir…. I did not…..”
“Shut up! We cannot leave this place without the key. GET IT RIGHT NOW. Boss will kill us if we do not give him  that diary before he  leaves  for Dubai. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? HE WILL KILL US. GO…AND BRING THE KEY RIGHT AWAY!!”
“Sir, please … we will find a way... I will be caught if I go up to the girls’ room…let me think of…”
“THINK?? This is NO TIME TO THINK YOU MORON! GO THERE OR I WIIILL SHOOT YOU BEFORE BOSS DOES!!”
“ Ye..ess…yeess Sir … I … I … will Sir ….” And with that I heard a bustle of activity inside followed by a dead silence.
So now I knew that these men were up to something which was certainly dubious. These men had lost the key which I now possessed. But what was all that they were talking about??Who was the Boss?? And most importantly what had my diary to do with it??
No time to think …I quickly rushed upstairs to my room. I had to stop this man from entering inside, so I hurriedly went to the window and cut the rope hoping he would not find another way to come up. I latched the window from inside and dialed the police and narrated all the events. By then my family members had also woken up.
Within minutes we heard the loud siren of the police jeeps.  Five uniformed men armed with their guns ran in to my neighbor’s home and another two came up to interrogate me. As they led the two accused to the car, one of the policemen thanked me for helping them get hold of these criminals.
I was relieved that this nightmare was coming to an end and I was also in a state of  shock by the turn events of within the past few hours. I just could not wait to tell everyone of this exciting adventure. Many questions were still unanswered.
 A few days later, I was informed that these men worked under an infamous drug dealer who was ‘wanted’ for a long time by the police force. The diary had a code written in it which was needed by this dealer for it was the password for his communication with another gang who were planning to expand their illegal business in many places of India. And about the key?! Well, it turned out that one of the men who got caught was the son of the dead owner and so he had the keys to the house. I had seen it often with them which made it look so familiar.
And there the mystery ended …..As they say all is well that ends well. Finally my mind laid at rest… and I could sleep peacefully cuddled in my soft blanket after many nights.