Greentext · 3 minGreen Eyes

>be me, small boy

>grandmother lives with us

>every night before sleep she tells stories

>not normal stories

>ghost stories

>dark houses

>doors that move on their own

>legs showing from above

>green eyes shining, watching

>i get scared

>still i want to hear

>sleep holding my pillow

>"tell one more, ammamma" i say

>she laughs and starts another one

>by morning the fear is gone

>go to my friends at school

>tell it like a big thing

>"did you hear the story my grandmother told" i say

>"i have no fear" i say

>"i sleep in the dark itself" i say

>truth is if the light goes off at night i crawl inside the pillow

>but outside i want to look like a brave one

>that is how my name stood at school

>the boy who hears ghost stories and is not scared

>that evening it started like this

>amma went to the temple

>nanna did not come home

>nobody in the house

>first i thought it is fine

>thought i will watch tv

>then the current went

>the house went dark all at once

>could not even see the clock

>i stopped

>throat went dry

>all of ammamma's stories came back at once

>what if the door moves

>what if something looks from above

>everything started going round in my head

>went into the room, scared

>shut the door and sat inside

>silence for a while

>then a noise came from the kitchen

>the noise of vessels falling

>loud

>all at once

>felt like my heart stopped

>the shaking started right there in the room

>should i go out or not

>but without knowing i opened the door a little

>peeped

>towards the kitchen

>dark

>darker still

>then two green eyes shone

>really shone

>looked like they moved

>the ghost in ammamma's story was exactly like that

>green eyes

>standing in the dark, watching

>felt like that same one had come

>felt like it had come in front of me

>no courage left

>i screamed

>loud

>forgot even that nobody was home

>came out of the room still screaming

>then the door opened

>amma came

>from the temple

>saw me and stopped

>pulled me close

>"what happened" she asked

>i told her crying

>that a noise came

>that eyes shone

>that a ghost came

>amma looked for a second

>then went into the kitchen

>put the light on

>looked inside

>came out and looked at me

>"orey, you fool" she said

>"that is the cat"

>"it pushed the vessel, that is all"

>i stood there

>did not open my mouth

>the cat was right next to that vessel

>the same green eyes

>not a ghost

>a cat

>amma laughed

>i could not laugh

>after a while nanna came

>ammamma also heard

>amma told it herself

>"the current went

>the cat pushed a vessel

>this one screamed that a ghost had come"

>ammamma looked at me once

>nanna looked once

>my honour died right there

>everything i had bragged about at school

>finished in one evening at home

>after that whenever ammamma told a story

>she would look at me and laugh

>"no fear now?" she would say

>i would not say anything

>i would keep my head down

>from that day

>if i see green eyes

>i first check whether it is a cat

>not whether it is a ghost