Dinner over rather early, we
settled down for a chat and his mother waited for a paan. He and his wife would
leave for Amsterdam the day after. They would go via Delhi and Moscow. We
advised the couple to travel light. I asked him whether his job was taking him
to different places. He said he has been travelling occasionally. I asked him
if he had had any interesting experience during travel.
He spoke about a visit to
Oxfordshire. The Hotel he had checked into is one of the original 13th-century
coaching inns and with stone walls, oak beams, open fireplaces and an ivy
façade, impressed him. That at least two of its bedrooms are talked about to be
haunted, only added to his excitement and he looked forward to the thrill in
case he was lucky enough to experience something unusual.
He slept well till he heard
sound of scratching on the wall close to his bed. Its intensity only increased
for a while. Then there was the feeling of someone walking past his bed. He
could no more wait to experience this with his eyes still closed. He was now
awake and saw the door of the bathroom slightly open though he had taken
particular care to close it before going to the bed. While getting into the
room the previous afternoon he had had a word with the hotel staff who had avoided
a direct answer when he wanted to know if his room was haunted. She however did
tell him about her solitary weird experience-- in the cellar down below--- when
the door closed after she was inside even though there was no strong wind that
could have explained why the door closed. Thereafter she never went to the
cellar alone.
He checked out in the morning
happy. He travelled to the town again on work and checked into the same hotel.
He took special care to get the same room again. This time he got up around
four in the morning and heard footfalls on the wooden floor and came out. He
saw a few guests moving out with baggage. He was told about an early morning
flight which many guests take every day. He could connect the scratching on the
wall and the sound of footsteps close to his bed during his first visit to
activity in the adjacent room. Perhaps the guest in the adjacent room was
preparing to check out to catch the morning flight.
These however did not explain
why the door of the bathroom opened.
(December 26, 2015)
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