Have you ever experienced the real fear, I mean, the actually horrifying duration of time with deathly eerie silence within and without, the darkness within and without, which has so often been mentioned in stories, or described by the writers of the stories of the genre which have the power to shake and frighten you?

Yes, then you will grasp the notions which I am going to convey to you through the following lines, and if no, then you are undoubtedly going to share, at least,  some part of the trepidation which I have almost become habitual to now. The incident which I am going to relate here is no less than a nightmare which I pray to God should disappear from my memory before I breathe my last.

The small town was facing regular electric shortage, sometimes 10 to 12 hours in a day, and the lifestyle had changed according to the schedule provided by the electric department. This continued for about seven months.

One winter night, I was all alone in the house, located in a very congested part of the town. Due to the absence of electric power supply, people often turned in earlier than usual. My wife and my daughters, 16 and 12, had gone to their uncle’s house for a night. I felt lonely and before it was time to close the shop, I decided to open a bottle of whiskey. I attended a few customers unwillingly because I did want to close the shop and enjoy my drinks.

At about 8:00 pm, I was not in a position to attend the customers, for I felt the powerful effect of the drinks on my mind and body. I decided to go upstairs and listen to the news on radio, for the inverter did not have enough energy to run the TV. No sooner had I adjusted myself on the sofa than I found myself dozing off. I experienced hallucinations, and, intermittently, I felt as if I was drowning in a deep black mass of water.

After about an hour, I heard a knock. The electric bell won’t work without electricity. My first intention was to ignore that call but then I thought otherwise, someone definitely needed something from the shop which usually closed at 9:30 pm. When I moved towards the stairs, my legs were shaking and I felt palpitation.