The Cold Night – Weird Short Stories 3

“Are you sure, Alok?”

And the tremble in her voice was visible to my ears. I looked at her coldly for a few seconds and nodded – yes. She was afraid but her fear could not hide the frenzy of happiness that she wore over her rob after my ‘yes’. I did not have anything to hide. We walked slowly back home. All along, our steps crushed the ice on the road. It was snowing. A beautiful evening it was.

Her eyes are big and when something terrible is done by me, they are bigger or smaller according to her mood. I was looking at our photo which stood inside an archaic frame on the table close to the bed in our bedroom. She was asleep. The sound of her breaths could not hide because the night was silent and cold.

The world is very frightening if we really care about the fear scattered in the world. Otherwise, it all seems superficial and a human construct. We can look at someone and smile or just get afraid. The choice is ours. Whether we keep our fear intact or do something to get out of it.

I thought to wake her up but resisted. We had a long conversation and some beautiful moments before I requested her to sleep. She is sleeping. And I am thinking. This is beautiful! Should I wake her up?

“Alok! Alok! Wake up!”

“Oh! What-what? Did I miss something?”

“We have a flight to catch and it’s the last call for the passengers who haven’t yet boarded.”

“Yes, we have to!”

Read other weird short stories by Alok Mishra:

The Journey – Weird Short Story 1

The Autumn – Weird Short Story 2