Nama Slay: An Indian Scary Story

It was a dark and stormy night. Mummy was cleaning up after the family’s dinner, untouched roti and daal left behind by her children who now turned their noses up at Indian food.

The only bread the kids would eat was sourdough, and they spent all their time calculating their protein intake. When Mummy offered fresh fruit, they said they weren’t hungry, and then went to snack on sugary cereal instead.

Mummy sighed. The kids watched too many Reels and had forgotten their own culture. Yesterday they had told her about this new, amazing concoction they learned about on YouTube called “turmeric milk”.

Suddenly, a bright light shone from the gate. The glare pierced through the window, forcing Mummy to cover her eyes. She saw a mysterious silhouette lurking as the wind howled.

The floor started creaking. Payal came running out from her room, a rare sight as she was always locked up in there spending hours on her phone. All Mummy saw was bare legs moving quickly out the door.

“That’s my Grab bike!” Payal shouted without waiting for permission to leave.

“Wait!” Mummy yelled as she dashed off into the darkness.

Where did she think she was going at 9 PM and on a school night nonetheless? Mummy couldn’t believe how brazen Payal was at just 17 years old.

Payal had already said she never wants to get married and is planning to backpack around Asia when she graduates high school.

“You already live in Asia, and you only need to carry a backpack to school,” her father had sternly said.

Mummy pulled out her phone to message Payal when she saw something that almost made her drop the stainless steel plate she was washing. Her blood ran cold and the hairs on her neck stood up.

Payal had changed her WhatsApp profile picture and was that… someone’s hairy arm around her?

Mummy couldn’t find her glasses (they were on her head) and didn’t know how to zoom in to see the photo more clearly. She ran upstairs to find Rahul to help her.

“Beta!” she shrieked. “Who is this in Payal’s photo?”

Mummy paused and smiled as she saw Rahul at his desk taking notes in his biology textbook. He was definitely going to be the doctor she had always dreamed of having.

Upon seeing Mummy barge into his bedroom, Rahul quickly slammed his book shut to hide the sketchpad he had hidden inside.

Mummy forgot about Payal for a moment. “Have you been studying the chapter on DNA replication yet?” she asked as she reached for the textbook.

Before Rahul could stop her, she opened the book and out fell pages and pages of abstract drawings. Rahul’s face turned as white as a ghost.

Mummy let out a bloodcurdling scream. “What is this? This looks nothing like a double helix!”

Rahul froze, then softly said, “Mummy, I want to become an artist.”

A loud clap of thunder roared, and Mummy sat upright in bed with a shock. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she took a moment to remember where she was.

She saw the familiar surroundings of her bedroom and her phone on the bedside table. The time had just struck midnight on 31 October.

“Thank goodness,” she gasped. “That was just a nightmare.”

A bolt of lightning flashed in the night sky. Mummy got up to fetch a glass of water. As she walked to the kitchen, she heard the doorknob rattle and a shadowy figure ran into the house and disappeared like a phantom.

The only thing Mummy could see was the blur of bare legs.

Mummy took a deep breath and decided she needed to say her prayers. This night was getting too creepy.

She rifled through cabinets looking for her glasses (they were on her head). In one of the drawers, stuffed deep in the back, she found hordes of art supplies and sketchbooks filled with abstract doodles.

Was it really a bad dream, after all?