Mona Lisa of my Dreams by Susmita Mukherjee

Today we have our first guest post here on the blog. We have a Paranormal short story by Susmita Mukherjee. If you like what you read go ahead and find Susmita on Instagram @simply_sush and give her a follow. Without further ado, here is Susmita’s short story: Mona Lisa of my Dreams.

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As soon as I shut the door of my room, the faint light from the light across the street caught my eyes. I didn’t feel up to turning on the lights just yet. I just wanted the noise inside my head, the never-ending cacophony that always resulted at the end of a day outside, to ebb. I took in a few deep breaths, trying to remember the relief that being back in the room brought with it. The calm, familiar darkness that would eventually engulf the noise, the thumping heart and all of my panic would recede.

As a research scholar three years ago, I was quite popular with my study in anthropology and was frequently invited to join in parties and all kinds of social experiments that my colleagues would consider. Most of them were quite distasteful but since I had already mastered the art of appropriate reactions, I was quite a hit. From having a full calendar of late drunken nights, endless chatter and an acquired air of intellectual superiority, I was a preferred choice of companion for any occasion. And then, four months of solitude. First, being removed from the comfortable flat I shared with eight others. Now, only four of us remain. Alive, I mean.

The only accommodation I found was this tiny room with an attached loo. At a time of limited to no options, constant fear of losing myself or a loved one, and the urgency to move into a safe space, this little space seemed just right. As the pandemic raged outside my door, I remained locked away with only a window overlooking the street.

A single wooden bed in one corner, a table extending from the other end near the washroom and all around to the head of the bed. It was one of the most basic accommodations imaginable but that was all I needed. Especially as the wails of neighbours, up and down the street, wafted in at any given time of the day or night. The lamentations of losing loved ones has always been a terrible trigger, especially having lost my own parents at a young age. And so I sat huddled on the bed, in the dark. Waiting for the disease to come get me, or to go away.

“Come to bed,” Mona coaxed me as I gulped down a big breath. “I had really hoped you’d invite him in this time,” Mona chuckled as I dropped my coat and bag and slid into the warmth of my duvet in one swooping motion. “He’s cute,” I mumbled back to her, “he wants to see me again this weekend.”

“Aw!” Mona teased. “What happened today? Give me the details.”

“Nothing! Truly, we just carried on the conversation from the film screening until we reached the gate. He wanted to get some wine with the others so I came home.”

Mona could barely contain her shock. “What? Seriously?”

“What? He asked to meet again over the weekend,” I replied, cushioning into the wall over the duvet.

“You need to talk to people,” Mona’s concern spilled through her voice.

“I am! I am talking to you,” I said.

“That’s what I am worried about. One of these days, you have to let me go.”

I sighed deeply and let the exhaustion guide me into the peaceful deep ocean of sleep.

The loud blaring and the shouting outside the room awoke me. Confusion gave way to panic in a matter of seconds as I leapt out of the bed to gather my wits. There was smoke everywhere. I rushed to open the door and saw people in their nightclothes, dishevelled and with soot on their faces, looking at me in a panic through a cloud of smoke. They all began talking at once and I instinctively shut the door. “What are you doing?” Mona screeched from the bed. “Run!”

The loud banging on my door jolted me to my senses, I opened the door and one of the neighbours pulled me out of my room. “Go outside, NOW!”

I made my way through the smoke to the staircase leading me downstairs and out of the building. I was almost at the gate of the building when I stopped. Mona? An elderly lady who was following me slammed me into the gate. My head started throbbing as we hurled out into the open. The smoke, the exhaustion from earlier in the evening, the fear and the panic and now the intense pain on the side of my head! I doubled over, coughing, into the grass along the sidewalk. I felt someone trying to hold me up, calling for help. I tried to open my eyes but my head hurt so much. I passed out.

I was lying on a triage when I came to. I thought I heard Mona calling me to wake up. As I looked up, even in the dead of the night and the traces of smoke in the air, I could see that the building was badly hit by the fire. I got myself out and fumbled back towards the building, everyone was too tired, too distraught to notice me. I made my way up to my floor, my head throbbing much worse and my heart sinking with every step, unable to stop. I flung open the door of my room. The dawn was creeping up through the window and next to it, an empty frame with a broken glass. All black. Monalisa of my dreams was gone.