During the COVID lockdown, a girl named Aisha found herself staying at her grandfather’s village for eight to ten months. While it was a period marked by uncertainty for many, Aisha settled into a comfortable routine, spending evenings on the terrace to dry clothes or catch up with friends over the phone.
One day, as she carried a bucket of clothes upstairs, she noticed a boy on the neighboring terrace. He stared at her, which she initially shrugged off—who wouldn’t glance at someone in their line of sight? However, the feeling of being watched lingered. The next evening, as she went to the terrace again, she spotted him standing on the staircase leading to his terrace, casting glances in her direction. This time, it felt a bit more unsettling.
Over time, this strange ritual became a pattern. Almost every time Aisha stepped outside, the boy appeared, regardless of the time or the purpose of her outing. Once, she reminisced about the atmosphere that seemed to build around her as she dried clothes under the sun, trying to ignore the boy who, like clockwork, emerged from his home. She was convinced it was just coincidence—until reality proved otherwise.
One evening, Aisha decided to test her theory; she took her younger brother to the terrace. The boy appeared as expected, and to Aisha’s surprise, he waved to her brother. They weren’t close friends, but rather mere acquaintances, which added another layer of awkwardness to the situation. Aisha felt a strange mix of amusement and frustration; this boy was watching her like a hawk, and now he had her brother involved.
Their little routine continued for months. One evening, during a power cut, Aisha tried to avoid being seen by moving to the other side of the terrace. Yet, as she watched, the boy flashed his phone light toward her direction before making his way up. Aisha ducked downstairs, feeling a mixture of annoyance and intrigue. How could he always appear so consistently?
She even tried to escape his attention altogether, taking a break from going to the terrace for five days. But her efforts were futile; Aisha saw him pacing on his terrace around the usual time she would have been out. It became increasingly clear that this was no mere coincidence; he was waiting for her. The realization sent a chill down her spine.
As time went on, Aisha confided in two friends she had made in the village about the boy next door. They revealed an unsettling truth: he had been asking around, inquiring about her life—where she lived, what her favorite color was, and even her favorite chocolate. The invasion of privacy only intensified Aisha’s discomfort. It felt like she was living in a strange episode of a soap opera where the plot had taken a creepy turn.
Then, just as she expected her life to return to normal, the boy showed up at her grandfather’s home, ostensibly to invite him to a family event. Aisha, watching from a distance, felt his eyes scanning the space, searching for her. That was the moment she realized he was indeed paying attention, perhaps more than she’d thought. She instinctively retreated, heart racing, hoping to avoid any awkward encounters.
While the boy’s watchful behavior had initially amused her, it soon became a source of anxiety. As the summer days passed, Aisha often found herself retreating from the terrace just to avoid the murky waters of their strange interaction. But there was no denying the boy’s persistence; constantly, he was there, blend of curiosity and boldness refreshing yet unsettling.
By the time Aisha returned to her city life in Bhopal, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief. The awkward tension and bizarre rituals had come to an end. As years went by, she occasionally thought of that boy, now a ghost of her village memories. Recently, she heard he was about to get married, which unexpectedly triggered memories of that odd eight-month chapter in her life.
Despite the strangeness of those months, Aisha could never fully decipher what was going on. All she knew was that, at any given moment, she could go to the terrace, and there he would be, his presence lingering like a shadow, always watching but never speaking. And in the end, that remains one of the most peculiar experiences of her life.
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