The Guest House

The Guest House

I was sitting on my favourite seat, near the edge of the well when I heard the sound of a car stopping at the gate, followed by laughter and merry voices indicating the arrival of a group of tourists. Soon I heard the sound of the door opening. The well at the edge of which I was sitting was in the rear of the bungalow. It was very deep and had not been cleaned for the last twenty years. There was an accumulation of dead, rotting leaves in its water the stench from which came up in waves. I was however way beyond being affected by this. The bungalow, which declared itself to be a guest house, was itself in dire need of repairs; its entrance gate was almost half-buried in sand, and the paint on its outer walls had almost completely peeled off but it was the sort of place which could appeal to those who loved adventure, and did not care much for modern luxuries and, above all, who wanted a cheap place to stay for a few days in this tourist town. 

I moved quietly to the front door to see who the guests were. The bungalow was situated outside the main town but was very close to the sea. A narrow road connected it, and the other few bungalows in this row, to the main road leading to the town. Most of these other bungalows were also used as guest houses but very few guests chose to stay there; tourists to this beach town preferred to stay in more fashionable areas on the other side of the town. My own bungalow had not had a visitor for the last ten years, and the visiting couple then had left within two days when I had made the mistake of getting a little too close to the young lady. I was now wiser and knew my limits.

The guests this time were two young couples, who could not have been more than in their thirties. The men were typical of the present generation, bearded and dressed in shorts and t-shirts, while the women were dressed a little more to my liking. One of them was strikingly beautiful, too, with blue eyes and sharp features. She reminded me at once of Neena. I decided to allow them to settle down, before approaching any of them, though I could not resist the temptation of looking at them from a distance especially the girl with blue eyes,. But in the evening when they sat down at a game of cards with drinks in their hands, I took up courage and moved into the room. My only desire was to sit close to her, without making any physical contact, but much before that could happen she stiffened and holding her husband's arm, said,

"Arun, there is someone in the room."

They all looked around, but obviously, no one could see anyone in the room; I had taken care to withdraw to a safe distance.

"Don't be silly. There is no one here except us. Calm yourself."

They resumed their game, but I could see that Neena's look-alike was still apprehensive, and from time to time looked anxiously around the room. I had by now decided to leave her alone for the present and had withdrawn to my normal resting place.

The night that followed was cool with a bright moon lighting up the whole courtyard. The sound of the waves from the sea was very enticing. It was on such evenings that Neena and I used to walk along the beach, hand in hand. After a while, we would sit on the cool sand, with her head resting on my shoulder. The temptation to go and sit close to Neena look-alike was too strong, and gingerly, I moved into the room where they were all sleeping. Moonlight from the open windows was streaming into the room, and one streak of it was falling on her face, making her look all the more beautiful. Gradually, I inched closer to her. She must have sensed something because she turned in her sleep but fortunately did not wake up. I moved closer, and very gently stretched my hand to touch her. At this point she woke up and screamed, waking up everyone.

"There is someone in the room. He touched me. I won't stay here. Let us go back at once."

They all comforted her, and with torches in their hands searched all the rooms and the courtyard, but did not see anyone.

"Settle down, I say. There is no one. It is all psychological. You were reading a crime novel in the journey, and it is the result of this."

"No, no. We cannot stay here. After all, there must be some reason why no one comes to stay in this guest house. Didn't the owner tell us that for the last ten years no guests had come here?"

There was no question of anyone sleeping after all this commotion. They had a lot of discussions, but finally, they decided to pack up and move to a hotel in the main town.

As they loaded their bags in the car, I watched from the roof of the bungalow. I was infinitely sad; I knew it would be years before I saw another guest. In any case, there wouldn't be anyone looking even remotely as beautiful as Neena had looked. But I had no option; I had to accept my lot. The years had taught me the inexorable law of life, that everything that comes your way is pre-ordained. You only deceive yourself if you believe that you are the master of what happens to you.

As the car started I kept looking at the taillights, till it turned to head into the main road. With a deep sigh, I retreated to the bottom of the well where Neena and her lover had pushed me and which had been my home for the last twenty years.