It was a very busy time in the year. An art exhibition was coming up and Linda and her friends had not yet completed their paintings for the same. “Let’s stay back after school today,” said Linda to her friends. So, that day, Linda went up to her art teacher and told her they would need more time to complete their work. The teacher told them that they could stay back till 9 at night. “Even I will stay back to give you company,” said the teacher. It would be a long day’s work, so the girls informed their parents that they would be in school till 9 pm. After the class, the girls became busy with their paintings. Their art room was a big hall. It was divided into two sections with a sliding door. The teacher and the students sat on one side of the sliding door, while the other was empty.
A Whistle from Outside
As the girls painted, it grew dark outside. A girl sat towards the end of the room, besides a huge window that faced the park. Suddenly, she heard a whistling sound. It seemed as if someone standing in the park was whistling. Even Linda heard the sound. None of the girls, however, could see anyone. They thought maybe they imagined it and went back to their work. At that moment, their art teacher switched on the radio that was placed on her desk. Now all that the girls could hear was the sound emitting from the radio and soon the whistling sound died. After some more time had elapsed, one of the girls said she wanted to go to the bathroom. “Let’s all go together,” said Linda, and the girls trooped out of the room together. The washroom was at the other end of the building, so it was quite a distance to walk.
The Voice
The bunch of giggly girls was creating quite a ruckus in the bathroom, cracking jokes and guffawing, when suddenly they stopped. They had heard a sound from one of the toilet units. “Is anybody there?” asked one of the girls. “Don’t worry; it’s me, your art teacher,” said a woman’s voice. The girls were astounded. It had taken them five minutes to reach the washrooms, and when they had left the art room their teacher had still been inside the class. Then how did she reach before them! The voice, however, did sound like their art teacher, so after washing up, the girls returned to the art room. Here they were in for a surprise again. Their art teacher was still sitting on her chair listening to the radio! Confused, Linda asked the teacher, “Weren’t you in the washroom just now, Ma’am?” “No, I was sitting here all the time,” said the teacher.
The Heavy Breathing
“What happened?” asked the teacher. Linda then told her teacher about the voice they had heard in the toilet. The teacher wondered if the girls were trying to be fool her. At that moment they heard a sound of heavy breathing from the other end of the art room. The girls looked at one another in terror. They were so shocked that they could not move or speak for some time. The teacher composed herself and asked the girls to pack up quickly. She then quickly closed the sliding room. It was very dark all around the school and scary. The girls filed out of the classroom led by their teacher quickly. After they were safely outside the school, the teacher said, “I hope you girls won’t make a big deal out of this. It may be your imagination after all.” After the incident, the girls never stayed back in the art room in the evening.
