The Devil

I board this train daily. It passes though paddy fields, lakes and forests. Quite a scenic route, but a very isolated one. Only a few sporadic stations along the way, and only a few of them appear to be manned.

On one of these stations, everyday, I see a man, a woman and a child of ten or so board the train. Over the days, they have caught my attention, for more reasons than one. For one, the man and the child are always the same, but the lady is always different. Never have I seen the same lady board on two consecutive days, or for that matter, on any two days ever. And the lady always looks depressed. I can almost imagine a stream of tears along her cheek from the distance.

It was only today that I got a chance to talk to one of them. For the first time they were seated in my berth. We were seated in complete silence for a while. I stole a couple of furtive glances at them, but did not put any query. Yet.

At once, the little boy demanded to be taken to the washroom. The man suddenly spoke up to me when they left.
He seemed to know the questions that had filled my mind. At that short interval of hardly a quarter of an hour, he managed to narrate to me the ghastly circumstances that had surrounded them. And I can't imagine ever forgetting any of it.

"He's not my son," he started, "but he claims to be." I was surprised at the sudden unusual declaration.

"One rainy evening he turns up at my door and says he wanted to be my son. I found it funny then, the innocent looking boy. But then he threatened to burn my house if I did not take him in.

"I found no reason not to shelter him for the night. But quite an ill mannered child, I thought. I wondered who his parents were. I fed him and let him sleep in the hall.

"The next morning when I woke up I saw him asleep beside me, on his face a broad smile! And which is more, my dog was missing! No trace since.

"Things kept disappearing. Neighbours' pets. Cupboard contents. I had never suspected anything then. I never spoke to anyone about it. The costliest mistake I've made!

"One evening he comes up and says he needs a mother. I laugh and say I can't get him any. Next morning I find my car scratched all over as if with sand paper!

"Upon such disturbances (I don't have time to narrate in detail) and threats I was compelled to bring in a lady to look after him. I coaxed in a babysitter.

"But next morning he comes up and says 'this mommy's no good. I need a new one.' I tell him it doesn't work that way. But then the lady went missing! I had thought she left, but a couple of days later she was reported missing.

"It's been happening since. I had to move to this isolated place upon his request. One girl, every single day! And none of them have been ever seen since!"

The lady and the child arrived, and the man withdrew. In a moment he looked like he had never spoken a word. But I was shaken to the bone! The little boy gave a sideways glance at me, and that made me decide to sit the rest of the way silently.

Hardly had my mind taken in the creepy story, that I fell asleep. When I woke up I was no longer on the train. I was in the hall of a big house. I could see a forest out of the window. And seated infront of me, with a subtle smile on his lips, was the little boy from the train!

"Where am I?" I asked.

"That daddy was no good," he replied silently, "I needed a new one"