I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, with a heavy jolt. I felt as if someone desperately wanted to wake me up. I woke up drenched in sweat, startled by my surrounding. The room was pitch dark, with just two small threads of light piercing from the ventilation in the celling. I tried to switch on the lights but the tiny bulb in my room did not even flicker. I felt someone watching me from the corner of the room. I took my phone and checked the time. 3:33 a.m., it read. I immediately dialled my mom's number. The call did not go through. The operator said "Please recharge your number to make calls". Sh*t! I had again forgotten to recharge my number. I turned on the WIFI, but unfortunately it did not connect either. It stuck me suddenly that there is a power outage in my neighbourhood and so I was unable to turn the lights on or even connect to the WIFI. Meanwhile that horrible feeling that someone was watching me from the dark corner started to amplify. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and stumbled down from my bed.

My parents' room is next to mine. The layout of my house is a bit different. My room is above an open garage, so I technically lived on the 1/2 floor. My parent’s room is on the 1st floor, meaning there is half a flight of stairs leading to their room. There is a living room at the centre of the 1st floor, so in order to go to my parents’ room, I have to walk half a flight of stairs through the open living room and turn right to their door. So, from outside my room, one set of stairs go up to my parent’s room while another set of stairs go down to the ground floor and the kitchen. During night, the flights leading to the ground floor is generally turned off, so it's usually dark. One more important detail here is that the living room is mostly made of glass with no curtains on. So, one can clearly see through the glass.

I decided to wake my mom up. The light from the flashlight cut through the dark living room. As I went outside in the pitch dark, I turned my head back towards the stairs, towards my room...but nothing. It was drenched in darkness. I knocked on their door but there was no response. I knocked again, still no response. "My mom is a deep sleeper", I thought to myself. I heard something fall downstairs. I frantically knocked on the door, this time yelling "mommy please open the door". Finally, the door opened, and my mother stood there confused and slightly irritated by the yelling. She looked at me in an interrogative manner. I could see that the light from the phone really bothered her, so I brought the phone down. I told her about my experience and she said, "It's okay, why don't I go to your room and stay there for the night".

I was relieved knowing that I am safe. She told me hurriedly, "I have to go to the bathroom real quick. So, stay here and do not go to your room". She took another flashlight and went to the toilet. I was standing in the living room, when suddenly something white caught my attention. I could see something white from the corner of my eyes, going down to the ground floor. I instinctively turned my head around and saw my father walk down the stairs. He was wearing a white shirt. I could only see the back of his head. I effing panicked and tears started rolling my eyes. I started sweating profusely and my body started jolting. I felt like I could not move anymore and my legs were failing me.

I suddenly woke up all sweaty and weak. I realised it was all a dream. The room was still dark, darker than my dreams. I tried to turn on the lights. No electricity. I picked up my phone. 3:33 a.m., with no WIFI. I tried dialling my mom's number, the operator on the other side said, "Please recharge your number to make calls". "What the actual f*ck?" I thought to myself. This time I did not waste much time and rushed to my parent’s room. I knocked on the door, knocked again, and then began yelling. By this time, I was at a point where I could piss my pants any moment.

"Open the door mommy, please ".

My mother finally opened the door, bit irritated. I said her, "please, please stay with me mom, I'm too scared ". She looked at me as if I had swallowed a whole elephant in front of her. She said, "let me go to the bathroom real quick " and left. I started chanting all the mantras I knew in my head. I could feel someone standing beside me in the dark, but I did not dare to look in that direction. Something grabbed my shoulder from behind, and as I turned my head in that direction, I saw my father walk down the stairs, wearing a white shirt. I immediately fainted.

I woke up again, startled, drenched in sweat. I checked my phone, it read "3:33 a.m....no WIFI". I started crying at this point and prayed to God to get me out of whatever sh*t-pot I was in. I hurriedly tried to turn the light switch on with no hope left. "Click”. The light flickered on. I sat on my bed dumb founded and realised that I was in a dream loop. I was feeling very weak and restless. I tried calling my mom..."Please recharge your...". I disconnected half way through and without thinking much, I ran for dear life and started knocking and yelling outside my parents' room. My mom opened the door quicker this time, and unlike in my dreams, she had a much calmer and patient look on her face. I hugged her and started crying. I explained everything to her and requested her to stay in my room. I was expecting she would want to go to the washroom, but nothing like that happened this time. She took her pillow from her room and came to mine. I was feeling relaxed and fell asleep holding her.

I woke up a bit late next morning. I turned my head to see if my mom was there beside me, but only her pillow was left behind. I saw that she was already up and my door was not locked. I always keep my doors locked at night. I checked my phone.... 10:05 a.m. I checked my call history and it read, " Outgoing call Mom (3), 3:33" which meant that I had dialled her number thrice at 3:33 a.m. I was bit confused, but didn't pay much heat. Afterall, I was really feeling better than last night. I dragged myself down from the bed and freshened up. I went down for breakfast, and my mom looked at me and smiled. The breakfast was really tasty that morning. My father was in the garden trimming his favourite plants. Fortunately he wasn't wearing a white shirt. I smiled and turned towards my mother and apologised to her, " I'm sorry about last night. I was scared. Also, thank you for staying with me mom".

She looked at me worriedly and replied, "What are you talking about? I never woke up last night".