A long evening (Short Story)

Madhu adored her beautiful garden. Her garden had rewarded her hard work well. It had several beautiful rose plants and almost every vegetable and herb needed in an Indian kitchen. Like every other day, at six in the evening, Madhu made herself a cup of warm ginger tea and stepped out.

 
But that day, the moment Madhu's feet touched the grass a strange feeling engulfed her body. There was no noise in the air that evening. The wind was still, the insects were quiet and there were no birds in sight. Madhu could not hear the sound of a single-vehicle nor could she hear sounds of conversation. The road was eerily silent. The world was mute and there was no soul around.
 
Suddenly there was a loud thud. It sounded like someone had stomped the ground with something heavy. The thud was followed by the sound of anklets. But the sound made by these anklets was unlike the sound of a woman's anklets. These anklets sounded like the heavy anklets worn by the male dancers of the local theatre.
 
Seconds later Madhu heard more thuds followed by the sound of loud footsteps & the jingling of anklets. It sounded like they were marching down the road. As the procession approached Madhu's house, Madhu's curiosity got the better of her and she stepped in front of the gap near the front gate to steal a peek.
 
Madhu waited breathlessly to catch a glimpse of what she assumed to be a troupe of theatre dancers. The sounds grew louder. They were deafening now. And just when Madhu thought she would spot the dancers a white fog covered her eyes.
 
Suddenly she could not see a single thing. Panic filled Madhu as she felt herself going completely blind. She could not hear a single sound either. She tried to listen but her ears were failing her. She opened her mouth to speak - to scream! But to her utter despair, not a single sound escaped her mouth. It seemed that she had lost her ability to speak.
 
It seemed that only two of her senses were working. She felt goosebumps on every inch of her skin and she smelt the stench of rotting flesh. Her body was paralyzed and she could not move. All she could do is stand in the same spot for what felt like hours. 
 
Madhu was terrified. She felt like crying, screaming, and begging for help. But she could do neither of those things. Her body was unresponsive. Madhu felt like she was going to die. In fact, a part of her believed that she had died. It would not phase her if someone set her body on fire and recited her last rites. She was sure she has felt death in her soul.
 
After what seemed like an eternity Madhu released the breathe she realized she had been holding in all this while. A crow screeched in the distance and Madhu could finally hear. She let out a sob and a muffled sound escaped her lips. Her vision cleared slowly but she was still in a daze. Her head was spinning painfully as she stared at the black paint of the front gate.
 
Regaining her senses, Madhu slowly backed away from the gate almost tripping. She then ran inside the house and slammed the door shut. As soon as she was sure the door was closed and locked, Madhu began to sob loudly. Madhu had never cried like this before. She wailed and screamed. Her mind was in turmoil and anguish.
 
What had happened to her? What had happened outside? What were those sounds? The questions attacked her but she had no energy to respond. In fact, she was too scared to think about it. The amount of fear she felt was intolerable. Madhu shut herself in her room and sobbed into her pillow. She cried for hours till she finally fell asleep from exhaustion.
 
The next morning Madhu woke up still a little shaken up. She heard noises from the kitchen. Her husband was making breakfast for the both of them. He must have returned home late at night after she had passed out.
 
Madhu thought of telling him everything that happened but stopped herself before the words left her mouth. Her story was absurd. Her husband would never believe her. No one would. She was not sure if she believed it either. It must have been a nightmare. It could not possibly be real. And so Madhu kept her mouth shut and went on about her day like nothing happened.
 
And it certainly did begin to feel like nothing had happened. There was no evidence of anything. Sounds of birds, insects, traffic, and people could be heard even within the house. The sun was shining brightly and it seemed like just another normal day.
 
In the months that followed Madhu recovered from the incident, putting it behind her, as if it really were a nightmare she dreamed. The incident never repeated again, but it was also true that Madhu never stepped out into the garden in the evenings anymore.
 
A year later Madhu's sister Maya visited her from Kochi. It was mango season and Maya had brought a crate full of Alphonso mangoes. As they devoured the mangoes the sisters exchanged stories as they caught up with each other. Madhu suddenly had the urge to share what happened to her with Maya. For some reason, Madhu felt Maya would believe her.
 
And so Madhu hesitantly narrated the incident. Maya's face twisted in shock and fear but when Madhu finished the story Maya had a strange expression on her face. After a moment's pause, Maya spoke up.
 
"Have you not heard of the Yavaiksha temple?", Maya questioned, a solemn look on her face. 
 
Yavaiksha's were powerful demigods. The tribal folk of the region prayed to these gods. They would visit these demigods and ask for favors and in return, they would promise the demigods a small sacrifice - usually a chicken. It was believed that the demigods granted the tribal folk their wishes but punished the ones that broke their promise severely. Madhu had heard this story from her neighbor.
 
Madhu had heard the lore but she could not understand what the Yavaiksha myth had to do with the incident. The nearest Yavaiksha temple was miles away and neither she nor her husband believed in the demigods. They had never visited the temple, nor had they ever made any promises to the demigods.

Maya then proceeded to explain. She told Madhu that once a year on a full moon night it was rumored that the Yavaiksha marched out into the streets. A demonic ritual where they woke up from their positions to enter the human realm and take a walk. People living in houses surrounding the Yavaiksha temple would keep their doors shut and turn off all the lights in the house. No one dared peek outside.

Madhu quickly grabbed her phone to check whether it had been a full moon the day of the incident. To her utter horror, it was true. Maya and Madhu stared at each other as realization dawned. Neither of them spoke for a while and when Madhu finally opened her mouth to say something, there was a loud thud. A loud thud followed by a jingling of anklets.