After nearly eight years apart, Nilesh and Raman met. Both had pursued master’s degrees in different locations and were now back in the same city with jobs.
“Let’s revisit our favourite bachelor hangout,” suggested Nilesh, his grin wide with nostalgia. “Sounds like a great idea!” replied Raman.
“Shhh! Don’t mention this to Mahek,” Nilesh cautioned, rolling his eyes in a playful gesture. “She absolutely detests those remote hill spots, and she’d definitely put a stop to it!”
With that, the friends concocted a story for their newly wedded wives, claiming they needed to visit a mutual friend near Pune. They set off from Vadodara, heading to Alibaug, where they used to hang out before starting their master’s programs.
Their car’s trunk was stocked with beer and whiskey, as they planned to fully embrace the night, reminiscing about their carefree bachelor days.
As dusk approached, the two friends checked into their room. After a quick bite, they headed to a vast field where they had shared drinks before, now overgrown with lush grass.
Finding a spot nestled in the greenery, they began pouring their drinks. The sky darkened around them, but the dimming light did nothing to dampen their spirits.
“Do you remember our last day of college?” Nilesh chuckled, nudging Raman playfully. Suddenly, Raman’s expression shifted, a sombreness washing over him.
“Whatever happened to that troublemaker, Jignesh?” Raman pondered aloud. “It wasn’t right how he treated that girl, and we just stood there, paralysed by the alcohol.”
They were interrupted by a rustling sound in the grass. “Is that a blue umbrella moving? Do you see someone holding it?” Nilesh squinted ahead. When he turned back to Raman, he was startled to see his friend’s face gone ghostly pale, clearly shaken.
“What’s wrong, Raman?” Nilesh asked, gently shaking his friend.
“It… it’s the same umbrella,” Raman stammered, his voice trembling. Nilesh was confused.
“You were too inebriated to notice the girl’s umbrella back then, Nilesh. Look! It’s coming our way!”
“How could that same umbrella from eight years ago still be here… and that girl…?” Nilesh sputtered, a chilling realisation hitting him.
“Because of what Jignesh did to her, and the fact that we didn’t stop him… that poor girl! She must have suffered.” Before Raman could finish, the umbrella seemed to advance toward them, almost menacingly.
Panic set in, and their minds flashed back to that eighteen-year-old girl, waving the same blue umbrella in the rain. They had confronted her then, her innocent explanation about searching for her father’s spade only met with cruel taunts. In her moment of vulnerability, Jignesh had committed an unforgivable act while they silently stood by, paralysed by fear and intoxication.
The two friends ran for their lives that night, haunted by the chilling memories of a past they had tried to forget.
Two male bodies, thirty years old, discovered near a pond in Alibaug.
The following day, this news took Jignesh’s widow by awe. Same place where her husband died last year!