The Stormy Night
It was Nancy's birthday. We all were excited because she was soon turning three. We had planned a small party at our house. My brother, mom, dad and I with some close relatives were there at the party. Mom with her own recipe had baked it for her. When we were getting the things ready, mom realized she had forgotten to bring candles. She requested some candles from the shop nearby. As it was drizzling, I took an umbrella and hurriedly ran downstairs.
When I was running through the street, it started to rain heavily and suddenly the darkness engulfed the street. I was very scared and I started taking even longer strides.
Suddenly, I banged against something very hard. There I saw a strange man right in front of me. When I looked ahead to apologize, the lighting nearly struck us and I could clearly see his face flashing along with the bright thundering light. He was dressed in black, carried a big black bag, and had a big black scar below his right eye. Then a voice from behind called my name. As I looked back, I saw it was my brother calling me. He ran towards me and gave me the money to buy the candles. As I was in a hurry, I had forgotten to bring the money for the candles. Then the downpour began accompanied by thundering lightning and a gust. He said, "Let's hurry or we'll catch a cold. We are already getting late." But then my mind still sought for the strange man who had appeared so frighteningly before me. For some hazy reason, he looked familiar to me. By then he was no more in the ken of my sight---he was not there!
We got the candles for Nancy's birthday. Soon after we celebrated her birthday, there started a huge storm. The storm continued for a long period of time. I tried to sleep but because of the storm outside, I couldn't sleep. When I was awake I couldn't help but think about that man with the scar. After thinking for a long time, I realized that he was the strange man whom I see every evening roaming in our neighborhood especially while returning from school.
The next morning, I heard my dad say that there had been a theft in our neighbor's house. He could not make it home that night as the road was blocked due to rain. My dad is in the police so, he told us that a man had robbed OUR neighbour's house.
This triggered a thought in my mind. The man whom I had seen that night carried a big black bag with him. When I inquired dad more about the incident, I came to know that only light and expensive things like cash and gold had been stolen. Those things could easily be carried in the bag which the thief had carried. Later, I told dad everything I had seen and he thought of sketching the man's face which I had seen. In the evening, he called some of his friends to our house to sketch that man's face. the man they sketched was known to be a notorious criminal who was always involved in theft and robbery. I also told them that the man frequented our neighborhood so that it would be easy for them to get some clues.
Fortunately, the thief was caught in our neighborhood the next day. My dad along with my neighbours thanked me for helping them arrest the thief. It was very mysterious though I was really on cloud nine as I could be a responsible child to solve the mystery. I even felt encouraged to help dad with his cases. Though it was a risky job, yet it became the most memorable night for me-The Stormy Night. By Isha Khadka
The End
