1 A Strange incident

"Have we reached", asked Aisha in her sleepy voice at the back seat of the car. "No baby but we are there. Are you hungry?" asked Sophia. Aisha nodded and then gave Sophia her best smile.

"Don't worry we are just there" said Sophia reassuringly and then paid attention to the road in-front of her. First, the city was new to her so she already was having difficulty in understanding roads as if it is the best thing she is known for. She never understands maps and she has major difficulty in learning roads and direction. Ant if that's not less, the heavy rain is blocking most of the view from the car glass.

In the midst of the road she saw someone running towards her car with very fast speed and she panicked and pressed the brakes so hard that the car screeched, causing Aisha to scream with fear. Sophia checked Aisha if she is okay and then signed her to stay put. She opened the car gate to check outside if the person is okay whom she nearly crashed by her car. As, everything happened so fast she didn't took any umbrella and heavy rain was pouring causing her to wet in few seconds.

But when she checked the road there was no one. Not a single soul. She found it very weird because she was so sure she saw someone. She checked again, looked around but there was no one? She exhaled sharply and closes her eyes for a second. God knows what's going on with her. Now, she has started hallucinating. One can never know how mind plays game with you. "Good start", she said to herself while looking around again to be sure but she knew she will found no one. There is no one, no one at all. She turned back to the car and placed herself in the driving seat.

"Are you okay darling" she asked Aisha. But there was no response. "Are you asleep?" Still there was no response. "Aisha", she turned back to check on her but there was no one. A chill ran to Sophia's spine and she panicked. She came out of the car and started screaming Alisha's name but there was no single soul. She checked around but couldn't find any trace of Alisha. [This is very bad, very very very bad, she thought.] She called the emergency helpline number and in her shaky voice asked for help. As she was waiting for the police, panic was raising in her every second making it difficult for her to stand properly. She trembles with fear and prayed to the God for Alisha's safety.

By the time police arrived, Sophia was already crying. She explained everything to the police officer and he assured her to do his best. They started looking around again but failed again. Officer explained to the Sophia that the best thing right now is to reach police station and filed a proper official police complaint. With weeping eyes, Sophia nodded and turned back to the car. Her hands were shaking and she was not stably walking. Officer noticed and offered her his hand and which Sophia politely took.

Officer opened the car gate for her and asked if she is sure to drive by her own but Sophia was adamant. A soft voice caught the attention of both the officer and Sophia which was coming from the back seat.

They stared each other for a second and then officer pulled out his gun and signed Sophia to move away from the car and be quiet. Sophia did as instructed and Officer carefully opened the back door of the car only finding Aisha sleeping on the back seat with her light snores making the soft voices.

Officer dropped his defensive aura and stared the 6-year old. Sophia went behind the Officer to check what was so amusing for Officer in her car back seat. When she saw Aisha both relief and confusion ran into her mind. She was now having headache. Although the rain had stopped but she was completely wet making her feel cold but above all she was embarrassed.

Officer stared at her questioningly making Sophia go uneasy. She opened her mouth to explain him that when she last checked, Aisha was not there but any words escape her mouth as if there was any. She knew there is nothing she can say to prove her point and what can she possibly have to say. The entire situation is against her but the relief of Alisha being okay was enough for her now. She thought its better not to extend this and decided to sort it with the most obvious solution.

"I am sorry Officer. I don't know how I made that mistake", apologized Sophia to the Officer and Officer smiled. "It's okay. By the way, my name is Patrick. Welcome to the Mystic-burgh", said Officer by pulling out his hand for a handshake.

Sophia quickly accepted the friendly gesture of the Officer. She was thankful that the officer was not rude by claiming to waste his precious time and instead was polite enough to welcome her with such sincerity.

"Thank You Officer. My name is Sophia Samuel and I am new in the town. Glad to meet you and I hope you don't mind this incidence because I am not fool I can assure you that but may be nervous and....

"Hey, it's okay. Really", smiled Patrick reassuringly making Sophia relived inside.

Officer turned back to return to his jeep and with last glance of Sophia, he left. Sophia saw Police jeep vanished from her sight and turned back towards her own car. She checked on Aisha who was still sleeping without any care for the world. Sophia stared her not knowing exactly what she was looking for or looking at. She was so sure that Aisha was not there but there she is. [HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? ] Large number of questions was spooning in Sophia's head. She checked Aisha's dry clothes which again proved that in such a heavy rainfall it is quite impossible for Aisha to go out anyhow without getting soaked in the rain water. But yet here she was without any single rain drop on her head. She sighed and replaced the blanket around the Aisha carefully. While doing it she suddenly realized something very weird. She never saw that blanket ever before. It didn't belong to her or Aisha. She knows it. She has to.

She checked the blanked again but couldn't figure out how it was there. All she could manage to say lightly to her, "HOW??"