BURNING DESIRE

She wept & prayed in the darkness which seemed to almost strangle her to death. The eeriness of the mansion overpowered her completely. From every corner she could hear footfalls approaching. She choked as she caught a sob in her throat & waited for the worse to happen…
Steeling herself, she slowly turned to face whatever was behind her. All she could see in the darkness was the spiral staircase, covered with dust & cobwebs. She held her breath & rushed out of the mansion into the crisp morning light. On the rusty iron gate was beautifully etched the name- DESIRE. But for her, it embodied only evil in its largeness & obscurity. The first time she had seen the house, she knew it reeked of death. Strangely, it was the same house which had frequented her dreams over the last few months. The same iron gate, the same sounds of the footsteps which had haunted her dreams. She felt a shiver down her spine at the very thought of it. It was quite weird-maybe some kind of a bad omen.
The previous week had been quite surprising for her. A phone call from a distant cousin brought news of a mansion being left in her name by a rich great aunt who had just died. But she never remembered having any great aunt who could afford such luxury. She and her husband had been excited at the idea of living in their house. However, the thought of living in that huge mansion somehow repelled her.
Her husband, an architect, was completely unaware of the feelings which troubled her. He could never sense the malignant air of the mansion. In fact, he fell in love with it at first sight. He had always been fascinated by old houses, no matter how dark & gloomy they may appear. What was wrong with him, she wondered. Couldn’t he feel the monstrosity of the mansion? She tried her best to bring him back but he would not listen. He excitedly chalked out plans to renovate DESIRE…
Never for once could he realize that she was not going to live in that mansion. She almost lost her sanity brooding constantly over the evilness of DESIRE. Nothing she said would deter her husband to go ahead with his plans. She felt as if the mansion had taken possession of him. He was completely under its spell. She had to put a stop to this before it was too late.
She waited patiently for the day when her husband would be away for a week to attend a meeting. Then she would be free to handle that horrible mansion on her own. She had to get rid of it by any means. How she laughed on that autumn afternoon when she finally set ablaze DESIRE. She gladly walked towards her car parked outside the gate, thinking about her husband and their unborn child.
Nobody noticed the figure of a burning man inside the mansion, trying desperately to escape from the terrible inferno. She had made it sure that all doors were locked so that no evil could escape and haunt her again….She woke up with a start, her heart pounding. It was another of those nightmares. She turned towards her husband for comfort. But, of course, he wasn’t there…