Suspense Short Story – The anatomy building ghost
Photo credit: Piresco from morguefile.com
Another 12 hours to go. 15th of July and one more night between our dreaded anatomy practical examination. The time seems to flow away like a river. Why cant it stop just for a few more hours. Oh how I wish I should have studied along with the classes,things would have been much more simpler and may be easier. Seniors that is why they say,should always be listened to. Had I done as they had told me I would not have seen this day when am standing all alone in this 100 years aged anatomy morgue,with bodies rather shrunken dried corpses with their irritant smell,with my text book by the side trying to understand those rather obscure body parts already vanished by the effect of time and formalin.
Anyway its just first year of my medical schooling and am determined to make stringent routine and study seriously after this examination. In any case I have atleast managed to enter by sheer hard work competing around 60000 students to enter Medical College Kolkata, which they say is perhaps the oldest college in Asia. I deserve atleast one year of fun and frolic and relaxation.
“come on now ,don’t be so hard on yourself”.
But,what now.My friends they have already done with revising the dissection from the dead bodies in this building,but am still not convinced whether am done with or not .Tomorrow the examiner with his grave facies might just point out one odd structure from this dried parts and I will be left to be mocked at and ridiculed. Stories of ridicule and mocking students at examination hall are quite common in the dinner table discussions of hostel before examinations.
So I gave some tips to the man in charge of this morgue,popularly called Shivji,to have me in till atleast 11 o clock but never did I imagine what it felt like standing in this empty 2 storied building with only few bulbs lit and dead bodies all around. I have always considered myself a brave boy and ghosts….no question am too scientific a person to believe in them,no way.
Anyways I tried to focus my concentration on some structure ..yes probably a nerve …no must be a vessel….what is it….if only I had Mahesh the senior prospector in anatomy. How many times had I oiled him, lent him my pen during classes only for some help may be during such crisis periods. But,who to go to now. Only few hours left and I was getting the panic of examination and no other thought was coming in my mind. Already 10:30 at night in my watch.Suddenly I heard the foot steps some what from far way….yes it was coming towards me. I looked up .
A man of average stature and built. Elderly with white hair but strong enough to climb up the spiral staircase was coming towards me in the 1st floor . Never seen this man but certainly there was I must admit a personality in him by which you could not just take your eyes away . He wore a specs…a thick one…by which I could make out his intense reading habits.
The person came near me and said in most welcome gesture in his husky yet serious voice”Hello”. He introduced himself “I am Dr.Anurag Choudhury ex medical collegiate”.
I said nice to meet you sir, but how can I help you in this hour, besides am too busy you must understand, tomorrow anat practicals.
He said “ofcourse. I must say I have been with similar experiences son in my student days and hence have decided to come to aid of students like you to help them just before the exams and as I have retired as the anatomy professor from this institute I enjoy doing so which also helps me brush through my memory”.
I did not know what to say but there I was standing with an ex professor in anatomy, just before the exam to help me out. Was this sort of a dream. Did god listen to me …oh damn with my scientific mind…I would take help from whoever it might be at this critical hour to understand those dried shrunken bodies.
I muttered”my good fortune sir that I got you”.
The person sat with me beside the body for the next two hour and what a teacher.With him I revised the entire text book in just two hours without even a bit of cramming. When he spoke and was showing me the parts it was as if he was drawing and creating the course of an entire structure and I could visualise the thing with ease. It was already 12:30 at night and shivji must have forgotten that I was inside. I did not mind and was enjoying this classroom entirely.
How my friends must react tomorrow when they will come to know how I was helped , I imagined and chuckled by myself. The gentleman finished his class by 12:30 dot. Looked upto his watch and told in his husky experienced voice”time for leaving son, hope you perform at your best tomorrow”.
I said “Sir, I am utmost grateful for your class and know not how to thank you ” and saying that bent forward to touch his feet in a gesture of paying respect to which he reacted a bit strange and suddenly flew backwards and said that he did not like his feet touched. I bid him good night and just when he was about to leave asked when can I see him again to which he gave a smart smile and said again on the same night next year may be.
I smiled back saying to myself no more anatomy next year sir..He was gone and I was preparing to leave thinking of the immense knowledge gathered in such little time. Just when I was about to leave I somehow came across a sign board underneath the dissection table underneath the dried unidentifiable body. It was the name of the person who donated his body for students of anatomy to study. I thought I must pay him respect as because his sacrifice helps students like me for years. But,what was it…..I rubbed my eyes…..illusion…..no what…”Dr.Anurag Choudhury, ex professor anatomy ,Medical college kolkata,born 1915,march 18…..died 1995,july 15.”
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