1 Picture 1 Story

Hello my friends,

This was my pre-prepared story for the "1 Picture 1 Story Week #102" contest organized by @suboohi on SteemFor Pakistan. It had become a habit to participate every week, so even though the contest didn't happen, I'm still posting my story here.

Picture created by Meta

Team Incharge Ashraf Khan, along with his five-member team, set out to patrol the border on a foggy evening.

This was a routine arrangement; the area was always peaceful, but to adhere to regulations, the area was monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Ashraf had been posted to this location two years ago, and he had never witnessed any incident or disturbance. Therefore, everything was proceeding normally.

It was the month of January, and the temperature in this mountainous region had dropped to below freezing. All the team members were wearing warm uniforms, long boots, mufflers, gloves, and hats, and they were also provided with flasks of brandy to keep them warm.

Upon reaching his observation post, Ashraf had a bonfire lit so that he and his companions could feel some relief from the biting cold. Everything was normal that day as well. At 3 AM, they heard the sound of a woman or child crying in the bushes some distance away. It was unimaginable that anyone would be there at that hour, but to satisfy their suspicions, Ashraf and his companions went to the spot. They thoroughly inspected the area with their flashlights, but found no one. After spending some time there, as they were about to turn back, a human-like figure in red clothes jumped from a dense tree and disappeared before their eyes.

Ashraf was a strong-hearted man, but his companions were very frightened. One of them said, "This is some kind of ghostly phenomenon, Sir, let's leave from here." He added that there were no footprints of any animal or human visible. Ashraf spent some more time there and then returned to his post. After that, no further unusual incident occurred.

The next day at noon, they went to their unit officer to report the incident. When they narrated the entire event, the unit officer smiled and said, "Now go, be extra alert for a few days. We will increase the number of patrols in this area." When they all came out of the officer's room, an employee gestured to Ashraf to come closer and said, "Don't tell anyone, but all of this was orchestrated by our officer himself to warn you all."

Ashraf breathed a sigh of relief.

With lots of love and respect,

Sur-riti❤️