Arandavan kanuku irundathellam pei

One dark winter night I was walking in a empty parking lot in a suburb area. I located my rental car easily in the huge parking lot. I have never driven this car before. Everything seemed new, the controls were in places that I was not used to. I got a little scared - how am I going to drive myself to my hotel. I somehow located a few basic controls and went around the parking lot. After a few rounds of test drives, I turned on the gps and headed towards the hotel.

The streets were dark and not much traffic during that time. After a few turns I encountered a road block; detoured my gps to route me alternately. But whichever way I went the gps was still trying to put me back on the same road that was blocked. So I decided to drive farther away and try gps-ing again hoping it will pick up an alternate route. I was on a very narrow but straight road. I saw a car long behind me. Other than that nothing else was in sight. It was pitch dark surrounded by tall trees. No signs of houses or any type of activity. The car behind approaching me. Soon he was tail gating me very closely.

I noticed I was only going at a 20mph. For some reason it felt much faster than 20. I tried to ramp up the speed a bit but I felt very shaky and he was still following me close. So I pulled over slightly on the right to allow him to pass. But instead he stopped adjacent to me and opened his door. Fear grabbed me, I was cold, yet sweating in my palms. I locked my doors immediately. He was saying something but I couldn't hear anything from the inside. I didn't dare to open the windows. I thought he was trying to get me open my car. My heart was beating rapidly, I thought I should dial 911 right away. Then he started cursing/ yelling, atleast it looked like that from inside. Oh... maybe for my slow driving. Thank god, glad that he was not an attacker. He dashed away after letting out his anger. I checked the rear view mirror, no one else was behind me. I started driving slowly.

The tall trees were dancing wildly in the strong winds. I just wanted to get out of this spooky place. But I soon came to a halt when I saw this sign: dead end. I wondered where the car in front of me could have gone. There was no other way other than making a U-turn. So I looked at the rear view mirror and slowly turned the steering wheel. I thought I saw a movement in the back seat through the mirror. My heart beat was going up again... I turned back; there was nothing. So I continued making the U-turn. My heart beat so loudly that one can actually hear it from the outside. The steering wheel was slippery due to the sweat on my palms. And then I saw the most haunted scene ever. I came to a screeching halt as I saw an empty shirt fluttering on a pole. Then someone broke into the car through the windshield. That's it I thought, whatever was following me - a kidnapper, a serial killer, a paranormal thing or may be an alien has caught me alive. I cried out as hard as I can. And then I felt some thing on my lap, the gps had fallen off the the dashboard when I hit a sudden brake. Oh by the way whose shirt was that, how did it get there? I lift my face up - it was a broken stop sign, hanging upside down and fluttering in the winds.

I burst into a heavy sob. Tears flooded down my eyes. How did I end up in this place all alone? I felt something around me, like someone was watching me constantly. What can it be in this lonely place? And then suddenly my brain decided to function. You have a phone and a gps - still in someway connected to the rest of the world; stop crying and start driving. So I drove as fast as I can (still under 40 :) until I came to a highway. Finally happy to see a lighted road and some traffic. I don't know if I was going on the correct route to my hotel but I just kept driving. Just wanted to get as far as I can from whereever I was...