Ghonchu walked confidently in the night. He was returning home alone and didn't have money for an auto. Walking in a slightly isolated and dark section of the road, he put on a brave face and kept telling himself that he didn't believe in spooky things like ghosts and witches and dolls like Annabelle.
He looked left and right, saw no floating women in white saris and continued with renewed vigour. He still had some distance to go before reaching home.
In the utter darkness, his brisk walk and brave demeanour was disturbed by lights. Lights of an approaching vehicle. Traffic on that road was not unusual even at this unearthly hour and he felt more comfortable and confident about lack of ghosts. Ghonchu was never too concerned about thieves and robbers since he never had any money anyways. It was only the unearthly beings that worried him!
However his relief on seeing car lights was soon cut short. He observed that the car was moving in a zigzag pattern. It seemed the driver had lost all control of the car. The car weaved its way like a drunken person, groaning and creaking left and right with headlights on, bumping into the divider and finally stopped only after a head-on collision with a tree along the side of the road.
Ghonchu started forward with concern to see if the car passengers had got badly injured before he saw something that made his blood run cold.
There was nobody in the car.
All he saw was a doll hanging in the dashboard constantly revolving and staring eerily at him.
In his knowledge, ghosts had not been
known to drive cars, but one never knew when they might indulge in new whims or fancies.
Ghonchu wanted to run.
His face was petrified in shock. However, when cars are seen moving without drivers and all they contain are miniature dolls, feet get stuck in quicksand and blood circulation stops. Despite his best attempts, Ghonchu couldn't run.
Whilst Ghonchu stood stuck in glue, he now observed a new menace. He could see a shape coming from behind the car in darkness. That shape seemed to half limp and half run.
Ghonchu's feet had resigned from their duties. However Ghonchu's brain was still partly functional. He began to recite Hanuman Chalisa, "Jai Hanuman gyan gun sagar, jai kapasi tihu lok ujagar." Then he cursed himself for never having learnt more than that.
The shape turned into a human covered with blood on his face. But was that a human or a ghost who had returned to haunt him? Ghonchu watched blood dripping from the shape's cheek.
Ghonchu now understood everything. This man must have died on this very road and his tormented soul had come back to haunt passing folks. The doll must be his accomplice. Ghonchu accepted that today his end was nigh. He waited as the ghost continued to approach him.
When the ghost reached sufficiently close, Ghonchu screamed in a panic-stricken voice filled with desperation, "Hooooosh".
The ghost replied with an air of puzzlement, "Hain?"
Ghonchu paused on realizing the ghost was speaking.
The ghost continued, "Bhau, madad kardo. Paan thookne ke liye gaadi ka darwaza khola tha, roadwa pe speed breaker aa gaya, aur main bahar gir gaya."
(Please help me. I opened the door of my moving car to spit paan, however encountered a speed breaker on the road at that moment due to which I fell off the car.)
When ghosts speak Bihari and chew paan, blood circulation tends to come back and glue from under the feet dries off.
Ghonchu turned in disgust and continued walking towards his home.
[Thanks to Saurabh for the idea of this story.]