The room with curtains

Arjun’s life was falling apart. No job, no money, no food in the fridge. His landlord had already thrown him out of his small room. That night, while walking with no aim, he saw an old house at the end of the road. The house looked quiet, almost forgotten. A board outside said “Room for Rent”.

Arjun knocked.

The door opened slowly. A tall, thin man stood there. His eyes were strange, like he was looking straight through Arjun. His voice was cold when he said,

“You can stay. But there are rules. You must share the house with a girl. Never disturb her prayers. Never open her room. And remember… some doors are better left closed.”

Arjun felt uneasy. But he was desperate. He agreed

He met Anaya. She was beautiful, almost unreal. But there was something odd. She always wore socks, never once removing them. She never went outside in the day. And one room in the house—at the end of the corridor—always stayed locked.

Still, she was kind to him. They cooked together, laughed, and spoke until late night. Slowly, he began to like her. Her laughter made him forget his sadness. But her strangeness kept pulling at his mind.

Why the socks?
Why never daylight?
Why the locked room?

One night, when he could not control his curiosity, Arjun followed her. She unlocked the forbidden room and went inside. He pressed his ear to the door. Inside, he heard chanting, like old prayers. He imagined candles burning, shadows dancing, and something dark living there

The next day, he asked her, “Anaya, who are you really? Why do you pray like that? Why never daylight?”

She looked at him for a long time, then said softly, “Some truths hurt more than lies, Arjun. Do not ask again.”

Her words made him even more restless.

Then, the signs began.

One morning, Arjun noticed something strange in the mirror. His reflection looked weak, almost like smoke. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, but it stayed the same.

At night, he tried to eat, but the food had no taste. His hands passed through steam from the hot tea.

He panicked. He ran to the landlord. “What is happening to me?”

The landlord’s eyes were calm, too calm. “You should have known. You were never alive when you came here.”

The words crushed him. Arjun shouted, “What do you mean?”

The landlord simply closed the door.

Shaking, Arjun went to Anaya. She was waiting for him, her eyes full of sadness.

“You are dead, Arjun,” she whispered. “The night before you came here… you ended your life. You did not realize it. This house only takes souls who are lost. That is why the landlord let you in.”

Arjun froze. The memories came back—the hopeless night, the walk in the dark, the pain. He thought he had just walked to a new house. But no… he had walked into another world.

He looked at Anaya with fear. “Then what are you?”

Tears filled her eyes. “I am alive. But I am lonely. I pray every night to keep you here, so I can see you, that is why I wear these socks, barrier between Worlds, why I hide in daylight I hide in the dark so I can stay with you. why I keep my room closed. That room is my temple.

Arjun finally understood. The landlord was only a gatekeeper, the house a shelter for wandering souls, and Anaya… the one person who chose to love a ghost.

And in that quiet house at the end of the road, the living and the dead found a strange, haunting love.

They sat together, two lonely beings, one alive, one not. And though the world outside moved on, the house kept their secret.

Because sometimes love is not about time or breath.

It is simply about finding someone who stays,
even when you belong to another world.