One Picture And One Story Week #75

There are some stories that are hard to believe, but you can't help but trust the one who was telling you that story. When a close friend or an army officer tells you such a story, you have to think that he must be telling the truth.

 
I was in the engineering branch of the Indian Army in 2014 and was sitting in the dining hall of the officers mess in Rajouri. It was a cold January night, and the temperature was below zero when a captain came and sat next to me. He ordered the bearer to get something to drink for him, and then he told me that he was coming from Pathankot via Jammu Army Base in his car. It was a long journey as he had to stop at Jammu for unexpected reasons.

He told me that he received a call from the Rajauri army base to report for duty and left his house in Pathankot immediately. It was 11 o'clock and dark all around, and the weather conditions were very bad. There were cold, freezing winds, but he kept driving because he was to report at Rajauri today. There was silence all around on the way but he had the calll of his duty in his mind, so he continued his journey without caring about weather conditions.

When he had crossed Jammu at around one in the night, he thought of having a cup of coffee, so as soon as they crossed Jammu, he faced a problem. His car had almost run out of fuel. He saw a petrol pump outside Jammu which also had a coffee shop. He stopped the car there and filled the petrol, but when he put his hand in his pocket, he found out that he had forgotten his wallet at home. And in those days the government had blocked phone signals in border areas, which made it another problem.

Source

When the captain told his problem to the petrol pump employee, he said that he would pay his bill from his own pocket and the officer could refund his money at his convenience. He also offered coffee to the captain. After drinking coffee, captain would have moved his car forward, but unfortunately, the main highways were closed due to snowfall, so they had to turn back and go to Jammu, but at that time they had no other option.

By chance, he got a room in the officers mess in Jammu cantonment, and in the morning he found a captain from his own battalion who gave him the money he needed, and the captain started his journey to Rajouri. First of all, the captain returned to the same petrol pump to fulfill his promise. But when he reached there, the scene he saw was extremely shocking.

It was around 9 in the morning, and the petrol pump was completely closed and in a dilapidated condition. There were placards and barriers all over the pump, as if it had been closed for years. Seeing this, the captain thought that he had filled petrol from there and had coffee just a few hours ago.

The captain's confusion increased further when he saw that a police officer's car was parked there. The captain went and asked the policeman, "Do you know when this petrol pump was closed?" The policeman replied, "Oh, it has been closed for two years since a fire broke out here.

The captain said, "But I filled petrol from here last night and also had coffee."

The police officer said that this petrol pump has been closed for about two years. He also told that many people have reported such mysterious incidents after coming here. People say that they fill petrol here, drink coffee, and then when they return, they find the place closed.

The captain was completely speechless. He could not believe that the people with whom he had talked at night were actually not from this world or were not even alive because he did not feel anything unusual.

Now you tell me who will believe this story because after hearing this story like me, everyone will be wondering. Did the captain really become a part of some ghostly world last night? Did he really talk to someone at that petrol pump, who was no longer in this world? Or was it all just his illusion? But the petrol tank in his car was full. Did he get his car filled at another petrol pump?

This incident became not just a strange anecdote but a story for me that filled my heart with a mysterious and scary feeling. This journey of the captain was not a simple road trip but became the story of a ghostly encounter. I too often pass through that road, and the captain's experience proved that there are some mysteries that never get answered. I feel horrified in case I get involved in a similar incident on this road because this is my regular route where I travel every week.

Thank you @suboohi for such a nice contest, now I invite @sailawana @josepha and @shehnaaz