Let’s Play by Navya Bhamidipati

“No, please no. ALBERT! DANIEL! Anyone! HELP !

“I’m coming to get you, Lucy.”
“OH MY GOD. ALBERT! DANIEL! ANYONE! SAVE ME.”
“No use. They can’t hear you. It’s only you and me. Playing a good old game of tag. Come on
Lucy be a sport.”
“ANYONE!”
“I’m coming, I’m getting closer, I can feel it. Better run for your life, Lucy.”
“And cut! Well done! That was one of the best scenes we’ve shot so far. Excellent work. Let’s
wrap up for today guys. Go treat yourself to some champagne, you deserve it. Also, Rachel, get
that make-up off you don’t want people thinking you’re an actual ghost.”
“Yes sir. I will do that.”
Day 52 of shooting for the upcoming movie “Let’s Play” had just come to a wrap. Richard Dew,
the director and producer of this movie, was delighted with how the work was coming along. He
was a very punctual man and the fact that everything was going according to his schedule made
him immensely proud. Richard thought that the cast deserved a break and so, told them that
he’d shut everything up all on his own and join them for drinks later.
Once the last cast member had left, Richard gave a huge, long sigh and got to putting all the
scripts into their folders. He heard a slight ruffling noise. It had come from the window across the
hall. Frustrated, he walked over to see what had possibly made that noise. There was a dog
peeing its heart away on the walls of this beautifully constructed set. Richard swiftly shooed the
dog away and went back to sort the scripts.
After finishing the scripts, Richard wanted to do a final check of everything and just make sure
everything was ready for the shoot on the next day. He went through everything pretty quickly
and it seemed like everything was good to go.
Finally, relieved, Richard walked to the door, yearning for that glass of champagne with his
colleagues. He turned the handle of the door. It wouldn’t budge. He tried again. He shoved the
door a little. It didn’t move an inch.
“Hello…?”
“Hello, Richard. Do you want to play a game of tag?”
“Rachel, this is not the time to play pranks. Come on, get out of there and let me out!”
“Who’s Rachel? I don’t know any Rachel. I don’t know who you’re calling Rachel.”
“Okay no. Guys, you are really getting to me now. You scared me. You won. The prank’s over.
Let me out. Now.”
“What prank? All I’m asking you to do is play a game of tag.”
Richard was very agitated at this point. It wasn’t the first time one of the cast members had tried
playing a prank on him on set. But none of them had ever gone this far. The laughter usually
started pretty soon.
“Rachel, Daniel… whoever it is. I need this to stop now or else you won’t have a job tomorrow.”
“RICHARD! Now you’re making me angry. I told you I am not Rachel. Just answer the question.
Do you want to play a game of tag?”
“Okay, you know what? I’m going to play along so that I can personally see that smug look on
your face vanish when I fire you.”
“Okay. I’m coming to get you. Run, Richard, run.”
Instead of running, Richard tried to trace the source of this voice. The first time he heard the
voice, it seemed to have come from the Styling room at the back of the set. He made his way
there.
“I’m getting closer.”
“Okay, I got you. Rachel, you’re fi-”
He saw her. It. He wasn’t sure what it was anymore. The colour drained from his face. This
didn’t seem like a prank anymore.
“Oh Richard, you actually thought it was your… what was her name… Rachel?”
“Wh-who are you?”
“I’m just someone who wants to play tag with you. And evidently, you’re on the verge of losing”
Richard took off. He ran like his life was on the line. But wait, this time, it seemed like it really
was. He ran across the room and went down the stairs to the refuge area they had gotten built
in case a fire ever broke out. He slammed the door shut and bolted it. The door could only be
opened using a key from outside. And the key in question was in his front pocket. He checked to
make sure. It was there, making itself comfortable in his pocket. At this point, Richard was
sweating profusely. He didn’t know what to think of this ordeal anymore. Surely, it must have
been some kind of a hallucination. His lack of sleep over the past few weeks might have
resulted in this. He decided to try and call someone and ask them to get him.
Richard opened up his phone. He dialled in Daniel’s number. Surely Daniel would come to pick
him up. They had been good friends long before Daniel was cast into the movie. The phone
rang. Once. Twice. In the middle of the third ring, he picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Daniel. There was a small mishap at the set today. Can you come and– OH NO”
There she was. At the back of the room. How could she possibly have gotten in? The creature
had a long hospital gown type of garment on. Her hair, jet black, covered her entire face and it
was so long that its tips reached the floor.
“Richard? You there? Everything alright?”
“You cheater. You left right in the middle of a game. Is that what you do to someone who just
wants to play a game of tag with you?”
“Uh, Richard? What’s that voice? You got a girl down there with you?”
Daniel could hear the voice too. Which meant he wasn’t hallucinating…
“Oh, Richard. You have tested my patience. I’m going to have to kill you.”
“I- No, you can’t do this to me. I- No PLEASE you don’t understand.”
“Next time, when someone asks you to play a game of tag with them, you listen to what they
say. I’m sorry, you’ve left me with no choice.”
“Richard Dew, director of the upcoming movie “Let’s Play”, died in a fire caused by a gas leak on
set” was the general theme of the front page of every newspaper in the country the next day.
Daniel swore there was a girl on the set with Richard – ‘I heard her!’ – but her body was never
found.