Clad in white, Ambiamma pranced about the dingy room restlessly like an animal trapped in a cage. Her daughter-in-law Ammu did not take much notice of this. After all, Ambiamma had always been this way. Recently the dreams have been getting out of hand. She has been talking about seeing the same vision at night for about a year now. Ambiyamma would scream and yell in the middle of the night saying that a bride was hanging from the creaky old ceiling fan. The astrologer hinted at a demonic possession, but the psychiatrist came up with a far more convincing explanation. He said that Ambiamma’s widowhood is the manifestation of the dream. Something about the dead bride symbolizing the widowhood of Ambiamma, Ammu recollected.

A year later the oldest son had married and brought home his bride. She brought a fresh youthfulness to the old rigid home. But the honeymoon did not last. The husband loved Toddy as much as he loved the prostitute who lived nearby. Like a wilted flower, the bride’s face drooped until it found solace in Ambiamma’s vivid descriptions of the vision she sees at night. There was something so fascinating about the stories Ambiamma would tell her. At first, the bride did not believe the old woman when she said that her visions were real. But slowly she got curious and decided to put an end to her doubts. One night she slipped away to the darkroom when she heard the old woman scream. No dead bride was hanging from the ceiling. Ambiamma then turned to look at the young woman. When the morning came, Ammu opened the dark room to see the dead bride hanging from the ceiling fan. Ambiamma slept quietly on the bed.