**Scene Name: "The Sugar and the Shadow"**
**Scene 1: The House Breathes**
The Sulemans return to House No. 13 at dawn, their meager possessions piled on a rented donkey cart. The morning sun glares off the cracked windows, giving the house a jaundiced leer.
**Amina** (clutching her rosary):
"*Mashallah*, it's spacious. We'll plant marigolds by the door."
**Haris** (sniffing the air):
"Smells like… *burnt sugar*. As if someone torched a *mithai* shop."
**Zain** (unloading bundles):
"Old pipes, maybe. Or rats nesting in the walls."
The donkey brays suddenly, backing away. Its eyes roll white as the cart tilts, spilling pots and pans onto the dirt.
**Zain** (gripping the reins):
"*Shaitaan ka sawaar hai kya?* What's gotten into you?"
The donkey bolts, leaving the family stranded. The house creaks, its front door swinging open.
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**Scene 2: The Landlord's Visit**
**Mr. Zaidi**, the landlord, arrives at noon—a gaunt man in a threadbare suit, smelling of mothballs and regret. He avoids stepping inside, lingering on the threshold.
**Mr. Zaidi** (avoiding eye contact):
"Rent's due every Friday. No extensions. And… *the attic's locked*. Don't pry."
**Haris** (narrowing his eyes):
"Why? What's up there?"
**Mr. Zaidi** (backing away):
"Nothing. *Nothing at all*. Just… respect the rules."
He flees, nearly tripping over a loose cobblestone. Amina watches him go, fingers worrying her rosary beads.
**Amina** (to Zain):
"He's hiding something. Maybe treasure!"
**Zain** (dry):
"Or bodies."
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**Scene 3: The Attic's Whisper**
The family explores the house. The ground floor is cavernous, its high ceilings strung with cobwebs. The walls bear ghostly outlines where paintings once hung.
**Haris** (tapping a wall):
"British-era construction. Solid, but—"
A muffled *thud* echoes from above. All three freeze.
**Zain** (staring at the ceiling):
"The attic."
They climb the staircase, its steps groaning. At the top, a rusted padlock secures a warped wooden door. The air here is colder, the burnt sugar stench overpowering.
**Amina** (producing the rusted key):
"Should we…?"
**Haris** (grabbing her wrist):
"*Nehi!* That fool Zaidi said—"
**Zain** (noticing scratches):
"Look. Claw marks."
Three parallel gashes score the door's base—too large for a cat, too precise for rats.
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**Scene 4: The Scorched Toy**
In the overgrown backyard, Haris clears weeds for a vegetable patch. His spade strikes something hard.
**Haris** (digging):
"Amina! Come see!"
He unearths a **charred porcelain doll**, its face melted into a scream. One glass eye remains, reflecting the house's windows.
**Amina** (crossing herself):
"*Khuda ki panah…* Burned alive, poor thing."
**Zain** (examining it):
"Old. Pre-Partition, maybe. British-made."
**Haris** (dropping the doll):
"Toss it. Bad luck."
The doll's head cracks as it hits the ground. A **blackened rupee coin** rolls out.
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**Scene 5: The First Night**
Nightfall brings a suffocating silence. The family huddles in the parlor around a kerosene lamp. Amina hums a Sufi *kalam* to ward off the dark.
**Zain** (sharpening a knife):
"I'll fix the locks tomorrow. And patch the roof."
**Haris** (stoking a feeble fire):
"We need wood. That neem tree outside—"
A child's giggle cuts through the room. High-pitched, playful.
**Amina** (standing):
"Who's there?"
Silence. The lamp flickers.
**Haris** (gruff):
"Wind in the pipes."
But Zain's knife gleams in his tightened grip.
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**Scene 6: The Shadow at the Threshold**
At midnight, Amina wakes to a *scraping sound*—like nails dragging across floorboards. The kerosene lamp has died. Moonlight bleeds through cracks in the shutters.
**Amina** (whispering):
"Haris? *Jaanu?*"
No answer. Haris snores beside her.
The scraping intensifies. A shadow looms in the doorway—too tall, too thin. Its head tilts at an unnatural angle.
**Amina** (praying):
"*La ilaha illallah…*" لا الہ الا اللہ
The shadow recedes. The smell of burnt sugar lingers.
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**Scene 7: Flashback – The Previous Tenants (1947)**
*Intercut with the present, a hazy memory unfolds:*
- A British officer's wife, **Margaret**, arranges tea in the parlor. Her son, **Oliver**, plays with the porcelain doll.
- Margaret opens a carved box (the same one Amina will find). She writes: *"Keep my husband safe in Calcutta."*
- That night, riots erupt. A mob sets the house ablaze. Oliver's screams echo as Margaret's wish twists—her husband returns, but as a charred corpse clutching a *stolen rupee*.
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**Closing Scene: The House Accepts**
At dawn, Amina finds the doll reassembled on the windowsill, its cracked face turned toward the attic. The blackened rupee sits beside it.
**Amina** (to herself):
"*Allah tests those He loves.*"
She pockets the coin. Above, the attic door groans.
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