1. MURAD SHEIKH
MURAD SHEIKH
My Breath huffs as I cross the street and make my way to the metro station. The hard pouring rain already made it hard for me.Clutching the umbrella into my tight grip I climbed the stairs to the platform taking one at a time. After my heart surgery, it wasn't easy. Hell, nothing was. But, did I yell about it? No. Tell the world about it? No.
Keeping the umbrella on the side of the ticket counter I pressed the buzzer waking up the clerk. His head jerked up as he woke up from his slumber.
“Ticket to the Downtown.” I wrote on my phone showing him making him nod and ask for my identity card. He didn't hold his gaze as if judging me. He quietly did his work. When people see from afar, they just think I am a normal guy and when they talk to me they realise I am mute. Why is that? Why the judging? I don't judge anyone?
My fate was blessed with the worst things, but did I say something? A freaking no. Because, I am mute. And as if that wasn't enough for me, I have a heart condition, now if it's from my birth or from the so-called accident I don't remember; I don't know. Nearing the platform, I froze on my spot. There was a girl standing there, in a dress shirt and white wide leg pants, in the middle of the pitch black night. What is she doing here? Maybe trying to go back home like me. I was discharged just yesterday from the hospital. Not only I had to go through the surgery but I also had two of my limbs broken.
What the hell happened to me? I don't remember. None of it. The only thing I know was from the phone call from my assistant. Imagine being a C.E.O of a big Architecture company and not having any memory about it, this all seems strange. Well, everything is strange. There were only two of us on the platform. Not a single other stranger. Life could get a little weirder sometimes; okay not little, a lot.
Cold gust of wind blew by making me shove my fists in my hoody pockets. Winter was the cherry on the top of the cake. Sighing, I tried to search for the warmth in my clothes but got emptiness. Was I always empty like this before too? I don't know. There's always a reason behind every action. I lost my memory maybe because they were too much for me. Who was I really? My phone rang clearing my trance, making me bite back the curse on the startling ring and answer the phone call. I don't pick up the calls knowing I was mute but it was my assistant, he knows me better.
“Murad, the car is here. Where are you? The nurses have given your medicines,” he paused for a breath. After All, what do you expect from a man in his late fifties?
“I need you to come back to the entrance of the hospital.” His voice hit me in the ear as he questioned and commanded me at the same time. I am ‘the’ C.E.O. I was supposed to wait there, what the freaking hell am I doing here? Groaning, I hung up the call and slid my phone in my pocket. Ugh. It always has to me who does the most idiotic and unimaginable things. Turning on my feet, I turned around humming the words, “Jhooth ki zameen par, Fareb ke hai saare ghar.”
[Translation : All of these dwellings are deception in the realm of falsehoods]
She shuffled on her feet and turned to me, startling me. Heavy wind blew, making her hair dance with it. Her eyes widened a fraction, as if she knows me, maybe she knows me. She seems familiar. Getting a hold on herself she stretched lips into a thin smile. I could feel the stress lines forming on my forehead as I tilted my head, observing her actions, trying to remember anything even after I knew it's pitch black in the dark and signed to her, - "did we met before?" I asked her making tilt her head and her eyes shone with something I couldn't decipher. Maybe I am hallucinating, there's no way she is there in front of me. She hasn't replied yet.
Walking over to me with small steps she bound her hands behind her back and her lips stretched into a small smile, maybe she is not a fraction of my imagination. Her pitch black satin shirt shone under the moon as she leaned forward near my right ear, escalating my heartbeat. My senses went on high alert, as I fisted my fingers. My nails dug into the skin of my palm. I was ready to defend myself but the words she spoke made my head throb in pain.
"We met a little too many times than needed." The whisper rang around me, even when she pulled back. Haze covered my vision as I tried to wave away her. There's no way I have met someone who seems familiar. Palpitations made me unaware of my surroundings. Everything blurred in front of my eyes as I gripped my chest and stumbled forward, even the cool breeze of the dark night couldn't calm me. Blurry and dark flashbacks hit my head making me clutch the side of the head. This was unbelievable. I-i need to breathe. My hands reached out to grasp for anything in support but I couldn't find it. Even the girl stared at me as if waiting for my ruination. Save me, I moved my lips but no sound could get out of my throat. It was as if something was restricting me from speaking. My hoarse breaths resonated in my ears as my chest heaved up and down. The world around me moved as I tried to stand still but ended up on the ground. Pitch black darkness covered my view as I met the ground with a thud.