*PLUNGING INTO NOWHERE*


‘It’ll hurt,’ someone yelled from somewhere far. She stood still, looking ahead at the beautiful pathway. Her feet were drenched in water; she felt the chilliness of water in every inch of her body. However, it was a pleasant feeling. Like she had been wandering in a desert for years and finally, she was experiencing a trace of coolness. The running water moved horizontally, down into a small valley. Her eyes were glued to the path before her. Deep green trees merging to make a tunnel, the muddy land that led straight to a place that she knew was safe. Suddenly, the breeze started blowing; gentle air caressed her face and she smelled an enticing fragrance. ‘Lilies!’ she thought. As she took a step forward, the water stream was no longer touching her feet. She looked back at the wonderful water which sparkled even from such proximity. She turned back towards the naturally built tunnel of trees, some barks of the trees were uneven but the leaves of every tree met at a point to contribute in the construction of a beautiful marvel. The trees erected opposite to each other somehow inclined to merge, an unknown architect had managed to make them bend and sprout the best of nature.

She walked further into the tunnel; her head was now covered with a roof of leaves. Through the leaves, she could see a glimpse of a whitish-blue sky, somewhat peeking back at her. It started drizzling; the droplets of water plunged into her eyes. The leafs acted like a mesh; somehow allowing only a few, perfect drops to fall on her body. She moved forward, there were medium-sized rocks along the way, perfectly syncing the canvas that God painted on. She felt tiny rocks pinching her heel but the bittersweet pain didn’t matter, her heart felt light and liberated. She stepped onto the bigger rocks and plummeted on the soft, muddy surface. Her feet were now stained in the wet mud. To complement the perfect tranquility of nature, birds started chirping, singing a song in the language that she understood. She closed her eyes and inhaled the fragrant air and gasped in the hospital bed.
‘Are you okay?’ The doctor asked gently.
She looked around, a bunch of young girls and boys were gathered; each of them had a pad and pen in their hands. Two older men, in their fifties perhaps, were gazing right into her eyes as they informed her about the accident that swayed her to a place she’d never forget. The voices of people in the disturbingly white room were annoying, she felt like shutting her ears and closing her eyes. The air smelled awfully bad, the typically strong odor of ethanol. She felt choked and missed the surreal calmness of that tunnel. With the indistinct chatter around, she simply nodded, closed her eyes again, and dozed.
‘Take me back to heaven. I wanted to see what’s on the other side. Take me, God!’ She whispered while giving in to the anesthesia, standing in discomforting darkness.

©Copyrights reserved by ZAHRA ALI
12th June 2020.

PICTURE COURTESY: Bismah Hassan, https://www.facebook.com/aWanderingPsychologist/

COPYING CONTENT IS NOT ALLOWED.

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