*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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4th April, 2011

Image
Some days are incredibly special in your life. They change the way you look at everything and for me, it was 4th April 2011. It was the day when I got into a major spinal surgery aiming to decompress my spine from a giant cell tumor on the C7-T1 level. I remember vividly lying down in my hospital bed the night before my surgery. Touch screen phones with not very common and we had one of those phones where you navigate the screen through the keypad. I searched about my surgery, the procedure, the side effects, and basically, what can go wrong. It was numbing and after a point, I was terrified. That night, I couldn't sleep. The uncertainty had captured my existence. Nothing seemed to help, therefore, I started praying. The only thought in my mind was, what if I die tomorrow? I started seeking forgiveness and looking back at my journey. Who I was and what had happened? It was overwhelming and sleep was nowhere to be found.  One of the most interesting things that happened the night be...
Read more

Moving on!

The transition from an impeccably healthy individual to being in a wheelchair is very hard. It wasn't easy for me either but it gets harder when you don't get any backing from your friends, family and the society. I was lucky because I got support from my incredible family as they pulled me out from a phase of disparity into being grateful for what I have despite the agony I had to undergo. Everything changed but the only thing that didn't change was my hope and believe that everything will be alright. Life can be pretty hard at times but the only way we can get over this severity is by believing in ourselves and The Almighty. When you cannot control a situation it is best to submit it to the most superlative authority: God! Any set of circumstances that tests your patience is sort of a trial from the Almighty to see how we deal with the muddle and still be grateful to Him for all his blessings. I know all of this seems to be very dramatic but it is true. Our plans are al...
Read more

Christmas season and Saint Peter's High School.

Image
The Christmas season always makes me very nostalgic for various reasons. I have studied in coeducation and missionary school, Saint Peter's High School, Lahore. That building, the hallways, the cafeteria and the basketball ground, each and every place is clearly pictured in my head. As I write about it, I can clearly remember each and every place of that building. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of such an amazing institution, the time that I have spent there has played a very huge role in my life. The school is always very special for everyone, every child spends the best of his or her time in school. I have heard people dreaming about their school premises even after leaving it, even I have been to my school on several occasions in my dreams. November - December used to be the most fun-filled and busy time of the year. The annual Christmas play assortments used to commence in November, I was picked as an angel three times consecutively. Honestly, it felt conspicuously h...
Read more