Zahra speaks

‘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 contri

One of the most important relationships in a human's life is friendship. Friends are considered to be a family that a person chooses for him or her self. The unique love between friends cannot be defined in words, however, recently, I heard a real-life story that illuminated the significance of friendship in a person's life no matter what they are going through themselves, the friends will always want the best for each other. Image Courtesy: VideoBlocks Ashfaq and Altaf were best friends since childhood but as they grew up, the professional priorities tore them apart. Altaf had to go to another city for work purposes and Ashfaq stayed back in the home city. Many years passed by and they were not in contact anymore but they missed each other immensely. Altaf got married and had a family, he would narrate the stories of his friend to the kids. Ashfaq, on the other hand, could not find a stable job but got married and had kids as well. Life went on and the friendship rema

She was wearing a red salwar kameez and a pair of earrings that he had gifted her. Her heart was filled with questions and haunting memories of the time that they had spent together. The chowk was packed as she waited for him on the footpath near a traffic signal. She scanned every car that went by, looking to ascertain him, her first love, the man who made her realize the bliss of being loved. Finally, after 5 to 10 minutes, she saw him in a car. They were meeting after a year, 365 days of not looking at his face, not listening to his voice, not thinking about him all the time. His face was emotionless and expressionless. She sat in the car without even glancing at his face, trying to look away from the past. They did not look at each other for another 5 minutes, there was silence in the car. No words were spoken but the hearts were shrieking. She finally broke the silence, “How are you?” He accelerated the car. There was a clear aggressiveness in his attitude. “I am alive, wit

“You have to cross this forest and face all the difficulties that you may encounter in order to meet your prince.” She remembers each and every word that the old lady told her at the castle. These words motivated her to travel all the way to the forest and she was ready to face any difficulty as well. The forest was scary but her desire to meet the prince of her dreams made her fearless. As she approached the entrance of the forest, there was a black cat, it remained in front of as if stopping her to enter the forest. She tried to shoo it away but the cat remained steadfast and did not pass. There was a rock on the ground, she picked it up and threw it towards the cat and ultimately, it ran away. The journey was challenging but she was ready for it. Tall and shady trees were intimidating her. She told herself: “I will not look at anything.” She looked right in the foreground and avoided glancing at anything that would make her scared. Suddenly, something dropped on her nec

Mahek's father became Ali's fan. The way he managed to bring Mehek home in such difficult circumstances was really commendable. He was determined to get Mehek married to Ali and was discussing the same with his wife when Mehek overheard them. She was stunned. Mehek did not understand whether to be happy or depressed, happy because Ali was a gentleman who protected her and brought her home safely but in just a day she got acquainted with a few bad habits of Ali as well such as his egoistic attitude and stubbornness. She started thinking that maybe it was fate that because of the riots, she came to know about Ali and their relationship that was being arranged by the elders. But the question endured in her mind, Was Ali also aware of the relationship that was being arranged between them? Perhaps all this was just a selfish act? As soon as the university is re-opened, Mehek got diligent with studies. Whenever she spotted Ali anywhere in the University, she would think about co

Both reached a Dhaba nearby. They ordered lentil soup, vegetable gravy and bread. They were very hungry as they hadn't had anything to eat since the morning. They literally attacked the food when it arrived. They did not even lift up the head and silently ate food for ten to fifteen minutes and then Ali said: "Look, don't take me wrong, I was very hungry and that's why I ate about four loaves. As soon as the university re-opens, I will give you the money back." "That doesn't matter, just take me home safely, that would be enough!" He shook his head and said: "The account is not even with a parent. Inshallah as soon as the University re-opens, I will return the money." In this little span of time, Mehek understood that Ali was a little stubborn and there was no use in discussing anything with him that's why Mehek fell silent. About an hour later, other people started coming there, they seemed suspicious and dangerous.  Ali

It was a usual day at the university. Mehek was going to the cafeteria to grab a bite amidst her classes. Suddenly, there was a chaos and a huge bunch of students were leaving. She was puzzled so she called her friend Maryum and asked, "Why's everyone stirring a chaos?"  Maryum told her that a violent protest has erupted in the city and the situation is not looking good, it may go on for a prolonged period. She also told her that she is going home as well. Mehek got really frightened. She used to travel all the way from Kasur each day only for the University and upon discovering the riots she got very confused on how she would go home. She knew some students who, also, travelled from Kasur to Lahore but everyone had already left. Sitting on a bench, outside the University, she was wondering how she would go back to Kasur and the mobile services were also disconnected for security purposes. Now, things got more complicated. University administration issued a notice th