"So did he fly like he promised?" Sarah looked at Tabassum as she asked, but Tabassum wasn't listening anymore. All she could hear was chirpy sweet voice of an 8 year old boy, laughing as he played. All she could see was that young 8 year old boy, running happily towards her.
"But why Ammi? Why aren’t we allowed to cross that line?" Ashraf's coal-black eyes sparkled brightly as he ran behind his mother asking the question repeatedly. "Because you're not supposed to. Ashraf, you don't know anything and you're too young to know it." Yasmeen cupped her child's face as she answered. "Ammi, I'm big now, I'm not small. Tell me, I understand everything!" To this, Yasmeen laughed a little and then replied, "My dear child, all you must know is that nobody crossed that line. We're not supposed to, it's dangerous out there." Ashraf thought for a while and then said, "Ammi, One day I'll cross that line." Amused, Yasmeen asked, "How?" "I'll fly and cross that line someday and that day, nobody will be able to stop me. I promise Ammi, I will fly someday."
The sound of a bullet silenced every sound, every noise. The birds stopped chirping, the winds stopped talking to the trees. There was complete silence. The dark brown soil was now coloured red. Yasmeen shrieked at the sight and fainted.
"Ammi!" Screamed a 17 year old girl, dressed in a yellow suit as she saw Yasmeen lying unconscious on the floor. "Allah!" She screamed even louder and ran towards her 8 year old brother. His white kurta was completely soaked in blood as he lay motionless on the ground . "Ashraf!!" Tabassum cried as she saw her brother, now dead. "Open your eyes Ashraf! What happened to you? Allah! How did this happen?" Tabassum cried incoherently, clinging to her brother's dead body.
The bullet had silenced and stifled a young boy forever. His aspirations to fly, to cross that line. Those little feet didn't know that they were not crossing merely a 'line'. His bright sparkling eyes didn't know that across the line was another world- a world of brutality. The young, innocent heart didn't know what partition really meant and failed to recognize the difference of that 'line' with other ones.
"So did he fly like he promised?" repeated Sarah. Tabassum now heard it. She was now back to the present. The sight of the young, happy, innocent Ashraf had now vanished. She looked at Sarah's hazel eyes and replied, "Yes he did fly as he promised and nobody could stop him. Nobody. He kept his promise." Tabassum left the room with eyes full of tears and emotions which could never be expressed as she answered.
"But why Ammi? Why aren’t we allowed to cross that line?" Ashraf's coal-black eyes sparkled brightly as he ran behind his mother asking the question repeatedly. "Because you're not supposed to. Ashraf, you don't know anything and you're too young to know it." Yasmeen cupped her child's face as she answered. "Ammi, I'm big now, I'm not small. Tell me, I understand everything!" To this, Yasmeen laughed a little and then replied, "My dear child, all you must know is that nobody crossed that line. We're not supposed to, it's dangerous out there." Ashraf thought for a while and then said, "Ammi, One day I'll cross that line." Amused, Yasmeen asked, "How?" "I'll fly and cross that line someday and that day, nobody will be able to stop me. I promise Ammi, I will fly someday."
The sound of a bullet silenced every sound, every noise. The birds stopped chirping, the winds stopped talking to the trees. There was complete silence. The dark brown soil was now coloured red. Yasmeen shrieked at the sight and fainted.
"Ammi!" Screamed a 17 year old girl, dressed in a yellow suit as she saw Yasmeen lying unconscious on the floor. "Allah!" She screamed even louder and ran towards her 8 year old brother. His white kurta was completely soaked in blood as he lay motionless on the ground . "Ashraf!!" Tabassum cried as she saw her brother, now dead. "Open your eyes Ashraf! What happened to you? Allah! How did this happen?" Tabassum cried incoherently, clinging to her brother's dead body.
The bullet had silenced and stifled a young boy forever. His aspirations to fly, to cross that line. Those little feet didn't know that they were not crossing merely a 'line'. His bright sparkling eyes didn't know that across the line was another world- a world of brutality. The young, innocent heart didn't know what partition really meant and failed to recognize the difference of that 'line' with other ones.
"So did he fly like he promised?" repeated Sarah. Tabassum now heard it. She was now back to the present. The sight of the young, happy, innocent Ashraf had now vanished. She looked at Sarah's hazel eyes and replied, "Yes he did fly as he promised and nobody could stop him. Nobody. He kept his promise." Tabassum left the room with eyes full of tears and emotions which could never be expressed as she answered.
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