Tales of the Unheard

Continued.... I gradually opened my eyes…. feeling relieved to be able to see again, a little blur but at least I could still see. I looked around …. observing my surroundings but all I could actually see was pitch dark . “How strange…   I was so sure that I hadn’t turned blind, yet it felt that I had forever been sightless.”   It took a few hours that felt like forever till I could see again. But what was there to see? Nothing I hadn’t seen before…. I was used to these purple bruises encircling my eyes and painting my body now and then. I imagined these bruises as beauty marks, pretty shades of cosmetics that covered my ugly, worthless, and pitiable body. I remember the night I stepped into my second home, leaving behind my family and what little I had. It was the first time in my young life that I had seen my present and future even darker than a night. The moon and the stars had vanished from my life; it seemed they had faded away within a murky void…. an e...

Dear Life,                It has been a while since I’ve had the time to reflect on you. For you have left me and travelled afar in haste with time as your companion. I lay here abandoned, adrift in my past and present, awaiting nothing but death. In these moments my friend, I often reminisce about our journey together through time and till the end. Well hello there life… my old friend!   I assume you have long forgotten about my insignificant existence, but I …. I am trapped in the memories of our bond that encompasses over seven decades, a lifetime that we have journeyed though, from nothing to being everything but in unison. Alas, our bond has now reached its end and I stand here all alone, full of despair and hopelessness yet empty-handed. My dear friend, I still remember how we formed our connection for the very first time when my flesh and bones were touched by my soul, the day I was ...

Continued... Tree : “ Tell me merchant, why does it seem that all life has been drained out of your body? What makes you so disappointed in life?” “My whole life”… I was born in 1955 in Peshawar. Coming from a family of merchants and clothiers, business was in our blood and we shared a fairly good reputation in the markets of the ‘City of Men’. My youth is full of good memories but as I grew older our fates turned on us. Times had changed; our country was facing political challenges and socio-economic issues, falling into despair day by day. And the same cloud of despair was upon our business now. Everything fell; our family shop was sold after my father got sick and left us in a great debt. Since we were unable to return the debt, our reputation in the market was lost. There was nothing left for us in our own city so we finally decided to migrate to Lahore. With my mother, wife and children, moving to a new city seemed like a big challenge especially being a pathan in ...

Yet another day as a wanderer, a searcher with empty hands and a provider with empty pockets… I am an old man that has lost all life. Riding around street by street in this scorching heat, my feet often go numb in an endless battle with the worn out paddles of my busted bicycle. My wrinkled and nearsighted eyes are weary and it seems my hands are slipping away leaving my two-wheeled companion uncontrolled as I go down the lane… ahhh I wonder will life slip away from me in this meaningless struggle or will I ever be able to take a sigh of relief… maybe peace?? I have lived a long life working tirelessly, but now I have come to a point where this old, exhausted and weakened body needs to regain strength even before the real work starts. Alas in a world where no piece of land is free, I often seek shelter under the shadows of these generous trees. Beautiful thick lush green trees under a magnificent blue sky… ahhh is it not how one defines peace?? “Yes! Indeed it is th...