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Showing posts from March, 2011

Dead Ends: Episode 7

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(This is a lengthy story based on actual facts. Episodes will be posted over a span of a few weeks. There are going to be NINE episodes in total. For Episode 6 click here . Enjoy!) Episode 7 Maheen is in the parking lot of the hospital. She takes out the keys from her purse and collapses on the driver’s seat. She leans her head against the steering wheel and breaks down. She cries and sobs, her shoulders shake violently with grief. She wipes her tears with the back of her hands and starts the car. Images are flashing through her mind, Sadiq holding her hand against his cheek, Sadiq spinning a bra in his hand, drunk; Sadiq beating her. She accelerates her car out of the hospital and sees an addict by the road side. She stares at him. Suddenly it occurs to her, her eyes widen in realization. She remembers the welcome party that her cousin Eemaan gave her in America. Her memories play in front of her eyes like a movie; the skinny guy coughing and then administering the morphine and th

Dead Ends: Episode 6

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(This is a lengthy story based on actual facts. Episodes will be posted over a span of a few weeks. There are going to be NINE episodes in total. For Episode 5 click here . Enjoy!) Episode 6 Maheen is walking in the hospital. She looks at her watch. She is five minutes late. She approaches the receptionist who tells her to wait. Maheen sits on a sofa. She picks up a magazine about motherhood and flips through it. “Mrs. Maheen Sadiq?” A nurse announces her name. Maheen stands up and follows the nurse into the doctor’s room. “Hello Maheen! How are you feeling?” Dr. Mehnaz, the doctor dealing with her pregnancy, asks. The nurse leaves closing the door behind her. Maheen sits on the chair opposite the doctor. “I’m feeling good.” “Is anyone here with you?” “No. I came alone.” “Maheen… I’m afraid I have very bad news. It would have been better if someone from your family was here.” Maheen stares at the doctor for a few seconds. “I can handle it Dr. Mehnaz. Tell me what’s wrong.” “Do you

What rain tastes like.

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Eyes open and I am gazing out that window and still not seeing. Mind is empty of all thoughts, it’s a bliss rarely found now. Soul vacant of all expectations, a wave of happiness spreads through. Which I yet am unable to feel. And then someone along the way, points at a drop that fell from the skies. How long was the distance that it had to travel from up there, I wonder? How much did it change, from what it was when born? You think too much, I remind myself. That moment where all was forgotten; lost. The drops form a trail on the windscreen. Pitter patter. Stubbornly, it drums down with more force, thrashing on mother earth. What is it trying to prove? Ssshh. I roll down the windows and let the cool wind in. It didn’t come alone; a few raindrops unable to stay tied to the gravity and pushed inside by the breeze did too. A slight shower the entire way as I watch the roads bathe, small bubbles burst as fast as they were formed, lights reflect off the street, rain falling again