ZIAM - I FIGURED IT OUT

Chapter 8

His head was pounding in its shell and he thought it would break apart by the number of tears he's been holding back. He didn't like his brain advising him to go home, his heart was routing somewhere else and he knew where to go. He preferred to walk to his favorite spot.

Sunrays were directly surfing over his glistening head, he was hurt, in more simple terms he was taunted for being himself. He continued walking even though he knew it was an absurd idea. His eyelashes were crowded, and the half-filled eyes skimmed through them, like a cascade in the epicenter of the forest. He was already sitting on the sod, with crossed legs, leaning backward to the tree, resting his body there. The thoughts were driving past his eyes in frames, that too in slow motion. He could hear their howl, the way his body was controlled, how he surrendered, how he was just a slave before them. Zayn felt pity for him, for not rebelling. His body was aching, maybe that was the best he could do, otherwise, he'd be in more pain by now.

The shade of the trees, the coldness of the grass, how the leaves resisted the sunrays and helped to pass the wind, how it soothed his spirit. He could sense his eyes trying to jam the sight, his thinking process was now diverting from actuality to dreamy land. His heartbeat was uncovering its steadiness and his pulse was normalizing. He let loose of the hold he had on his bag which was positioned on his right side, his left hand was loosely resting on the hay and it managed not to fondle him. Folded by the memory of the entire week back, he relaxed. He never thought it will be a long run, but it was. As he unhurriedly opened his eyes and glanced around wondering, he was half asleep. It took him a couple of seconds to gain consciousness. The sun was already on the westside, about to descend behind the peak. He climbed up to his feet, picked up the bag, and slid it to his left shoulder. Before heading home, he drank a bit of water from the bottle - made up his mind to lie about the hair stuff. He recalled putting the cap in his bag straight after he fled the school gate. He groped for it in his bag and wore it.

Zayn walked on, a wavering line along the path blurred him, it was just his mind summing up the joy and sorrow in one short line. He couldn't obliterate it, it was marked permanently. It wasn't sketched on the outer body, it was pierced inside, the wound was fresh, and he didn't feel it healing. He hummed, trying to divert him from the whole drama, maybe it was time he should learn to stay strong, but he wasn't certain, how.

Another tendril of reassurance shrouded him, but it wasn't rigid enough to shatter his sadness. He thought about why he couldn't balance his sentiments, either it would be a delight at its peak or dismay to the abyss. As he drowned himself in the unanswerable questions, it was the horn of the taxi which helped him to make it to the shore.

Zayn even wondered why the car was slowing down and it pulled over to his side. But he didn't tend to look and continued walking.

'Zayn..., son get in the car' - someone called him from within the car, he looked aside and saw the person through the half-shut car window.

'Popo...' Zayn called and hurried towards the car, it was his aunt Sajwat. She unlocked the door and embraced him tightly. He hasn't seen his aunt aka popo for a long time.

'Look at you, you grew up' - she said patting his arm.

Zayn was pleased to see his aunt. Somehow it distracted him from the bitter thought, and he didn't care much about what will be asked at home. Malik was happy to see his sister. They spend the evening and night chatting about their lives, children, their future, and all. Trinity and Sajwat prepared the dinner together. On the go, Trinity looked at Zayn

'I wasn't expecting you to shave off when you told me that you were getting a haircut today' - it came off more in a complaining way than just a chat, which Zayn neglected with a shoulder shrug. He didn't care to tell anyone what happened and was asked to sleep in Doni's room since his aunt had to stay in his.