A Mazed Heart

05. Death

And so, they were now climbing up Mount Lufu in the City of Love as planned.

True to what he had heard about the city, as soon as he entered inside, a lively whizz of breeze passed through his face, his eyes widened, and his feet grounded to its spot. He was baffled by its beauty, dripping everywhere his gaze skipped to.

Unfortunately, they couldn't take a tour around the place because Haarim  had limited time before he went off to the border front. Plus, the place was super costly to begin with.

Hence, they planned to climb up the beautiful mountain over there and return home.

They first prayed Fajr and set off towards Mount Lufu. Morning and evening were always an ideal time to start climbing up the mountain. That, he was told by Haarim.

When Haarim said they were just going up a short distance, his heart dropped to his stomach. But deep down, he knew that his uncle was true when he told he was not yet fit enough to reach the summit.

About forty minutes later, Yahya stopped and grabbed his knees, sucking in a huge air. Alright, he gave in to Haarim. He couldn't climb to the summit just yet. So much for challenging his uncle. Huh!

"You alright there, Yahya?"
When he heard him taking breaths behind, Haarim stopped and half-turned towards him in concern. "We can stop here if you want."

"No." He was quick in his reply. "I'm fine." He said in between his breaths. When Haarim eyed him with uncertainty, he rushed to reason. "You said we will stop at the cherry blossoms."

The plan was to stop their climb once they reach the cherry blossom point. It was from there that the slope would be spread with cherry blossoms. Up until the summit. What set Mount Lufu apart is its snow-filled slopes and cherry blossoms. And he had his eyes on the pink little flowers.

"Are you sure? We still have about half an hour of climbing to witness it."

"We have come so far, Emi! I don't want to go back without seeing it."

He grinned appreciatively. "Okay."

After ten minutes, Yahya finally mustered up the courage to ask him. "Haarim Emi?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you call me Hayati?" Blood rushed to his already flushed cheeks as he put out the question in the air and Haarim gave him a surprised look.

He then smiled. "Don't you like it?"

"I do like it." His steps had now become slow and tired. Haarim was right beside him, restricting himself to his small steps.

The sun slowly raised its head from behind the horizon, breaking the dawn, shadowing its early light down the snowy mountain. But the low glint was still not enough to push off the darkness.

"But is there any reason you call me that?" He pursed his lips and duck his head low.

"I think of no reason. It just happens to roll out of my tongue."

He should give his brain a rest. He probably thinks a lot. Though, he was familiar with the meaning of some basic Arabic words, but literal meaning of Hayati had surely caught him off gaurd. Maybe, he was not at all expecting it.

"Do you know its meaning though?" Haarim asked.

"Yeah, my life." He stared intently at his feet. And then at his uncle's feet. How beautifully were they making their footprints on the snow?

He looked up at his uncle when he heard a low chuckle. "This is so surprising..." His lips dipped down in a sad smile. "Let it be climbing the mountains to reach the summit or climbing up the invisible ladder to reach our aspirations, we need hard work and strength. Loads of them."