Early celebrations laid wide around the city as a loud firecracker would burst every now and then. All of the group sat by the tree while Saad left to bring us cotton candies. The ground was drenched with dew drops, sharp wind personified agonized dead woman bursting her lungs brushed past as we huddled together.
I was the last to be handed the cotton candy and he sat beside me. The park lacked much people, we were the only people to ride the carousel.
"You guys, listen, I just saw a woman thrash her son because he held his girlfriend's hand instead of hers. Incest culture is spreading, bro." No one found it funny, instead, they frowned at Rohan for spoiling the innocent air. Aaron and Leah contribute more to make Sarah gag as they chewed each other's mouth.
I filmed every moment with my canon, every smile, every joke, I looked at everyone and for once, it felt good to think of myself as an outsider, as an observant.
I panned back on Saad only to find his eyes already focused on the camera. I smiled, even though no one was clicking my picture. The candy floss in my hand evaporated with the wind blowing, black hair-strands tickled my eyes as I kept capturing him.
Sarah tapped on my shoulder letting me know that the carousel stopped rotating.
"You know he's your boyfriend. You can just stare at him while you're home." Hearing her say that made me a little more conscious. Was I staring too long?
Nonetheless, he came back my side as we walked out of the carousel gates.
"Chicago is beautiful from the Ferris wheel", Leah stated. Aaron wrapped his hands around her waist, kissing her cheek. They reminded me of Selena and Justin, a bad couple to contrast them with but eh, they used to look nice in their teens.
We rushed to the Ferris wheel. Each capsule had a capacity of four people. Sarah, Rohan, Aaron and Leah boarded on one leaving both of us for the next.
"Couples won't be bored you know."
"What about Leah and Aaron."
"They're shameless, you guys are a little shy. You need a separate one!" They shouted as the capsule floated away and we boarded the next one. Generally, Ferris wheels are slow but this, was slower. I could grow a whole field of maze, grow kids and die while it moved from the 4 feet tree to 5 feet tree. Saad sat back looking out through the glass.
"The city's beautiful, isn't it?" he questioned staring at the dimly lit homes as the neon billboards shone on his face. There, in that night, I wanted to know everything about him. To start, what makes him sad, was his favourite toy, was he ever scattered away from his mom at a mall, did he like pancakes, did he think of me while away from home.
"What makes you sad, Saad?" He was not even taken aback by that question as he calmly answered looking forth his fingers.
"Mountains."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It's as though you return to your truest from when you're up at a mountain's peak and that raw, human form of me, often makes me sad."
"What about you? What makes you sad?"
I pondered for a minute, looked back through the glass as he looked at me.
"What makes me sad is, I don't know the language of so many poets. Dostoevsky is Russian, Kafka is German. All their literature is translated and it is yet so beautiful. Imagine if we could understand their language. For instance, the people who know Urdu know the privilege, you can read Jaun, you can read Faiz in their language."
"Imagine reading
dil nā-umīd to nahīñ nākām hī to hai
lambī hai ġham kī shaam magar shaam hī to hai and understanding it."
"You love poems?" He asked, a sheer hope visible in his brown eyes even though whatever I said exactly indicated yes.
"Yes?"
"I knew you liked reading books." He said reaching his inside pocket bringing out a maroon book. "I did not know you specifically liked poems otherwise I would have brought you that. I thought this would be a nice new year gift."
The book was titled 'The world's Greatest Love Letters' by Michael Kelahan.
"What better form of poems than love letters, you think? Thank you, Saad."
This was the first time someone paid more than a minute of attention to what I liked. He peered through the intricate details of my likes. I could not withhold the soft hues of pink I was bursting with. I held the book and instantly hugged him. He warmed himself as he brushed his hands slightly through my waist. "Thank you."
I held onto him longer than the supposed awkward meter but I didn't want to let go. I spaced myself by a few centimeters, he looked at me, his eyes rummaging by my face as I whispered
"I really like you."
Our ride had come to a stop and everyone gawked at us so I had to let go without a response.
