Of Fallacies And Fate

{t w e n t y f o u r }

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." -Haruki Murakami.

| t w e n t y f o u r |

The ferociousness with which Rayhaan's hands manoeuvred the basket ball depicted his inner turmoil.

Yet even in all his aggression, there was grace, there was agility. And that was what Rayhaan was. Anything he do seemed as if he'd done it to perfect. No matter what way he did it. Everything. Except one thing.

His life. He could never handle his life in such a way. In a way that in the end, it would all turn out to be perfect. Rather it was a stark contrast, everything seemed to be falling, his life seemed to disintegrate as time passed by.

Sweat dribbled through his hair, trickled down in lines through his face and drenched his entire back such that his t-shirt clung to the chiseled muscles as they flexed while he played with the ball. Swiftly yet immaculately. Right hand to left and then to right. His legs moved hither tether. And he galloped a bit before he ran the short distance and aimed the ball for the basket.

In a poise manner, the ball shot through the basket and before it could fall to the ground, he was already there to catch it and whisk it far away only to bring it back to its destination again.

It was his therapy.

His entire mind was on the mess that his life was right now. His eyes closed and Samairah's face appeared. The present Samairah. With an angelic glow. And in no time, not even before he could revel in that memory, the old Samairah's memories haunted him. How he had hurt her. And it didn't end there. Because when he slept, nightmares robbed him of his peace. And in them was Rumsha.

It was maddening. Confusing. Nerve wracking.

Her favourite colour was purple.

Rumsha would always pronounce it as 'purr-ple'. He found it extremely cute.

Little did he know that the very colour which brought a smile on his face each time he saw, would bring a grimace later on.

Rumsha was the kind of girl who was the definition of unpredictable. She loved crowd and noise. So, one friday evening, wherein the usual would be to drag Rayhaan to a party, she asked him to go on a long ride.

Rayhaan loved long rides. And he found it very sweet of her to sacrifice on her Friday night party, he was pleased that she did something for him.

Although, he shouldn't have. Rayhaan deserved some sacrifices after all the compromises he made for Rumsha. Moreover, it shouldn't even be called a sacrifice. Rumsha giving up on a party. She had attended loads of them already and would keep attending loads on them. Missing one party shouldn't have been such a big deal.

But. But Rumsha had kept Rayhaan starved from attention, from priority all along. So that now she made him a priority once, gave him all her attention once, it appeared a big deal to Rayhaan.

He remembered that night vividly. She was in a very good mood. They drove a long way and Rumsha made him stop out of the blue, at a random place on the road. There were trees on either side. She swiftly exited the car and pulled Rayhaan out too.

"We are in the middle of the road!", he had exclaimed.

She had only laughed in response. Her tinkling laugh. Her laugh melted off any common sense right then and there.