The gentle breeze swayed her lovely hair all over her angelic face as she ran through the lush green fields.
“Aliya! Wait up! You know I’ll get you” I said.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see!” she teased.
Breathing hard, as I finally caught up to her, and held her hand, she looked away, shy. My Aliya, such a serene beauty, with a heart of gold. My fiancé.
“Rehan, Stop it! Abba and Ammi are right here!”
“I can’t wait, jaan! Why aren’t the days going faster?”
As a coy smile crossed her face, she whispered “Meet me at the lake this evening”.
The lake, our special place, where I’d proposed marriage to her.
“Be careful, dear!” I said as she ran back home.
*********************************************
As I heard horses neigh, and ear-splitting screams, a feeling of doom and fear came over me.
“Bhai! The rioters have arrived! Papa is dead!” my sister cried. Ammi stiffened, shocked.
Dodging the bullets and the hundreds of massacred bodies lying on the way, I arrived at the lake.
“Oh God, my Aliya!”
********************************************
A contorted and bloody face stared at me, wailing in pain and agony. “Why weren’t you there at the lake, Rehan? I waited. They tore me apart. I was tortured but, I STILL WAITED!” she screamed.
“But you’re dead!”
“No I’m not. I’m coming to get you. You know that! We’re getting married!”
“I tried! I really did! But they killed you. I was helpless.”
That face, beautifully spine-chilling, laughed. A hand extended, digging its fingers deep into my skin, torturing me slowly, as blood collected in a pool beside me.
“But you love me. Why’re you doing this to me?”
“I want to be with you. Rehan. We’re getting married!”
“But you’re dead!!”
With a gruesomely gentle smile she said, “But you aren’t, right?”
P.s: You may visit our judge Neelima Vinod’s Facebook page and have a look at her upcoming novel Unsettled.
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