The Grey Stones
Chapter 8
The thundering of clouds and absolute silence in the surroundings complemented the intense thought chain running in mind of Bilal. He had refused to stay with his family and was staying in a small motel. The every sip of alcohol he took while staring at his picture with parents taken at London eye tasted bitterer to him. He sensed to be a passenger in an aeroplane that is about to be crashed. These moments were similar to the moments when the passengers know that in no time the plane will hit the ocean, the moments of hanging between life and death. The knock on the door broke the chain of thoughts. He diverted his gaze away from the picture to the clock on the wall. It was nearly a midnight. The continuous knock sounded weird to him given the time and bad weather. He got up from the chair and walked to toilet for washing his face. The reflection of thick tears in mirror made him realise that he is been crying for last two hours.
He slowly walked and opened the door. He was surprised to see a man with nicely trimmed beard standing and staring in a very odd manner. The man was completely a stranger to Bilal. Bilal in a low tone asked “Do I know you?” The man replied “Yes! I was in the same situation of yours three years back.” This comment made Bilal to look directly in the eyes of man. The man reading the blankness on Bilal’s face continued “My name is Ahmed. I am here to help you out from this despair situation.” Bilal could not understand what he meant and signalled him to come inside. The thought that he has left the bottle of scotch on the floor and connotations of this act sparked across his mind. He at once turned back and before he could utter a word, Ahmed said in a soft tone “I also drink alcohol, do not be nervous.” Bilal for the first time looked more carefully to the man after this comment. He noticed couple of rings and a bracelet on his hand. He had short hairs and was wearing nicely ironed clothes. Ahmed broke the silence “Be comfortable, I am your friend.” Bilal starred in his eyes for a second and then nodded his head.
Bilal offered him a chair to sit. Ahmed made another shocking statement “made me a peg with water too.” The whole thought of pain and agony was overcome with the presence of a complete stranger in his room. He grabbed a glass and made a peg for him. Ahmed took a small sip and spoke while looking in the glass “I did MBA from Harvard Business School and was working at top management position at a multi-national in US. I came to Pakistan three years back when my father and brothers got killed while fighting in Afghanistan, my only sister was raped by frangis (foreigners) and my mother committed suicide after all this.” He took a deep breath and looked in eyes of Bilal. Bilal in a complete state of perplexity asked “Why you are telling all this to me?” Ahmed continued to stare in his eyes. It felt to Bilal that his passionate gaze is breaking through his soul. Ahmed closed his eyes for a second and spoke “We have been through the same situation. I have felt the same pain and helplessness you are facing. I can see an element of revenge in your eyes, the same aspect of revenge that I had three years back. This war is not against terrorism rather it is against us. The war is against our race. The western alliance is committing an ethnocide through wiping off our race from origin. The only way we can survive is to retaliate.” Bilal jumped off his chair after hearing the last words. He shouted “Get out! I cannot do that.” Ahmed held Bilal from his shoulders and spoke “No one else is suffering. We Pakhtuns are killed. What was the fault of your parents? They even did not live here but still were killed. This is the only way you can payoff to your parents that you fight to protect their future generations and if You are scared from fighting then stop crying and feeling pity as cowards have no right to feel misfortuned.” Ahmed left his shoulders and walked out of the room. Bilal stood still at his place completely bamboozled.
(To be continued)
The thundering of clouds and absolute silence in the surroundings complemented the intense thought chain running in mind of Bilal. He had refused to stay with his family and was staying in a small motel. The every sip of alcohol he took while staring at his picture with parents taken at London eye tasted bitterer to him. He sensed to be a passenger in an aeroplane that is about to be crashed. These moments were similar to the moments when the passengers know that in no time the plane will hit the ocean, the moments of hanging between life and death. The knock on the door broke the chain of thoughts. He diverted his gaze away from the picture to the clock on the wall. It was nearly a midnight. The continuous knock sounded weird to him given the time and bad weather. He got up from the chair and walked to toilet for washing his face. The reflection of thick tears in mirror made him realise that he is been crying for last two hours.
(To be continued)
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