It was around 09:00 p.m in the night, Yasmeen sat in the bed, hugging her son tightly to her chest as she tried to calm him down, but Fannah was so scared that he could not understand anything and kept shivering in horror.
"Arsalan, what happened to him?", Yasmeen asked as she patted her son's head worriedly.
"I don't know aunty, I was going home when I saw him on the road shivering and crying", Arsalan explained for the tenth time as he looked at the boy distressed.
"What's wrong Fannah, my sweetheart" Yasmeen asked looking back at her beloved son who seemed to be out of his senses.
"Mama, let's go back home, I don't want to be here please".Fannah replied in a whisper as if afraid that someone will hear him.
"It's okay, it's okay, it's nothing" Yasmeen tried to comfort him.
"He might be in shock because of his sister's death". his aunty suggested , looking at his unusual behaviour.
"I don't think so, my child is so strong, he consoled me in the morning, he even said that everything is upto Allah and we should submit to his will, how could he be like this now". yasmeen explained, knowing her son full well.
"Hmm, let's just let him rest for sometime, he will get more disturbed like this", Iqbal (Fannah's father) suggested, rubbing the back of his son's head.
"You stay here Yasmeen, everyone else let's go out", he said and led everyone out, leaving the mother and son alone.
"Mama, I am scared,.let's go back home please", Fannah said as he felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier by the minute.
"Okay, we will go home but get some rest first", Yasmeen said in a soft voice as she started humming a song to relax Fannah, who clenched her clothes like the last life saving straw.
After twenty minutes or so, Yasmeen finally came out of the room, her eyes were red and her face was sagged with exhaustion.
"Is he okay now?" Iqbal asked as soon as he saw his wife coming out of the room.
"Hmm, I don't know what happened to him, I tried asking him but he just would not say anything". Yasmeen replied followed by a deep sigh.
"Let's ask him tomorrow when he walked up, don't worry and sit down I will get you a glass of water", Iqbal said as he helped his wife sit down.
"I just hope he is fine". Yasmeen said while drinking the cup of water.
"Aunty, you should get some rest too, you have been with Fannah for hours now, don't worry everything will be okay." Arsalan said and gestures towards the room "I have already made the bed for you".
"Hmm, thank you Son", Iqbal said and helped his wife to the room to retire for the day.
..
It was around 08:00 a.m in the morning when Fannah woke up with an unbearable pain in his right arm.
"Mama, Mama". Fannah called and at this moment Yasmeen came into the room, as she looked at her panicked son.
"What's wrong Fannah?" Yasmeen asked, her eyes shifting over Fannah's body to see what was wrong with him.
"My arm hurts Mama, can you ask Raid or Arsalan to buy me some painkillers". Fannah asked, cradling his arm close to his chest, his eyebrows knit tightly, making wrinkles form on his whole forehead. indicating that he was in great pain.
"Fannah,please try to bare it for now, things are very heated right now and everyone is really busy". Yasmeen said, her hands were shaking as she tried her best to explain the situation clearly to Fannah.
"What happened, is everything okay?" Fannah asked back, looking at his mother's worried state.
"Fatimah's son has disappeared since yesterday, everyone is looking for him right now". Yasmeen said, patting her son's head.
"How and when, I mean someone must have seen him right?" Fannah asked worriedly as a weird feeling of distress and agitation came over him, making him feel something he could not name at this sensitive time.
"That's the problem, their front door was opened from outside when Raza went home and then he didn't see his son, there were some things scattered on the floor too and what's most worrying that he didn't take any of his shoes and no one saw him at all, the child is mentally unstable, they have called the police too, it maybe a case of robery or something, no one knows yet". Yasmeen told her son everything that she knew, as she sensed his uneasiness the way his left hand frantically moved to search around for something.
"I am going to see what happened". Fannah said as he got up carefully, still cradling his arm near his heart like a child.
"It's okay, you are injured, please rest sweetheart, everything will be okay". Yasmeen said, trying to stop him but everything in vain as he paced out of the room.
Fannah went downstairs to find someone to talk to, when coincidentally at this moment Raid walked in, his face contorted in worry and frustration, while he was talking to someone on the phone.
"Raid". Fannah called from the threshold as he saw the boy turning around to leave.
"What's wrong?", Raid asked after hearing Fannah's call, only to see that his cousin had carelessly broken his plaster, creating a big enough crack that he could see it from a distance.
"Ah, these idiots, they always worry me beyond belief" Raid thought as he made his way to Fannah, a deep frown making its way to his charming face.
"What happened, did you find him yet?" Fannah asked, while softly running his hand up and down his plastered arm,like it would give him some relief.
"Uhmm, I was just talking to my friend on phone and he said he saw him in Doabgah, I am going there now, don't worry" Raid explained and turned to leave again when Fannah grabbed his sleeve.
"I will come with you, wait". Fannah said as he looked around for his shoes.
"No, look at yourself right now, what are you going to do there, I will take you to hospital once I get that idiot back home". Raid refused with a grim voice as he gave a look over Fannah's shoulder, which seemed to be q little out of place.
"No, I am okay, I am coming with you, you can't say no". Fannah said, putting on a random pair of shoes.
"Ah, everyone here is too stubborn, no one listens to me at all". Raid complained as he held Fannah's arm and helped him to sit in the car.
"Because you are out most handsome and considerate cousin". Fannah replied with a smile as an unknown feeling started to gnaw at him, it felt like ant's were running all over his body and he felt extremely irritated.
"Hmph, I will definitely get bald because of all you troublemakers, now put on your seatbelt, otherwise you will break your other arm too". Raid reprimanded in a serious tone as he put in the location his friend had sent him in the navigation system.
"Let's go". Fannah said trying to maintain his composure.
The car ride after that was extremely silent, as some old Bollywood song was running on the radio, Fannah seemed to relax a bit as he watched the greenery outside and in only twenty minutes they were at their destination, a house to be precise, people were coming and going outside and some men were arguing loudly with each other, Raid's friend who had notified him of Sufiyan's whereabouts was waiting for them in front of the gate.
The two boys came out of the car and walked directly to the boy waiting for them.
"What happened here?" Raid asked his friend.
"The youngest son of this family commited suicide last night, everything is a bit heated right now". His friend explained, the two seemed to be talking about something so Fannah silently went inside the tent to see if Sufiyan was still there.
The tent was filled with people, The body of the boy was lying in the middle, his relatives were surrounding his body, mourning the loss of the young boy and apart from it all, stood Sufiyan his eyes glued to the body in front of him as he stared at it intently.
Fannah walked to him and wanted to tell him to go home with him, but when he got closer to him, sufiyan was crying, his green eyes glinting pitifully as pearl like tears wetted his cheeks.
Fannah who saw him looking so pitiful could not bear it and immediately turned him around and embraced him in his arms, tightly hugging the smaller boy securely.
"It's okay". Fannah said and at this time, his eyes fell on the body in front of him, but this time everything was different, the people in front of him blurred and there....there he saw Sumaira looking at the dead body, her eyes were filled with tears, her hands adorned with beautiful henna, holding onto something.
At this time, sufiyan loosened his hands around Fannah, making him take his eyes off the scene in front of him and look at the boy in his arms.
"Fannah". Sufiyan called weakly, his eyes barely open.
"Sufiyan, what's wrong?" Fannah asked but at this time the boy in his arms had already shut his eyes completely.
"What happened?" Raid asked running towards them.
"I ..I don't know, what happened".
Raid took him in his arms and put his fingers on either side of his throat.
"Fuck, I can't feel his pulse". Raid shouted.