Puranay Rastay ✓

chapter ‣ 14

The gray toned pages of the textbook fluttered under the gentle air of the ceiling fan. Rhythmically rising with a gust before settling down like a paperweight.

My eyes tracked down the fine lined page, occasionally glancing at the textbook to confirm my answers.

Abeyance: suspended action

Abscission: the act of cutting something off

The test preparation felt endless, and that was perhaps why passing the exam was so honorable.

Years and years ago, as a child, I had expressed an interest in being a police officer.

"A police officer?" my father exclaimed. "Why?" He had been an accountant, and like most fathers, wanted me to be the same.

"So I can help others and also have a gun!"

Baba had laughed after hearing the latter part. "Whatever you choose to do, choose the honorable path."

I didn't know what honorable meant. I still don't. But I think it may mean being a force of good, regardless of how small the effort. This was the same longing for honor that burned in my stomach, fueling my motivation when my hands failed to continue scribbling.

Abscond: run away, often taking something or somebody along

Abstemious: marked by temperance in indulgence

Loud commotion filled the air, deriving me out of my seat and to the living room where Mama was scrambling to get her blood pressure apparatus.

"What's wrong?" I asked, opening the cupboard and reaching for the box. Her hands were shaking too much to get anything done.

Low blood pressure had been an issue for Mama for the longest time, but it had waned and eventually ended in recent years.

"Rida fainted just now."

"What?"

"I've told that girl to eat for weeks now, and she keeps skipping!" Mama's voice was frantic as we bounded down the staircase. "I've told her to get herself together or else she'll become as hollow as I did. And I wouldn't even wish for my enemy to be in that dark of a place."

"Mama, she'll be okay," I whispered, squeezing her shoulder. "She's a strong girl." My words felt like a lie even to me. Rida had been headstrong and determined, but I wasn't sure if that was the same case now.

When Mama threw open the door with the set of keys that Mamoo had given us for emergencies, my eyes fell on a sight that made my heart sink to the pit of my stomach.

Rida lay splayed on the tiled floor, her hair spread around her and her face beaded with perspiration and tear stains. Her eyes were closed, but her lips, they were curved in the most heartbreaking curve.

I had never seen her so vulnerable and helpless before.

Ifra's eyes met with mine as she realized Rida was unveiled, at which I swiftly turned on my heel and shut the door.

Even though it had been for a mere second, seeing Rida's uncovered face launched a reel of memories in my head.

A screeching, red faced Sumera, who I recognized as Rida's best friend, came running to me at lunch time.

"Rida needs you!" She yelled, catching me by surprise as I stood with my friends near the canteen.

"What happened?" I had asked in alarm, handing my glass bottle of Fanta to one of my friends.

"She fell." Dust of the unpaved field rose in clouds as she ran. I followed after, my heart beating in my chest like a drum threatening to burst.

Then I saw her, splayed on the field, freshly fallen from the climbing play structure. Tears slid down her face like streams on a mountain, parting the dirt that stained.