"You need to stay firm because this is a test for you, Ryan," Amara said as they walked towards their house. Aaryan nodded. He knew he was meant to go through these tests, but it was hard for him to bear the pain. He loves Mary, and now, when he was away from her, these feelings were even stronger.
At first, he thought keeping the distance would make them disappear, but now he was unable to fight himself. Mary was not following them, even though her house was just a few feet away from his, she was nowhere near them "Hey, what about you go to your garden and spend some time with your beloved flowers" Amara suggested and it felt like a good suggestion to him "I can give you a company if you want" She said it like a tease
"Ew, why would I want that?" he took a step away from the clinging Amara "At least I can walk you to there" she laughed while hanging on his hand "Get away from me, Amy" Aaryan tried to remove her but his sister refused.
Reaching at the gate of the garden, Aaryan chose his final weapon. He pulled her cheek as hard as he could, and Amara stepped aside, screaming, "RYAN! It hurts." She slapped him on the hand, and it was a pretty hard hit, so Aaryan did it again.
"I am going to kill you," Amara growled, and he ran while his sister followed him at the same speed. Both siblings were running on the ground. Amara was shouting something to him in Urdu, Aaryan was just laughing and then suddenly Aaryan stopped near the dog house.
Amara paused running by looking at him.
Aaryan must be hallucinating. It had to be an illusion because this can never be real. "Jeremy," Aaryan called the dog. He was lying on the ground and did not seem to be breathing "Jeremy!" He yelled but the doy didn't respond to him. Aaryan sat on his leg and shook his body, but nothing made the dog move. He lifted its hand, and it fell lifelessly.
"Jeremy, hey, Buddy, wake up" His voice came out as a cry
Jeremy was dead.
Aaryan fell back to the ground. "Hey, Jeremy." He shook it again and again, but nothing happened. Aaryan's eyes got filled with tears. He felt his sister's hand on his shivering shoulder. He looked up "Amy, something happened to Jeremy. He is not walking up," Aaryan told his sister, but she didn't say anything. She was just standing and staring at him in worry "Amy, why is he not moving?" Aaryan asked, innocently "Ryan" she just said one word.
Aaryan moved his face to the sides. "Jeremy," he called for another time and then again until his voice got lost in cries. It can't be happening, he knew the dog was alive, and he knew he couldn't leave him alone. He was just sleeping and he knew Jeremy would wake up but in the end nothing worked and Aaryan lost a friend of six years
•••
He buried the dog.
He was still not ready to believe that Jeremy was gone. Aaryan struggled to grasp the reality that his faithful friend was gone but the silence around him echoed his loss.
His mind refused to think of it as a truth, clinging to the hope that the dog was still there, just out of sight. It was as if Jeremy would come out barking, holding a ball in his mouth, but all the hopes were fake.
Another day passed by, and he was on his bed. The only time he left the room in two days was to go to the mosque because where else was he going to find peace?
None of his family members disturbed him as he passed this hard time but they were all near him, supporting him to go through this. Everyone knew the importance of the dog to him and how great of a loss was it for him
Aaryan was isolated and he still avoided contact with all of his friends. He wasn't talking to Raheel as well, but today, he was calling him ten times in an hour. And at his hundred call, Aaryan decided to pick it up just to hear his ear-tearing scream, "THE HELL YOU DECIDED TO ATTEND THAT FUCKING CALL!" His scream hit him in the head and it roamed in his silent room.
"What happened, Ray?" Aaryan asked in a hush. His voice was feeble "Death, Bro. Death happened and I am just about to make a last wish" Aaryan knew he was just messing around as always but then he said "I fell from the fucking stairs and broke my leg. The hell if you don't come right now, you may not be able to see me for the last freaking time" Aaryan did realize that Raheel was sounding hurt from the first work yet he needed to confirm
"Are you hurt?" He asked, slowly, "No, Bro, I am just kidding. See you at my funeral. Good Fucking Bye" Raheel hung the call. He didn't sound like he was joking or anything.
Even though Aaryan had no motivation to move an inch, he still got up from the bed. For a moment he stood in front of the mirror and looked at himself. He appeared thin, his eyes were red and swollen. Aaryan wasn't still feeling well but Raheel needed him and he had to go and check on him because, after all, they were friends
Walking in the living room he saw his family. All of them stopped everything they were doing when they saw Aaryan coming out of his room after days "Raheel hurt himself, I am going to his place" he said "Take care of yourself" said his father with relief in his voice and Aaryan moved
•••
"It's been ages since I have seen you, Adrian," Roger greeted at the door. "I have been busy," he said. His tune was not mocking as it always was with Roger but respectful, and maybe he noticed it as well "Did something happen?" The guard asked, "Nothing much," he just said, dismissing the conversation, and the guard kept on staring at him.
Aaryan thought he would meet Raheel's parents downstairs. It was obvious that they would be home if their child got hurt but he didn't locate them as he climbed the stairs. And then Aaryan figured out the reason why his parents weren't there as he saw Raheel standing with absolutely no scratch on his leg at the door of his room.
"What was it all about?" Aaryan asked. "Come in, Bro," he said, stepping aside from the door he was blocking. "Why did you call me?" Aaryan didn't move. "Come inside, we have something to talk about." This time he listened to him but he was afraid. Aaryan was yet not ready to talk to Raheel and then he realized he shouldn't have trusted him
As he stepped into the room, he felt her presence. Aaryan didn't look at her but he knew she was there
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you here?"
The two of them asked each other, and none of them answered but glared at Raheel.
"Well, don't blame me in here, Bro. Just clear all the hellish between the two of you." Aaryan now knew what was happening. Raheel was misunderstanding the situation. He must have thought that the reason behind Aaryan's altered behavior was some kind of fight with Mary.
Aaryan was in a threatening situation, and he needed to disappear from it, so he turned around and tried to walk out. Raheel pressed a firm hand across his chest, making him stop. "Behave yourself, Adrian," He said. "There is no mess to clear. Nothing happened between us, Ray." he told him the truth, but Raheel did not appear to believe "Then what happened? Huh? Tell me why are you behaving like this?" Raheel asked in absolute annoyance.
"You won't understand," he said, dropping his head between his shoulders. "I won't understand? Bro, we have been friends for years and I won't understand you?" Aaryan looked at him with red eyes. "You won't," he repeated, and instead of yelling, Raheel's voice softened. "Have you been crying?" He was unable to hear Raheel when the steps of Mary came to his ear. She was close, so close that he was feeling the heat over his body.
Aaryan had to go. He could not lie, so he found one sentence to escape then "Two days ago, Jeremy died." Saying it, Aaryan moved, again, but then it happened.
Mary held his hand from the back. Aaryan felt her soft touch like a bolt of electricity. He pulled his hand from her, and unknowingly, turned around. Mary was startled by the sudden attack as she stumbled a step back. "I am sorry," Aaryan said, feeling guilty in an instant but Mary asked "How are you, Aaryan?" And suddenly that one question felt so heavy that it wanted him to drop to the floor and cry like he had never done before "I- I am okay" he said and then mumbled a word in his mouth 'Alhamdulillah' Mary didn't appear to understand him but Raheel did, when he stared at him strangely "Aaryan" she called like a shout when it was merely a whisper.
He stayed silent. They weren't talking. Mary was glancing at him as she was looking at him for the first time, and Aaryan was just gazing at the ground.
"Listen, Bro. Sit down," Raheel stepped in and then dragged Aaryan to a couch nearby. "I swear, I am sorry about Jeremy, but it didn't start two days ago. You have been behaving differently for weeks" Raheel wasn't talking as he used to talk. The worry in his voice was real. Raheel was worried for Aaryan.
"You can tell us if something happened," She said, taking her steps to him. With a mind filled with a thousand things to say, he said nothing and kept on looking at the space. "Look at me," Mary said, and his heart cried at her call.
He had been dying to look at her.
He wanted to look at her
Aaryan kept his gaze down. "I have nothing to tell any of you," he replied, "But would you at least look at me while I am talking to you, Aaryan?" He couldn't. He didn't.
Aaryan knew if she kept standing there, he might start to crush because of his urge to look at the girl he loves. He loves her so much that it was breaking him. One gaze at his face was all he needed to calm his heart but he never did it. "Okay, Bro. Listen, cool down, and drink this juice." As Raheel's words ended, Aaryan felt a glass on his lips. Raheel wasn't offering, he was forcing. He placed one hand on the back of his head, and with the other, he forced the juice down his throat. He couldn't hold whatever was happening and why Raheel was doing it until he gulped it.
It was the strongest thing he had taken. Aaryan's throat burned from the sensation. He knew something was wrong and soon he figured it out. Raheel made him drink wine. The one glass felt as if it contained an entire bottle of alcohol. He had never drunk something like this before.
The moment Aaryan felt what it was, he hurled the glass at the floor. It made a loud sound, shattering in pieces. Aaryan stood up in a flash
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" He roared in a pure spike of anger "What are you yelling, Bro? I just gave you the honor of tasting the new wine I got yesterday," Raheel said, and he somehow appeared to be confused. Aaryan tried to make himself calm with a deep breath. "I have quit drinking" Even in the rage. It felt good to say that thing out loud
"What the fuck did you just say, Adrian?" And then again, he concentrated on breathing. "Aaryan. Aaryan Yusuf is what my name is, don't call me Adrian" Raheel's face could not manage to get more puzzled. He went quiet and so did Mary "Don't play this type of trick with me ever again, Raheel" Aaryan said pointing a finger at him and then turned around, trying to walk out from this place.
He just took two steps when Mary grabbed his hand again. His eyes fell close, the anger, the guilt, the fear, every emotion was so vivid at the same time. "Why are you doing this? Why are you acting as if I am a stranger to you?" She asked at the edge of crying. He breathed as if it was for the last time and then said, "We are strangers now. Please, stay away from me, Mary" Upon hearing his words Mary's hand fell and Aaryan didn't wait for a second but left
•••
For that one moment, he didn't care what just happened because it was the time of Isha prayer, and Aaryan was drunk. He didn't dare to step into the mosque. Aaryan was standing on the ground at the back of the mosque, and when he heard the call for prayer, he aimed to pray just where he was standing.
As soon as he raised his hands, he felt something was forcing him back. He tried again, but again, he trembled to the side. After trying for another time and failing again, he figured out that it wasn't something but himself who was throwing him away from the place of prayer to the tree behind. Something was echoing in his head. Aaryan was unable to listen to his own voice at first as he wasn't very conscious but soon it became clear. His voice was repeating a verse from the Holy Quran 'O you who have believed, do not approach prayer while you are drunk until you know what you are saying' Aaryan fell in shock. His head hit the tree behind but he didn't care about how much it hurt because it was all nothing in front of the ache in his heart.
Aaryan was not much aware of what was happening around him and he stared at the place where he was just about to pray and then he started to cry. He was losing the prayer and there was nothing he could do. After two weeks of him praying every Salah, he was losing one. The place was right in front of him, a few feet away but he could not go. Aaryan sat there crying his pain out and asking for forgiveness. He was hurt, he was broken and he was unable to pray and heal himself.
The voice of the prayer was so clear in his ears. Even in half-consciousness, he could hear it, and for the first time, it was hurting him. Aaryan was losing a prayer, he could not pray while the time was just falling.
After moments of him listening to that glorifying voice, it all stopped. The prayer ended. Aaryan was shattered into pieces. He never wanted to go home in this state and decided to stay there until he got his consciousness back.
While he sat there. He saw someone approaching him. Aaryan recognized the boy through his blurred vision. It was the same boy he met at the mosque at the prayer of Fajr "Phi Ryan?" The boy asked as if he knew who he was. Aaryan was so afraid that he hid his face and moved it to the other side. What would he do if he got thrown out of the mosque? "Hey, it's really you, Phi' Taha's friend" the boy was standing closer, he might smell the alcohol.
Aaryan didn't reply and covered his mouth tight but the boy was going nowhere. He sat down along with the tree beside him "Are you drunk?" He asked as if he didn't hate him for it. Aaryan was now terrified of this boy. He had no words because alcohol left him unable to speak "Do you not know, you can't pray when you are drunk" He asked, Aaryan cried harder for a moment
"I- I don't- I know- but I not- not drink- my friend- not friend- the person drink- gave me" he mumbled on his unsteady words "Oh" the boy appeared to understand "Are you feeling alright?" He asked with a warm smile "No- not okay- I- pray- I- can't- it- it hurt" he barely spoke the words "I don't think it's your fault" the boy said and for a moment Aaryan looked at him as his mind slowly progressed the words "If it's your friend who forced you to drink then I guess it has nothing to do with you, Phi. I have believe in Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala that he would forgive you, In Sha Allah. You know He says in Quran 27: 11 'Except those who wrong, and then substitute good after evil, indeed, I am Forgiving and Merciful' So even if it's your fault just repent and He will shower his mercy upon you" His words weren't only words but hope. There was always a hope in the dark and to him that hope was his Lord