Holidays; Goodbye!

‘Sidrah! Wake up!!’ someone was slapping me. That hurts! I thought sleepily and covered my face to protect it from further harm. I was dreaming that I was lost in a tunnel and there was a wild boar out to eat me and my cookies. Dreams can be stupid sometimes.
SLAP! Aww! That was painful. I opened one eye and found three faces staring at me.
‘She’s alive,’ Somia looked happy to see me awake.
‘Who’s alive?’ I asked. My back ached and I’d a splitting headache. And yeah, I was thirsty too and hungry, of course.
‘You!’ they saw me in wonder as I sat up
‘Why are you looking at me like this?’ I asked, slightly irritated ‘I’m not some mummy’
‘We thought you died,’ Fat remarked.
‘Oh I was just sleeping,’ I mimicked Fat’s voice, the way she’d said in the train. She pursed her lips.
‘Oh no’ my dream came true, I was in a tunnel as I looked around ‘I thought I was dreaming’
‘I thought that too,’ Somia said. She looked horrible, dirt and mad covered her face, her hairs, which were usually clean and shiny looked dusty and dry. I checked my hands and nails. They were also dirty. Weird. Where are we? Suddenly it all came back; the tunnel trip, boars, cookies, flash lights and Blue.
The candle will be out in about half an hour, I thought looking at the candle. Its flame was getting bigger and bigger.
‘Let’s try to open the door,’ I said getting up. My legs were numb. I sat back hard again.
‘We tried, it was no use,’ Sana said, fiddling with a rock.
Minutes passed by and we talked. The candle burned out and we talked about Zac Efron. Our stomachs demanded food we talked about Boars. Then we couldn’t talk anymore. We’d talked about almost everything.
‘Let’s play a game,’ Sana said ‘I say a thing starting with A, let’s say Apple, and you’ll say a thing with E now, got it?’
Even when we didn’t want to play we’d no choice. We played and played until we were bored out of our skulls.
‘Let’s sing,’ Somia clapped her Hands. We moaned at this but sang anyway.

“We’re all in this together
And it shows…when we stand
Hand in hand…make our dreams come true”

We sounded horrible but didn’t have the energy to laugh. I was beginning to feel hopeless.
We’re all in this together
Once we know…that we are
We’re all stars…and we see …..SQUEAK!
‘What was that,’ Sana whispered. I heard it too, a squeak.
‘Maybe it’s the boar,’ Somia said fearfully.
We all listened quietly. There it was again. Squeak. Squeak.
Suddenly the room was alight. I looked up at the ceiling door and saw Blue looking down at us, looking grubby.
‘Come out now,’ he urged.
‘Yay!’ Fat cheered, we cheered with her and climbed out. It was so bright outside that my eyes hurt. I squinted. I looked upwards and a saw puffy cloud passing through the sky. I looked at Blue. I took a really good look at him. He didn’t look like he’d slept as he’d dark circles under his eyes and his hair wild and uncombed. Our hero, our savior! I’m gonna worship him, I thought smiling happily. Then it dawned on me that he was the one who lured us in the tunnel. Because of him we were looking so ugly right now. And that wild boar! It was a narrow escape. We could have died. My smile turned upside down.
‘Where were you?’ Somia demanded angrily brushing away the cobwebs from her face.
Blue ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his feet ‘Sorry’ he grunted.
‘Sorry?’ we yelled at him. We yelled and yelled and told him all the horrible things we went through and all he’d to say was just stupid old plain sorry? Humph!
He confessed that he escaped through another trapdoor when he saw the boar, he was about to come back to help us but Mr. Sajid caught him. That was his story.
‘What a coward,’ Somia remarked as were going back to the camp. I didn’t say anything but I knew she was upset and fuming inside. She liked him. Poor Somia!

‘Whatever happened to you??’ Sk exclaimed in disbelief and came running to us as we stepped inside the camp. We told her our story and Blue’s. Her eyes were wide open with shock. She thought we were making it up all. But she believed us when we insisted.
‘I told you guys not to go!’ she hugged us. We hugged her back. I was so happy to be alive I can’t tell you.
‘Come on. Get ready. The bus will be going in an hour,’ she said stuffing her things in her bag ‘I packed your bags’ she gestured towards our bags neatly zipped standing in the corner.
‘Thanks’ we washed ourselves and got ready. Mr. Sajid collected our bags from us and told us to wait 10 minutes.
‘Would you guys come with me,’ Sk pointed over the bushes where we’d found Dan-Bug. Sk was carrying the jar with Dan-Bug in it.
‘So?’ I asked when we reached there.
‘I’m gonna release Dan-bug’ Sk said, tears in her eyes “Ms.Orla was right’
‘But first take my picture with Dan-Bug.’ She wiped her tears away and handed Sana a camera. We squealed when Sk took out the Dan-Bug which flew and sat on her cheek.
‘Say cheese, we tease!’ Sana said. Click. Flash!
‘Now go Dan-bug. Be happy,’ Sk shouted as Dan-bug flew away ‘I’ll miss you’
‘We’ll miss you!’ this time we all shouted. After taking some more pictures with Fat and Somia, we went to the bus which was waiting for us.
‘Where were you, girls?’ Ms. Orla barked ‘And why are you so untidy’ we cringed and quietly sat in the backseat. We reached the station after 40 minutes. Farhan laughed out loud when we saw us.
‘So you went, huh? Farhan asked Fat ‘Told you not to go. Now look what happened to you all’ he faked a sad face. Fat threw him a violent look.
God! We must be looking really horrible, I thought, I wanted to go home quickly! What will my brothers say? But I didn’t get to brood for too long as we were quickly ushered in the train by the teachers. We all exchanged numbers. Interestingly Somia lived in our town! Fat was from another but what cell phones and internet are for?! I didn’t hate Fat anymore, she was really fun if you get know her better.
‘We’ll be home in two hours!’ Sana exclaimed ‘I missed my family very much’
‘I missed good food’ I said eating a disgusting chicken roll.
‘I missed Dan-Boy,’ Sk smiled dreamily ‘He didn’t call’ she pouted.
‘I missed my cat’ Somia added and we all looked at Fat. But she was busy watching Blue who was talking animatedly to a girl outside the compartment.
Fat got up and walked towards them
‘Hey Tarzan!’ she thumped him on his back ‘This is your Jane?’ Fat was all cutesy. She was smiling so sweetly that you could get diabetes! Blue went red and his eyes fell on me. I feigned an innocent expression. The girl was confused and walked away. Blue gave Fat something, said something and also walked away.
‘This is for you,’ she handed the chit to Somia. We eagerly watched as she unfolded it.
‘It’s his number!’ Somia waved the chit happily ‘and he says he’s really sorry!’ I hoped Somia wouldn’t turn into another Sk. Farhan came in some after sometime and invited us to a party in the compartment next door. We’d so much fun and we ate some yummy things too. We all exchanged numbers. Blue said sorry once again, this time he looked sorry too. We again told him what happened in front of everybody and forgave him. I don’t think they believe us. The story sounded too far fetched now, even to me. And I think Farhan is kind of good looking. Oh well!
So right now, I’m at home lying peacefully in my warm bed...Chatting with Fat, Farhan, Blue, Camper and Coral. Oh I almost forgot to tell you one thing; I and my family might go to Malta as Jane invited us. I’m looking forward to it! I don’t want to admit it but I missed Camper and Coral!

P.S: Sana, i know the ending is really crap but i got bored!!

An Ode To Friendship!

Just imagine your life without friends. Weird, isn’t it? I take my friends for granted, I think everybody does. But life would be so empty without them. Nobody calling you for hours to talk about random things, nobody there to whom you can tell some juicy piece of gossip, nobody there sharing your joys and sorrows, nobody lending you notes, books, Cds, jewelry and stuff, nobody helping you in studies, nobody calling your name the way your friends do, nobody laughing at your lame jokes, no shoulder to cry on, nobody waiting for you when you go to college, school and the kind, nobody suddenly appearing behind your back, startling you but making you smile at the same time …there’re million, no trillions of good things about friends which we ignore, never taking them seriously, thinking that they’re just small things but in reality they’re the things which make our day.
I don’t have many friends, actually only four but they’re my real friends. I can trust them. That’s the best thing about friends; you can count on them to help you! I never had a real one until I was in class 10th; there I met Maria and Sk. Hey guys! I love you both!! (I know you’re not reading this but I’ll make you. Ha-ha). And then there’s Iqra, my quiet friend, who never tells me her dark secrets! =( but I wish she’d someday! And at last but not the least, yes you’re right, it’s you Sana. I know you were waiting for your name to come along. So there you’re! More about you?? Well ……I met Sana four years ago in coaching. We performed a practical together, exchanged numbers and for two years we never saw each other, just talked on phone for few seconds. Then luckily we got admission the same college and TADA we became fast friends! We still are. Sana, stop grinning. I wrote about you because you comment on my posts and let me borrow your books (so what, you borrow mine too!) …just kidding! You’re my special friend and I’m really glad I met you!! ^_^ ok this is getting corny …
So guys, cherish the moments you spend with your friends. Treat them nicely (but don’t let them empty your pockets). Show them that you love and care; tell them that you’re lucky to have such nice friends (Like I’m doing right now! Sorry, just joking!!) …and never talk about them behind their backs; spare them, don’t make them the subject of your gossip! And never, as in never ever, break their trust because once the trust is broken it’s impossible to fix the bond of friendship (umm... I’m not good at quoting) and two more important things about friends:
* They send you forward sms on Friendship’s day!
* They also comment on your blog making it quite popular! (Thanks Sana!)

That’s it! It’s 2am right now and I’m wide awake. If my mum would see me here sitting on PC so late, she’d have a fit (I’m exaggerating) ….and well, I hope you like it, the post I mean. Bye now!

Crush Mania!

‘Crush: a strong, foolish and short-lived love for someone’ says my Longman Dictionary. Such a simple meaning! But not in my case, if someone asks me to define crush, I’d say ‘a sudden and strong love cycle which can alter your course of life making you a useless person until someone else comes in your life and then the cycle repeats itself’
…when I’m crushing on someone, it’s like nothing else is important except for the crushBoy. And also, unfortunately I crush a lot. Say, I’d be buying something in a store, a guy would come and I’d look at him and then the CrushAttack attacks! All day long I’d fantasize about him and during nights I’d ‘daydream’ about him, this’d go on until the next crushBoy comes along. Last year there was this guy I used to chat with. He was a big bore but on his display picture Jesse McCartney was flashing his cute smile, the type for which you can die for. So, I just imagined that the boy also looked like him but I never got to see his face as eventually Jesse McCartney was replaced by some wrestler, which put me off and I defriended the boy. Simple. No hard feelings. No crying, no sobbing. It was like I never knew the boy.
I never talk about my crushes to my friends, only sometimes when I’m crushing on some book character I’d tell them. I’m embarrassed to (Sana, stop smiling!). But writing all this is so much easier than telling someone face to face. You people, who’re reading this, don’t know me personally (only few of you do), so even if you’re laughing at me or saying things about me like what this silly girl is talking about, I wouldn’t care (ok, maybe a little bit) but it won’t make me a laughing stock!

Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t crush this much. Crushing on celebrities is harmless (for me it is!) but crushing on real people, I mean the people you see everyday, is way too dangerous for me! I try to avoid meeting people whom I can crush on but I meet those people a lot, anywhere at any moment (once I met the CrushBoy in a funeral! How weird is that?) , like this boy in the institute I’m going nowadays, I don’t even know his name and I’m sure he doesn’t even know that I exist but still I, like a big fool, sit in the last row so that I could watch him (Oh my! How embarrassing!). He has nice hair, a little curly and unruly like Nick Jonas, and he’s really thin like a match-stick, not too tall but neither short. He’s aquiline nose (the kind I like!) and he uses Sony Ericsson and well, he’s nice. He talks a lot (and a little too loudly) but he’s a nice voice, I bet he can sing too. So, anyways, I know I’ll, probably, never see this boy again after I leave this institute (and would forget him too) but nowadays he’s all I think about. In the class, when I should be listening to the chemistry sir who’s trying his best to explain what intermolecular forces are, I’m watching the boy! Oh I almost forgot to tell you one thing, the boy with his friends makes stupid remarks while sir is teaching and then they all look around to see if we’re laughing. Too bad we are, even sir is laughing! Maybe he’s too shallow to see that he’s being insulted or maybe he’s trying to be ‘I’m-jolly-n-funny-I’ve-pateince-too-I’m-your-chemistry-sir-too-good-to-be-true! I don’t usually like hooligan-type boys, I like quiet ones, but for now its ok, who knows I might I join this hooligan group too. In this way I’d get to meet my current CrushBoy!!

Apart from the CrushBoy, I'm in love with Zac Efron (which is quite harmless, believe me)
He's cute, right?? I know he's not looking too good in the pictures but that's camera's fault!

And sometimes, I like this guy, lucas, too

Sigh! Ok, that’s it for now! My brothers are really snoopy, you know, if they read this, they’d never let me hear the end of it. Hmm. And people if you’re wondering why I wrote this crushing story of life? Well, the answer is simple, I was bored, had nothing else to do. And guys, I’d to take my mind off the CrushBoy!

Holidays; This and That

‘You’re so cute! I hope you don’t miss your family too much’ Sk cooed to a glass jar ‘but you won’t miss them for too long, I’m gonna love you so much my dear Dan-Bug’ she hugged the jar.
‘Dan-Bug!’ I scoffed. Sk made a face at me. I put on my earphones and played my current favorite song ‘Our Song’ by Taylor Swift and closed my eyes. If Fat weren’t there, I’d have sung along, I might have even danced a little but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of her. I imagined myself singing the song on the stage; causing thousands of people a sheer delight. ‘Encore! Encore!’ they shouted when I was finished. I flashed my famous smile at them and sang the song in my beautiful voice again. The crowd went wild. Hmm. This’d be just too nice. But that is never gonna happen. My voice, if not horrible, isn’t ‘singing’ type. It’s too high-pitched. I erased the image of myself singing the song and handed the mike back to Taylor swift.
‘Sidrah!!!’ someone snatched my MP4 away from me, causing me to fall flat on my face,
‘What the ….’ I started but saw Somia excited expression and stopped myself.
‘What? What’s the news??’ I asked, grabbing her by shoulders. Blue sent us the note last night that we won’t be able to go to the tunnel trip. We were like OH-NO!!-NO-FUN!-LIFE-ISN’T-FAIR!
‘He said we’ll go on Thursday morning at four’ she said, pulling herself free of my grip.
‘On Thursday?’ I was agitated ‘at four? 4 am? That’s night. It’ll be so dark’ Somia was looking at me, confused.
‘And on Thursday?’ I repeated ‘We’re going back on that day! Ms. Orla would be watching us like a hawk watches its prey’ but I was talking to myself as nobody took notice of me. Somia, who looked indifferent, was applying a red nail-polish on her nails. Sk busy with Dan-Bug, Sana was engrossed in a book and Fat eating a chocolate (yummy!).
‘Guys?’ I stamped my foot loudly. They all looked up, impatient and annoyed , as I just intruded one of those most peaceful moments of life which you’re never, as in never ever, supposed to ruin. I sighed heavily and gave up. Once again I switched on my MP4 and got lost in my ‘Rock star –Pop Star’ world.


********************************************************************


It was dinner time. We were sitting on the wet grass waiting to get served. No waiters (of course!) but Sana and Somia would serve us. They’d gone to take food from the ‘kitchen’, which was also in a camp.
‘Thank God, we don’t have to make food here ourselves’ I tried to converse with Sk, who was busy watching her Dan-Bug ‘You know, like in books or movies where you hunt something and then roast it on the fire. That’d be gross. But roasting marshmallows is just so romantic’
‘Yeah’ Sk said absent mindedly and then ‘You know, I might give Dan-Bug to Dan’ a smile lighted her face ‘he’ll love it, won’t he!’
‘I don’t think so’ I was being harsh but I’d to say, ‘Dan is not responsible kind of person. He’d lose him or kill him. Dan-bug is okay with you’
Sk didn’t say anything but she knew I was right. She continued watching the bug. The other when we went to study insects, Sk found this lovely colorful bug and fell in love with it. We helped her to capture it. Actually Somia was the one who captured it, but Sana and I did all the yelling. We were cheerleaders and Somia was the player. Ms. Orla didn’t approve when she found out.
‘Living things should be free of all limits. They’re meant to be. This bug needs nature, don’t deprive it of its rights’ she spoke reprovingly; her face determined and her voice strong. Sk looked doubtful but she didn’t let go, she was too much in love to think about the rights of an insect.
‘I’m still itchy’ I heard Sana talking to Somia ‘but it’s getting better. Dr. Stitch is AWESOME! And that lotion was also AWESOME! I look okay now, right?’
‘Yup, you look fine’ Somia affirmed.
‘Hey’ Sana said to us and settled herself on the clean spot and gave each of us a box. I opened mine reluctantly knowing what’d be inside it. A little hopeful that tonight they’d cooked something else. No such luck. Boiled rice, stale bread and watery stew greeted me. And an apple!!! I cheered up when I saw a familiar greenish yellow fruit.

‘Yay! I got an apple’ I said, holding the apple like a prized possession.
‘So do I’ Sk said, showing her apple. Hers was larger. Sana and Somia took out their apples too.
‘Oh’ I said ‘Lucky us!’ I shrugged and ate my food quietly. As you know, dinner with friends is gossip time too. We gossiped about Fat, Ms. Orla, Mr. Sajid, Dan-boy, Dan-bug, Farhan and Blue.
‘Farhan is such a wannabe,’ Somia was telling us about her meeting with Farhan and Blue, ‘always telling jokes, which are not even funny. He tries too hard!’
‘Poor boy’ that was our Sk, always feeling sorry for others.
‘Sk, you still haven’t decided, have you? You coming with us or not?’ I said bringing up the subject of tunnel-trip.
She bit her lip. We waited impatiently watching her to say something. But when minutes passed by and she was still thinking, we cried out ‘Sk!’
‘Sorry, sorry’ she was back on earth ‘I was just thinking’
‘We guess’ Somia gave her usual lopsided grin which means that she’s being sarcastic.
‘Guys, I was thinking that ..that if I come who’d take care of Dan-bug?’ she took a deep breathe, then continued ‘And beside I think it’s not safe to go, what if we get lost? Nobody would know, we’d be rotting inside the tunnel and no one would know. No one’ she said darkly, in the dark her face looked white.
‘Don’t be silly’ said Sana, slapping Sk on her knee ‘we won’t get lost. Blue knows the way inside out. He went there on Monday 10 times!’
‘Yup, that’s right’ I said
‘C’mon Sk! Show us that fun-girl in you!’ Somia pleaded.
‘But what if Ms. Orla find out? Sk was serious ‘she’d tell our parents and that’d mean double trouble, and triple if we get lost! Sorry, but I’m not coming. I’d be happy if you guys don’t go too but if you’re I won’t tell on you’ she smiled tentatively.
Sk had made up her mind and now it’d be impossible to persuade her.
‘Okay’ Sana and I said in little voices.
‘What?’ Somia said in ‘THAT-IS-SO-UNBELIEVINGLY-RIDICULOUS’ style, ‘You’re not going to persuade her?’
‘She’s made up her mind. We can’t do anything now’, I said, defeated.
‘Yeah, you can try if you want to’ Sana said, eating her apple.
‘I’ll’ Somia grinned ‘I’ll make her come’
‘You bet?’ I challenged her.
‘Yes. I bet’ she nodded
‘You’re on’ we shook hands.
‘You two are mad’ said Sk, laughing.
***********************************************************************

Wednesday went by quickly. I asked Blue to change the time. He agreed and said 4:05 am would be great. The nerve of him! It was 3:45 am when Somia woke me up. I was so sleepy that I almost said that I wasn’t coming. Somehow I got up and got dressed. I was awfully drowsy.
‘I’m going to wash my face’ I whispered to Somia who was on her mission to wake Sana and Sk. I went out, it was dark as hell. I went to the lake and washed my face, singing a song.
‘Would you shut up?’ I glanced upwards and saw Fat’s furious face, her hands on her hips ‘You’ll wake everybody up in that horrible voice of yours’
‘Oh its you’ I said getting up and trying my best to ignore the insult ‘I forgot you were coming too’
‘You should let Dr Stitch check your head then, forgetting things so young’ she said, faking a concerned face.
‘Thanks for the tip, Fat’ I smiled sweetly ‘I might’
‘I’m not fat’ she said, indignantly
‘Oh Claudia!’ I put on my sympathizing voice ‘Don’t you know that! Everybody here calls you Fat because you’re! I’m so sorry. I thought you knew’ I patted on her back and went back to the camp, leaving behind a worried Fat, who was examining her waist.
‘Sk, Come on’ Somia was moaning ‘you’ve to come. Please!’
‘Somia, you can’t make her come’ Sana was telling her, ‘I’m telling you. Just come on’
‘She’s right’ I said cheerfully.
Somia pouted and let go of Sk’s hand.
‘I won’ I sang, and did a little dance, ‘you lost, I won’
‘Don’t push it’ Sana elbowed me. Ouch, I yelled silently, grabbing my ribs.
Blue was waiting for us when we went to Lunar Lake. He was wearing black clothes. To think of it, I said to myself, everybody is wearing dark clothes expect me. I felt awkward and silly in my bright pink shirt.
‘Where is Farhan?’ Somia asked Blue.
‘He chickened out,’ Blue remarked snidely 'where's Sk, your friend?' we all looked at each other.
‘Chickened out too?' He laughed. We shrugged.
'So ,what we’re waiting for? Let’s go!’ Blue winked.
Then we were on our way. I was excited but if I’d known what was waiting for me inside, I’d have never dared to go..

Holidays; Scratch

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. This time I didn’t bother to see who was being tortured by those merciless bugs. This dream trip was already turning into a nightmare. When dinner was served, we all became a little cheerful but our cheerfulness was short-lived, it evaporated as soon as we saw our plates, being filled with tasteless boiled rice, hot salty watery stew and hard rock bread. Even the water was weird; sweet and salty. I felt like we were serving in a prison. I think Ms. Orla lied to us when she said there were no fruits left. What could we do? She hated us! Somia murmured something in sleep. She was also in our group. We met her when our names were called out. Good thing, she isn’t a bit like Claudia. Yeah, you guess right, Claudia, Fat ..same person. But no way I’m gonna call her Claudia; it doesn’t suit her at all. Fat is perfect for her. Anyways, I was telling you about Somia. When we met her, we felt as if we’ve known her forever. We just hit it off. And she’s brave too, not afraid of spiders and lizards. She even killed one spider for us!

Scratch. Scratch. Oh God! Something is crawling on me, I screamed inside. I wanted to run away, free of insects, like crazy, jumping up and down. After dinner I’d almost said to Sk ‘I want my mummy’, see, I was this bad.
I couldn’t sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw myself being eaten alive by a giant spider. I shuddered at the thought of it. I turned around restlessly and saw a mosquito dancing on my arm as if though my arm was its land. A sudden fear struck me. What if I got malaria? Or even worse, dengue? Mosquito repellent, you silly girl, Camper voice said in my head. I obeyed and reached for my bag, opened it and saw my precious stuff lying there. I’d brought my party dresses too, I laughed wearily when I saw my blue sequined dress. What was I thinking? Mosquito repellent was buried under my clothes. I took it out and sprayed all over me, hoping that it’d also protect me from lions and bears and giant spiders. It’s a nice scent, I sniffed. Scratch. Scratch. Poor Sana, I thought as I saw her scratching her cheek and I sprayed the repellent on her too. She stopped scratching immediately. I smiled triumphly and sprayed all over the tent, until the bottle was empty. I put the empty bottle in the bag and slept happily.
*********************************

‘AHHHHHHHH’
‘OH MY GOD! LOOK AT ME. THOSE BUGS HAVE EATEN ME ALIVE’

I opened my eyes and saw a red creature crying. Sk was sitting quietly in the corner, she’d had covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes squeezed shut as if couldn’t bear to look. I rubbed my eyes and peered closely at creature. I yelped when I realized it was Sana.
‘OMG! What the hell happened to you?’ I cried with shock.
‘I don’t know’ she sobbed, looked at mirror and cried loudly ‘they’ve ruined my face, I feel like I’m on fire’ she scratched on her cheek, then on her arm, again on her cheeks making them more scarlet.

‘Don’t do that’ a familiar voice said. I turned around and saw Fat, eating her gum.
‘What?’ Sana said scratching.
‘Don’t scratch!’ Fat said calmly ‘It’ll get worse’ I’d to agree with her. I shook my head when Sana raised her hand to scratch her forehead. She sighed and dropped her hand and cried. Sk slowly uncovered her face and opened her eyes. I looked at her helplessly.

‘Somia has gone to fetch Ms. Orla’ Fat assured us. I wondered why she was being so nice. Maybe she did something to Sana. I watched her suspiciously, trying to find a trace of guilt on her face. She saw me looking at her and smirked. We held each other gaze. It was like a competition, who’d turn away first, making other a winner. My eyes began to water but I didn’t blink. I was trying too hard. On the other hand, Fat was staring at me calmly, smirking at the same time. Thankfully Ms. Orla arrived with her paid servants; I mean the two boys and Somia. We both blinked at the same time and looked at Ms. Orla.

‘Good God! This batch is cursed, I think’ she muttered under breath but a bit too loudly. The two boys laughed. Ms. Orla glared at them.
‘What happened to you?’ Ms. Orla asked, checking Sana’s hands, which I noticed were also red and blotchy. Sana shrugged.
‘Farhan, Call Dr. Stitch’, now’ she shouted to one of boy. Farhan saluted her and ran off.
We waited for Dr. Stitch to come. I noticed the other boy, who’d winked at us, looked like Nick, one of those cute Jonas Brothers. He looked really cool in his black t-shirt and rugged grey jeans.
‘He’s cute, isn’t he?’ Somia giggled. I was surprised, Somia was a total tomboy, and she didn’t strike me as ‘crushing’ type girl. I nodded, both staring at him. He caught us looking and winked his oh-so-cute-and-famous-wink. We blushed and looked away. But no, I wasn’t crushing on him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He wasn’t my type, he wasn’t Zac Efron.
Farhan came back with Dr. Stitch. He was one hefty man. He was bald and shiny and dark. He was also grinning; his teeth were all white and clean, sparkling now and then. Maybe he used to work in toothpaste advertisement.
‘So, what have we got here, huh?’ he grinned at Sana but when he saw her crying he replaced it with a gentle smile.
‘Hmm’ he put on his glasses and examined her, ‘Did you use some perfume or anything which you’re allergic to?’ he asked.
‘No, I didn’t’ Sana said.
‘Are you allergic to something?’ He asked. Sana closed her eyes to think.
‘When I was six, I used a raspberry perfume. Same thing had happened’ Sana told him. Suddenly I’d a very bad feeling. I wanted to get away. I slowly stood up with my bag and crept away outside towards the lake, I splashed some water on my face. Took out the empty bottle and read the ingredients: alcohol, isopropyl myristate, blah, blah, blah and then my heart thumped loudly when I read the next word: raspberry flavored aqua. I dropped the bottle in the lake, hoping some big whale would eat it and cursed Summer Fun Classes. If I’d not joined those classes I would have never met Camper and his repellent. And then I wouldn’t have met Mrs. Habib, and I wouldn’t have come here and used this stupid repellent and Sana wouldn’t have got allergic. But why cry over spilt milk? All’s done now.
I’d a feeling that someone was watching me; I looked around and saw Nick-look alike grinning at me.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, dropping beside me.
I nodded. Why did he have to come now? Why wouldn’t he just go away and leave me alone?
‘You don’t look ok’ he said, concerned.
‘Why?’ I asked, annoyed.
‘You look like some mad person on runaway,’ he laughed ‘your hairs are sticking out from here and there. Your face is so pale like you haven’t seen the sun for ages’. I didn’t say anything. I was too tired to retort back.
‘Hey sorry, I was just joking’ he did sound sorry ‘you look fine’ when I still didn’t say anything he extended his hand to shake mine ‘I’m Blue’
‘Blue?’ my voice came out like a croak.
‘You need water?’ I began to say no, then changed my mind and nodded. He handed me a bottle. I took a big gulp. The sweet and salty water somehow tasted delicious.
‘Yeah, Blue’ he grinned ‘Nice isn’t it?’ I smiled.
‘And what’s your name? ’I told him mine. I wasn’t in a mood to talk. He started telling me about the lake and some train service. I tried my best to listen. He caught my attention when he said the word ‘lion’.
‘Sorry, what?’ I asked, alert.
‘I said there are no lions here. It’s not a big forest, you’ll find only a few wild cats and boars and some deer. And you see this lake? It’s called Lunar Lake. The boating is possible here, I tried to talk Mr. Sajid into it but he didn’t agree’
‘Mr. Sajid?’ I asked curiously.
‘He’s our incharge, a tough cookie’ he laughed ‘have you seen that cranky baldy man, that’s the one’
‘Yeah, I met him on the train, he was really ...’ I searched for the right word then gave up ‘cranky, as you said’
We remained silent for a moment then he said in this oh-so-serious voice ‘You know what, I’ve this feeling that I could trust you’ I raised an eyebrow.
‘I’m going to tell you a secret but don’t say a word, ok?’ I nodded solemnly even though I can’t keep a single secret. I’ve a big mouth, and sometimes while gossiping I exaggerate too.
‘When you guys will be going, I won’t join you. This is my home. I come here during every vacation but I’m not going to go back now. I’ll be a Tarzan’
‘Tarzan!’ I snorted and quickly changed into a cough. He looked hurt.
‘Everybody laughs at me when I tell them that I’m going to be a Tarzan of Changa Manga’ he sighed exasperatedly. Then back to his spunky manner, he said ‘and who knows I might find my Jane’ this time I laughed freely and he joined me too.
‘Hey, I almost forgot to tell you, I found this underground tunnel near those trees’ he pointed towards the tress who were swaying in the wind faraway ‘we are gonna get in there. Somia and Claudia agreed to come, would you join us too?’
I was tempted. ‘Can I ask my friends, too?’
‘Yes, of course. My friend, Farhan, might come too. But not a word to the teachers’
‘Yeah, it’s a deal’ we shook hands.
‘So be there tomorrow at 5am’ he said getting up ‘have to go now, or Baldy’ll be mad. Catch you tomorrow’
‘Yeah, sure. Bye’ I smiled. When he was gone I began to plan my apologizing- speech to Sana. I knew she’d forgive but I couldn’t help feeling bad. I got up and slowly walked towards our tent. I went inside, dreading the moment when i'd tell her that it was all my fault. Sana and Sk were alone. Sana was rubbing a lotion on her arms and face. Sk, reading a magazine.
‘It was the mosquito repellent’ I said to Sana, meekly.
‘Yeah, I noticed’ she smiled ‘Silly me’
‘What? You’re not mad at me?’ I asked, surprised.
‘Why should I be mad at you? You didn’t know I was allergic. And beside, I put on the spray myself’ then I remembered that I’d given the other two bottles to Sana and Sk. I told Sana and Sk about how I’d emptied the bottle on Sana the other night. We all laughed heartily. I didn’t tell them about tunnel-trip. I’d tell them later I thought, at the right moment.
Fat barged in suddenly and said ‘we’re gonna Insect study now, come you two’ she said to Sk and me ‘You can stay if you want’ she nodded to Sana.
We all looked at each other, when Fat was gone.
‘If you guys are going, I’ll come too’ Sana said. We three got up and got dressed in our most comfortable clothes and went to study insects.

A lot happened then! But my hands are tired now, so later! Cya!

Holidays; The Little fat Woman (2)

‘I think we should call someone’, I said, getting up from my seat. Sk nodded and Sana shrugged. I noticed that I’d lost my grin. It was replaced by a grim expression. Halfway through the door, I asked myself ‘where am I going to get help?’
Me: ‘Where is the teacher’s compartment?’
Sana (whispering): It’s the last one.
Sk (gloomily): Good luck.
I nodded and went out to begin my journey, fearless and determined to save the Little Fat Woman, until some people started to follow me, trying to sell me some weird stuff and some asking for money. I tried to shrug them off and walked fastly towards my destination i.e. the last compartment. At last I reached there, knocked on the door and waited patiently. A man who was all bald expect for a patch of ginger hair resting on the center of his head looked annoyingly at me.

Bald man (rudely): Yeah, little girl?
Me (confidently): One of the student is not…..
Bald Man (bored): Wait
He shut the door on my face. I could hear the voices of many people talking. After few seconds the door was opened again, this time by a woman, who was called Ms. Orla. She was our incharge.
Ms. Orla (smiling pleasantly): Yes? How can I help you?
Me: Something happened to one of the students. She screamed and she died!!
Ok, now I made it sound like real big emergency. Ms. Orla looked alarmed.
Ms. Orla: Follow me!
Follow her? But why? I know the way to our compartment, not her. Nevertheless I followed her and someone was following me too, a little boy selling pâtés. Ms. Orla stopped and went to a compartment where some party was going on. Music was real loud; I couldn't tell how many people were in there because the compartment was really small. The little boy also went in and came out wearing a happy expression. I think he got some money. The music stopped and Ms. Orla came out with two boys, who were looking really reluctant.
Ms. Orla: Lead the way, girly. Girly!? Well, I led them to our compartment.
We entered. The scene I saw almost broke my heat. The Little fat Woman was still lying on the floor, her mouth wide open and her face, I hoped not, looked kind of blue. Sana was holding her had, her face expressionless. Sk was praying, tears streaming down her cheeks. They looked like parents whose child was on deathbed. Sheesh! Such a mean thought!
Ms. Orla (running to Fat): What happened to her?
Sk (crying): She was standing there, and then she screamed and died.
Ms Orla was just about to say something when Fat stirred and came to life. I don’t know why, but I screamed. Sana and Sk screamed too. We stopped and looked at each other, confused. Then Fat screamed, or should I say howled. We screamed again. Two boys joined us in our screams; maybe they were just mocking us as they were laughing too.
Ms. Orla (madly, stamping her foot): Stop!
We stopped.
Ms. Orla (yelling): What’s with you people? Where are your manners?
We all put on our ‘I’m -sorry,-ma’am-I’m-so-ashamed’ face.
Ms. Orla (to Fat): Are you right, girly?
Fat (sitting up, nervous): Yes. Yes, I’m all right.
Sana (accusingly): We thought you died.
Fat (snorting): Died? I was just, like, sleeping.
‘Why did you scream?’ I demanded
The Little fat woman shrugged ‘You weren’t letting me sit; I was tired and sleepy so I slept on the floor. And I didn’t, like, scream’
I was dumbfounded. She tricked us! She made a fool of us! She …now I wish she’d died! I thought.
Ms: Orla (sternly): If this was some kind of joke I didn’t like it. Next time, make sure that there is some real emergency. And if it happens again you all would be expelled. Come on, boys. Some people have already wasted enough time ’she went out; the two boys following her like devoted servants or maybe, paid servants. One of them turned around and winked at us. I was so furious that I didn’t notice how cute he was.
‘…have already wasted my time’ Sana was mimicking her.
Little fat women sat on my seat. I didn’t do anything and quietly sat beside Sk. But I was thinking. Thinking how to get revenge on the Little Fat Women. After a while she stood up and went outside.
‘That little…’ I began, angrily.
‘Fat…’ Sk offered.
‘Woman’ Sana finished.
‘Yeah! That’s what we’re gonna call her. Little fat woman. Perfect’ I smiled satisfyingly.
The rest of our trip was normal. I mean nothing unusual happened; the young boy who was following me earlier came and tried to sell us some pâtés. We were hungry so we bought some. They were disgusting. Little fat woman came back, sat on the floor (God knows why!) and starting reading a suspense novel called ‘The Seat’. Then we reached our destination, the station, I mean. We got off the train and followed Ms. Orla and five other teachers (including the bald man) to the bus. There were about 30 students. Then we were on our way to Changa Manga, some boys were singing a horrible song in horrible voices. And then we were there, at Changa Manga. We were filthy. I was dying to have a shower but what I saw confirmed my fears, which I’d buried deep in my heart, we were going to have a camp, not expensive and stylish hotels but stupid and cheap tents. With mosquitoes, spiders, bugs, bats, snails, lizards and maybe with lions and bears too! This as not looking so good! Oh well, I have my mosquito repellent, I thought.

Well, will tell you the rest later. Cya!

Holidays; The Little fat Woman

I grinned at my friends, Sana and Sk, who were sitting across me. I couldn’t stop grinning no matter how I hard I’d try. Last night, I slept with a big grin on my face and woke up with a big grin. And I think in my dreams I saw grinning yellow faces too. But no one can question my grinning. Anybody who’d be my place would be grinning like me.

Sana (excited): Is the train really moving, or I’m just imagining it?
Me (looking outside the window): People and roads are moving so that means the train is really moving.
Sana: Awesome!
Sana has developed a habit of saying ‘awesome’ since she’s been watching ‘Cory in the house, I wanted to say ‘awesome’ too, as I really like Newt, but now as Sana had chosen it I’d to take something different and its ‘It’s so wickedly awesome!’ like Hannah Montana says.
Me: ‘Yeah, it’s so wickedly awesome!’ Sana rolled her eyes. I just grinned. I glanced around and saw my family waving frantically trying to catch my eye. I waved them back and stuck my tongue out at my brothers. My mum looked disapprovingly at me smiling at the same time and my dad, hidden behind a newspaper waved too. I waved until I couldn’t see them anymore (not because the train had gone too fastly but because they’d gone). I leaned back and saw Sana and Sk still waving goodbye to their family. So I leaned outside again and waved at random people. A boy of about 5 starting running with the train to shake my hand. His mother shouted at him and looked madly at me. I drew the curtain (which was really dirty) for few minutes and laughed silently. Sana and Sk were looking at me oddly.

Me: What?
Sana & Sk: Nothing!
Me: No, really, tell me?
Sk: You were practically outside the window.
Sana: We thought you were falling.
Sk & Sana: We were going to pull you back.
Me (laughing nervously): Oh, how embarrassing!
I WAS embarrassed. Why do you always make a fool of yourself, Sidrah? I asked myself. Got no answer. We were quite for few minutes. Looking around our compartment, or should I say a box as it was really small. I drew back the curtain and thankfully saw no over-excited child or some angry mom; instead I saw a vast green landscape dotted with trees and cows (or were they horses, or maybe donkeys.) and occasionally, some homes.

Sk (dreamily): ‘Do you think he’d call me?’

Sana & Me (groaning): Sk, not again! Not NOW!

SK (still dreamily, oblivious of our groans): He said he’d, but I’m not sure. If he wouldn’t then I’d call him myself and give him piece of mind.

Sana & I looked at each other, shaking our heads sadly, like we’d just lost some big case. Since Sk has fallen in love with Dan-boy, as she claimed, she talks about him non-stop. If we’re talking about someone, say Zac Efron, she’d cut in and would go and on about Dan-boy. This gets on my nerves.
Sana (ignoring Sk): So what have you brought?
Me: Lots of stuff and my Mosquito Repellent. Or, oh, should I say ‘Coral’s Mosquito repellent’.
Sana (eyes wide open): You brought the repellent? But how? And why on earth have you named it ‘Coral’s’?’

Me: I asked Camper for the formula. He said he’d only agree to give me on one condition that I name it ‘Coral’s’. I agreed. He sent me a formula AND three mosquito repellents! He said he’d been working on it; James has made him a whole laboratory on his birthday.

Sana (shocked): A lab? A whole REAL LAB?

Me (nodding): Yeah! James has gotten lucky. He got, like, millions of dollars from his company. So, Camper said that he loves to invent stuff and he’s giving me the formula for free as I saved his imaginary pals!’

Sana (whistling): Wow!

We were all quiet; Sana and I thinking about Camper, repellents and that kind of stuff. And Sk staring into a space and humming a song. Then there was a loud bang on the door. We all looked at each other, puzzled and confused. Sk thinking that’s she some brave soldier went to open the door and was greeted by the Little Fat Woman. No, she wasn’t fat or little and nor she was a woman, she must about our age. She was quite pretty but had manners like a caveman. She was chewing a gum loudly. She eyed us and her eyes stopped on me. I felt I was a prisoner in the war a now it was my turn to die. But, no, I wasn’t afraid of her. No one can frighten me that easily.

Little Fat Woman: ‘I wanna have that seat’ Weird noises were emitting from her, I wish I were eating a bubble gum too so that I could match those noises

Me (crossing my arms, staring at her coldly): ‘Sorry, you can’t.’

Little Fat Woman: I wanna have that seat.

This time I ignored her. I started to talk with Sk, not caring about the topic. Sana joined us too. All was well until there was a loud agonized howl. We went rigid with shock.

Sk (fearful): Have we killed her?
Little Fat Woman was lying on the floor, her face pale.
Me (irritatingly): Don’t be silly, we haven’t even touched her.’
Sana (off handily): She’s faking it.

I knew she was right. But inside, really deep inside, guilt was creeping inside me, getting bigger and bigger by time. I didn’t kill her, I told myself. But what if she was suffering from a disease in which you just have to sit on the window seat. Or maybe I killed by just looking at her. I mean, I did give her a murderous glance. I’m not a murderer. I’m just a 17 years old girl who became a little bit selfish. Oh God! Please don’t kill her, I promise I’ll be a good girl.

Oops! This post is getting a bit too long! Rest, later!

It's Raining, Man!

After months of scorching heat and sunny days, finally, some rain. I can hear it on my window pane; drip-drop it goes. It sounds lovely. But rain in Karachi? Oh boy! It starts with a drop then another drop this time a little bigger; then it starts drizzling (the real drizzling ...not just some tiny spheres of water). And then suddenly, the light goes out. In this way the City Of Light becomes the City of Darkness. But that’s not all, with time the rain becomes heavier. And suddenly all the water pours down like someone has held the sea upside down. This results in lots of complications. You see people scurrying around everywhere. And people get stuck, lucky ones in their houses and the unlucky ones in their cars (in the middle of the road).
Citizens of Karachi are unfortunately no heroes. Those who’re trapped can’t even help themselves let alone help others. And then there is ‘Keecher’ a.k.a Mud; a mixture of soil and water. Some people and children pretend that this huge mass of muddy water is actually a swimming pool and thus they swim (And get ill and catch colds). For rich people, rain is a fun thing. Eating pakoras, drinking tea while watching the rain fall down, enjoyable. But for poor people it’s horrendous. The wind and rain join forces and SLAM! The huts and roofs go down killing thousands of people.

But when the rain stops, we cry ‘it never rains in Karachi’ or ‘there should have been more, it was no fun’. Weird!
But guys, the rain while having its disadvantages got some advantages too. The government has to extend our vacations because of the bad condition of city and fear of getting caught in the rain, and also the weather turns pleasant making the citizens of Karachi happy and cheerful from the cranky and irritating servants of heat…! Magic!


P.S: My dad took his umbrella to work today. It’s large, black and really heavy. But unfortunately it didn’t rain and it was really sunny in the morning. Surprising as it was raining cats and dogs yesterday! But then again it’s Karachi. Poor dad! Lol ^_^