bloW frOm volCan0

A Story by Muhammad Qasim

you are in for a suprise.

I was sleeping on the terace on a charpai as I felt vibrations from which I woke up as with a terrifying loud sound the earth shook. The charpai screeched on the floor towards this new sided gravity which, with a bump nearly dropped me off the roof only to see the catastrophic scenery of zigzag craters all along the road which were visible from the roof, as the charpai bumped into the small side wall and stopped. Another shock left me hanging down the wall. Instinctively I moved my hand to grab the rail on the opposite wall. I pulled myself up from the rail to find out the front of my house now rested in the crater just created. The roof top I stood on than seemed tilted downwards. Looking around I found all the other houses in the street in even more destroyed condition.
As I saw death so closely, I thanked god that my family was not home and the reason I slept on the roof was just that no one was there to stop me. I then started looking for a safe way down. Looking around I examined the condition of the path keenly. He found himself a wall now resting on uneven bricks which seemed to be stable enough to get me down on firm ground. I carefully examined every step I took, calmly choosing my path. "Aaaaah" I shouted as I saw a body with a shard of cement in it while completely covered with blood, I rushed the other side to find another. I dashed downwards now without seeing my steps to finally trip over a piece of metal ,he slipped and hit his back on the edgy bricks "Aaaaaah" I shouted again with a shiver of pain running through my body. I bended my elbow all the way back to touch my hand on the place that pained the most, I touched a liquid and brought my hand in front of me to witness my blood, with a gust, sheer pain passed my body.
I saw all around, I was now on leveled ground .I moved in the centre of the road jumped from above a few small craters, went from the side of one huge one and kept on going, there was no sign of life as I desperately looked for food and water. I kept on going till I reached a road that had canal passing through the center, I rushed forward and witnessed breathless as a huge crater in the center of the canal drank all the water swishing in a circle. I sighed angrily and moved on slowly and slowly with a bleeding back that was by now healing itself. I moved and moved and moved. I thought what to do to remember I had my cell in my pocket. I ended up searching my pocket just to find nothing but a huge hole in it.
I continued walking until I heard a voice. It was a sharp one that on listening closely could kill you as it was very high-pitched. I placed my hands on my ears to stop the voice from reaching my ears as I headed towards its origin to investigate. From the crater I had just passed I heard a fading call for help. I turned back and went towards the carter to see a person inside his car which now hung still stuck between the narrow walls of the carter not far from its opening. The tunnel went deep down to the depth of darkness. I bent myself upside down into the hole firmly resting most of my weight on the ground maintaining a balance .I asked the unfortunate man to grab my hand. The man then shifted himself a little towards the edge of the screen lying facing towards me resting his back on the door and he grabbed my hand as he pushed himself out the window .The car rubbed against the walls as the bumpers were pressed inside, it lost the firm grip of the uneven walls due to the pressure he exerted to jump and grab my hand.
He was hanging and I didn’t have enough strength to pull him up. The gravitational attraction due to his weight was pulling both of us inside the hall, making me unable to maintain my balance. The wise man completely aware of my struggle loosened his grip as he said,”my name is Imran, remember me!” as he had just left my hand that I saw an unknown hand reach the man’s nervous sweaty palms and pulled him up .He performed the herculean task so easily as if he weighed nothing more than a piece of paper.
I stared at the survivor and the strangely dressed savior in disbelief as I saw a rescue helicopter appeared in my sight. I glared at Imran as tears of joy ran down our cheeks as imran shouted,”we are finally rescued “. The brave army men took us to the rescue camps where hundreds of victims shared their griefs and sorrows for the ones they had lost. Stranger became friends and enemies became comrades!
As that day the men carried the lucky survivor to the ward he held my hand and said,”I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you! Thank you I owe you my life .May God bless you! “As the chaos came to an end I was reunited with my family. Fortunately only five people in the entire region had fatal injuries.
Though I survived that day a part of me still wonders if I could have been one of the unfortunate souls but there was a reason I and all others who survived that day were blessed with a second chance to rethink our lives .Our lives never would go back to the way they used to be but facing my death had not only made me a stronger person but as well as realized the importance of this life and the people I love. I now am a responsible person who has his aims in front of him.

© 2012 Muhammad Qasim

Author's Note

to teLL the truth.....kiNda dumb...still..do criticize.

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Reviews

The dark story

I love the message you have put in this and the ending was really nice. I like how you have described things and a commotive dark environment and that "rescuing" part was really touching. Though there was one rthing you probably didn't notice. You had entered the second person narration in two lines whixh had thrown me off the track a bit.
Anyway, nice job!

Posted 11 Years Ago

Moniba

Well-written. There's a little confusion between he and I, just correct that. In the second para. And maybe enhance the ending a bit, and then this will be good enough to publish in some good magazine... And change the title, I think.