Black day 14- 16/12/2014

 

Black day

After years of depression after losing his son to the black day and his wife to grief, a man decides to end his life but wakes up on the day he lost everything.

Summary

A terrorist school attack led to the loss of Ali’s life, an innocent son of a hard working engineer. HIs father remembered forcefully sending him to school when he wanted to sleep in during cold December mornings, followed by flashbacks of terrorists, the blood and sight of burying his son.  After the loss of the beloved son, the mother passes away due to grief and the father struggles to find reasons to continue living. He writes up a farewell note and leaves a timed text for his friend to find him after he’s gone.

 

 In his letter he writes “All my life I’ve been a good man. I never cheated, I never drank, I never took advantage of anyone, I was happy with what little I had and I never took it for granted, but it was all taken from me. I didn’t deserve it, my family didn’t deserve it and now I have nothing. I am broken, I’m incapable of moving on and trying again. I’m tired and I want to rest. I hope that, despite my act, I hope my maker will show me the mercy of being with my child…once more.

He goes through the noose and everything goes black as he closes his eyes. He feels cold but suddenly warm as a white light engulfs his vision. He wakes up to an alarm of an old Nokia he had. He woke up to see that he was back with his wife in their bed and it was the same day as the day of the tragedy.

His wife got up to wake the son but the son nagged as it was cold and he didn’t want to go to school. HIs mother reminded him that he has exams soon and he needs to catch up but the father stepped in and stopped her and told her it’s fine. The wife looked at the husband’s face to see that it was tearing down. The wife felt worried and agreed with the husband. The wife asked what happened and he said ” I just said I had a bad dream and I want you all to be with me today, that is all I ask”.

The man goes back to bed, it’s 6:15, he knows the attack will happen at 12. He processes the responsibility he is given, he knows innocent lives will be taken if he doesn’t act and he also knows that people will hardly believe or listen to him but if he does nothing, he will be just as guilty as the terrorists and just one life lost could destroy a family, something he understands more than anyone.

He gets into his car and drives off to the Core commander's house as it is placed near the school. As he gets out of his car, the guard points a gun at him and he tells him he isn’t expected and they have orders to shoot him on site. He hands up and pleads for the guard to let him talk to him so he can warn him about the attack. The guards refuse to listen and shoot near his standing as a warning. He jumps back but becomes firm.

After being threatened and not listening, he is beaten by the guards. The core commander looks out the window and agrees to listen to the wounded man from his window. They pass him a walkie talkie.The guard tells him how to use it but keeps a gun pointed at him.

With a bleeding mouth, he tells him that a group of terrorists are waiting at the back of the school and the canteen person is aiding them with the layout and planning and they are going to attack at 11:30 (he gives a 30 min earlier time). The commander asks why he should believe them and where did he get the information. He tells them “Ali Arshad, 8th F class, 5th position, my son goes to that school, he nags about school and the studies but he loves the people there, the students, the teachers but I love him. Please ask someone to check the school’s back. I have been beaten, I came unarmed and I gain nothing from waking you up this early.

“And what if nothing turns up?” asked the commander. “ you have already beaten me up, you can arrest me or execute me, I don’t care, I will willingly get up the noose”. Seeing the man in the broken state and unshaking from his resolve, the commander looks away and orders that 2 men scout the area and report. The guards leave the man, take the walkie talkie and go survey.

The man lets out a sigh of relief, he is in pain but he knows that nothing will hurt as much as it did that day.

Guards report that some men, looking like vagabonds are sitting at the back near a fire. The commander orders more men to investigate and use lethal force if necessary. He looks out the window and the man isn’t moving. He is rushed to the hospital and is only conscious enough to see the news that the terrorists are stopped and the man is given no credit but he can’t stop smiling and crying. He is finally at the peace he wanted so bad and this is where his internal bleeding causes him to pass away.

THE END