A Bright Future – Part 5
Years have passed, and he still retains those memories in the back of his head as if those events took place just yesterday. He still remembers the pandemic and how things were made real tough for his family and education even after all the aid and ease he was given.
Yet there he was with his resolve and hard steel determination to do as much as he can to support his family. He remembers working day and night on the local fuel station just to earn a tiny bit of money and get his old folks fed daily.
The pandemic had crushed each and everything he had seen his father working so hard for these past few years, and it was then that he realized that it was not age that affected his old man. It was love for his stall and all the children at the school that kept his old fragile body remain young for so many years, and here he was, cursing the current scenario and wishing those days were back.
And here he is today, sitting at one of the finest job designations that anyone can ever dream about, with luxuries and social status all at his beck and call. Yet, he still keeps himself reminded of how it all started and how he had seen every dark truth of having a low social background in a dark society
Now and again, he remembers that the man who supported his studies to the very end, his kind-hearted eyes as they looked upon him. He never had trust in miracles and fairytales, but as silly as it may sound, he always considered him his genie, a godfather, and these days he remembers so much. Whenever he receives profits or any stack of green bundles, he always prays for him and his parents in his heart.
Maybe it is because deep down, he knows how much his mother tried her best to save extra expenditures and get him the best clothing. How much his father used to work on that cart, just to get him a good life. He remembers how difficult it had become for their little family to survive in the pandemic. He remembers it very clearly when the storm would hit their house how his father got worried about getting the repairs done. The memories are vivid as if they only happened a second ago. He knew that there would be someday when all this suffering would end, and he would never forget from which part of the society he truly belongs and how much people have suffered to see him here at this point.
He and his father always used to talk about how things will unfold and how there would be a time when he can finally own the greatest luxuries he always has seen while selling items on his cart. He always had a tear in his eyes whenever they used to talk about it, saying that he has never imagined such things because it looked naturally impossible to him at that moment. And yet here he is, feeling no wiser than when he used to sit with him, discussing with his father how he planned to do things in his life, but circumstances were not allowing him to do it. This memory always brings back a smile to his face as his father used to smile and say, “You don’t have to worry about a thing, son. The chap in the skies knows what He is doing, and He’ll get you on track.”
And here he is with a bright future and someone to look at with a smile of happiness and profound joy to express all the warm feelings that had accumulated inside him with time. His son, to whom he looks upon the same way his father used to look at him with dreams and wishes in his eyes. As of the moment, he understands how his father used to feel, seeing him crawling and running. He feels utmost luck to share the same heavenly moment as his father had. His throbbing heartbeat and that excitation level whenever those little hands hold his finger. Among the million differences between his life and his
Graphics: Areeba Ali
