A few minutes

The sun was setting on the horizon of Karachi city. Akram was walking on a lonely road that was his way back to home. He was very happy today, not because weather was fine, because he had got his salary, and it was not like his previous salaries, it was more than that, he had got his reward for not being absent the whole year. He got two thousand rupees more for that. In his joy he didn’t notice that streets were unusually empty today, rather the emptiness of the atmosphere couldn’t affect his joy. As he turned around one corner of a street, he put his hand in his pocket and took out five green rupee notes worth thousand rupees each. (In Pakistan its not such a great sum, because Pakistani currency is very devalued. One Dollar is equal to approximately seventy rupees.)

He counted the notes and put them in his pocket again. He remembered when about a month ago he was passing by a gift shop with his son Asghar. Asghar pointed towards a toy and said,” father! Can we buy this?” Akram could just move his head to give a gesture of negation but his son’s words pierced through his heart. They echoed again and again in his mind.
“But now I can buy it Asghar”, he whispered to himself. As He turned around another corner, He could see a shopkeeper closing his shop some feet ahead. He approached the shopkeeper swiftly
“Assalamoalaikum brother! I wanted to buy a toy”.

The shopkeeper gazed at him strangely. “Why on earth do you want to buy a toy at this time, come any time else, can’t you see I am closing my shop”. Said the shopkeeper.

“But I should buy it now, it will take only a few minutes, I have already chosen it”. Akram pleaded.

“Sometimes a few minutes can be fatal for your life, sometimes you have to regret a few wasted minutes”. The shopkeeper said grimly. “Well come on in, and tell me which one you want to buy”.

They entered the shop, Akram pointed towards a toy, “that one, yes that car….”

“Its cost is three hundred rupees, do you have them?” asked the shopkeeper.

“Oh yes, why not, take this” said Akram passing him over one of the five notes.

“Hmm, you got your pay today”. Shopkeeper said while examining the note as if it were counterfeit.

“Yes today was our pay day at the factory”. Akram told him gladly.

“Ok then take this toy and here is your remainder,” said the shopkeeper handing him over seven hundred rupees.

                              Akram took the toy and money and went out of the shop, he looked behind to see the shopkeeper hurriedly closing his shop and pacing up the other street. “Why is he in such a hurry?” thought Akram, “may be he has some task at his home”, and then he noticed that even now no one was in the streets except him and the shopkeeper who turned around a corner and vanished from the scene. He felt that something horrible and grim was going to happen, but when he looked towards the toy he had bought, colors came to his face again. The same words of his son rang in his mind, “ father! Can we buy this?”

“ I have bought it my boy”, he said in a triumph. He was thinking of the happiness that will encase his child after seeing his gift, when he turned around a corner. Ahead was a road that he had to cross. Usually there used to be enough traffic to make Akram wait for a while before crossing the road, but today it was totally deserted. No human being was in his sight. He started crossing the road.

                            As soon as he reached the other side, he heard a shot from behind, he looked behind and saw some men with guns in their hands, he turned his gaze to the other side, and saw another group of men carrying guns and then he realized that he was caught between a gang war of two political groups. Both groups took positions and started firing at each other. Akram could find no cover. He was standing in the middle of the road, while the two groups were exchanging fire from both sides of the road. Akram felt many bullets touching his hair and clothes and passing but his brain had refused to work. At last he gathered some courage and dashed towards one side. As he did so he felt mind-blowing pain in his back. He felt as if some hot metal has pierced into the flesh of his back and true it was, a bullet fired from one of the Kalashancoves had hit him, he fell on the road and then another bullet thrust into his stomach. The intensive pain made his senses dead, and as his soul flew away, he saw his son’s face,” father! Can we buy this?”