Faridoon Burki
Wake up!
Wake up!
Rehan!
Rehaaaan……..Wake up!
Rehan was in deep sleep. The sound was consistently coming from outside of the door. Now, knocking at the door started. However, the sound was not so loud, but it still woke him up.
Rehan opened his eyes, difficulty. He went to the door, stumblingly and angrily opened it.
On the door was his cousin Kashif, who mostly irritated him anyhow.
“What’s wrong with you Kashif? Why are you knocking at my door? Is everything all right? Are you sleep? Rehan was confronted with the barrage of questions.
“Okay! Okay! Calm-down! All is well, but there is something important you should know. That’s why I woke you up, dead man!
Kashif explained.
“Deadman? What do you mean by a dead man? Are you mad? Aren’t you? I’m alive with sense and faculties.” Kashif had infuriated Rehan by calling him ‘dead man’ which often frequent.
“Sorry! But I was knocking at the door for twenty minutes and you were sleeping like a log. Now, listen! Wear your shoes and come with me. There is something to find out.” Kashif commanded him to come along with him.
It was quarter past mid night. It was pitch dark. The entire village was sleeping. Far, far, away the dog’s barking make the night more fearsome. Unwillingly Rehan followed him.
They left home in pin-drop silence and started walking toward the north to the Raka Mountain. ‘Raka’ was the only mountain in their village and was notorious of jinn’s houses. Many stories were attributed to Raka.
Rehan’s eyes were swollen due to lack of sleep. He felt that, he is having a nightmare. He started prayers and try to wake up, fully.
Kashif starts talking to him to dissipate his fear. Later, he realized that he was not dreaming and that was happening with him in actual reality.
“Where are we going?” asked Rehan, after realizing that he was not in dream.
“Look! There is flickering at the peak of Raka.” Kashif pointed and said “We are going there to find the secret of this flickering.”
“What? To Raka? at this time? You know there are jinn. And what if someone did not find us in our beds? They will be anxious and will go in search of us, immediately.” Rehan show his concerns all at once.
“Keep following me, silently. You are so inquisitive!” Kashif simply replied.