Let Me Bloom! By Zeneefa Zaneer (All rights reseved@Allah’s presence) Part I I didn’t have enough strength to open my eyes and look around. Where am I? Have I been lost? I couldn’t understand anything. Even though I desperately wanted to know I wasn’t able to do so. One by one doubts began to fill my heart but I had to pause for a moment because I sensed someone around me. I have no words to express my happiness because the seconds I spent was filled with loneliness and was a real mystery. It was the very first person I met in this mysterious world. “Hey! Who are you?” I asked promptly because I was so excited with joy. The loneliness I was drowning in vanished within a second. “M… I… er…” He stammered with confusion. No wonder, I thought. “How long have you been here?” Instead of answering my question he directed me with another question. “Few seconds ago…I’m not sure” I muttered wisely. “Do you know what’s happening? Where are we?” I heard the very same questions bothering me through his voice. I thought to find the answers to the confusing questions troubled both of us. Actually where are we? I couldn’t even guess. “Er… I’m sorry, I don’t know mate” I said honestly. The capacity of our brain couldn’t figure out what was exactly happening around us. Patiently waiting was the only option we had. So we waited. But passing days couldn’t help us to find who we are. Not at least to know a little amount of ourselves. Everything looked tangled. Where are we? Why are we here? How are we going to survive? What is around us? Day by day a new question was added to our unsolved mountain of questions. “Have we been kidnapped?” My one and only friend asked. “Where were we before then? I replied with another question. “Why are we here? Why don’t we have many of us? My endless and vague questions can be directed only at him. “M… I don’t know…find it for me please” He said clumsily. He didn’t have the curiosity which I had to explore everything around us. He preferred a good sleep than to explore around. He at times laughed at my investigating mind. I didn’t give up my hopes. I was scared to become angry with the only person I had around me in this lonely world. Except for the noise we heard regularly ‘lub-dub, lub-dub’ we heard nothing. The only fact I understood was that we are in a complicated mechanical environment. Looking around, exploring what sort of a world we lived was my intention. Everything around us looked dark and reddish. As a result of being in darkness my eyes were covered with a thin net or a tissue. I didn’t have a clear vision to succeed in my mission. So instead of using my eyes and tiring myself I learned to sharpen my sense of hearing. Few days later I realized we were confined in a cabin filled with water. My naughty little friend loved floating around making noises and enjoying himself. Once in a while I too joined him. But the purpose behind my joining was to find out about my small world. What sort of living beings are we? May be this is the beginning of the world. My mind whispered wisely. This is the beginning of life, the very first stage of the expanding world. We are the first persons to be rewarded with life. But who gave us life? Another complex question slithered into my brain. I pushed away the thought for a while and tried to be happy after the recognition of our life. Just one question has been answered, I thought. Hearing my discovery my friend looked surprised and then he was happy. He turned, rolled and floated here and there with joy. He wanted me to join too. We celebrated our joy like that. If so, we are the ones who will rule this world? But is it enough, only two of us? Another question! But what if more like us, crowded in this small world? None will be able to survive, my mind worried. Endless doubts…piling one by one onto my unsolved problems…I sighed. ************************* Gradually days passed. We were tired of the same routine of this life. When we were hungry we were provided with meals. My friend was free from all the troubles. He wanted to enjoy his life and didn’t want to bother himself searching for the truth like me. I didn’t want to be like him. I wanted to find solutions to the problems. Day by day our world was shrinking. Or was it us, growing? I don’t know. What if this world wasn’t enough for both of us? Where are we going to live? Is there another world? That was my other target, to search for another world. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t solve my problems. Everything rotated like a cycle. My growing thirst to search for the truth entangled me with perplexing questions. “Stop thinking and enjoy life like me friend!” My friend at times advised. But the hidden need to know the truth couldn’t be pushed away or forgotten that easily. “Dab…chuck…Buck…chuck dock” That was the noise we heard every time before we were fed. Following the noise our world began to quake. “Now I’m fed up of this” He said. I too agreed. “Shall we strike?” He asked wickedly. He’s the only friend I’ve got. I didn’t want to oppose him. So I joined him. Behind my approving there was always a hidden purpose. What is beyond this? I was sure some strange things were happening out the world. May be there’s another world. Who gave us life? Why? Who controls our world? We don’t get our meals naturally. Behind this world there’s someone who controls us. Infinite questions were always answered with suggestions. But I wanted to know accurately. I wanted to make sure there’s another world out there. We refused what was provided for us and as a result our small world jerked along with a loud clatter. First we were frightened to death thinking our world would shatter and break into pieces. But nothing that sort happened. The shocking expressions were gradually changed in to laughter and we laughed. It was adventurous and fun. But beside the enjoyment I realized a truth about our lives. How did we experience such a reaction if everything was formed and everything we benefited was supplied naturally? So we have a power to control our world. But it was just granted by someone. Someone has given lives to us. Why should they give us life? There must be a real purpose and it looked complicated. I couldn’t come to a conclusion. The truth I understood was although this world is given to us by someone it really belongs to them. We are not the real owners of it. We can live as we wish but there’s someone who bears us. Our lives depend on this person. “Let’s do it again” That was him. It is needless to explain. We now have been used even to the smell of our food. So every time when we felt that’s our time for meals, we refused and rejected. Every time when we refused we experienced that adventurous feeling. It made us feel big and great. to be continued.....