It was the gloomiest day for Nasir, the news had hit him like a thunderstorm. He was nervous and shivering like a hiker who had had been left deserted on the Himalayan foothills and was waiting for the mighty winds to show some mercy. In the meanwhile, the doorbell rang, to him it sounded like bugle of an army marching towards battlefield.

He mustered up his dying courage and dragged his shaking body towards the door, but his legs refused to support him; the bell rang again. He stood up and before the fear made him succumbed to the situation. He slid the door wide open; he wanted some support.

As he had expected, his support was standing right in front of him, personified as his friend Rehan. Without any further delay, Rehan, who also seemed nervous, barged into his house. Nasir quickly asked whether he had also heard the news or not? Rehan showed complete innocence, but he surely wanted to know each and every detail about Nasir, who was trying his best to run away from the reality.

The truth could no longer be ignored. Neither Nasir nor Rehan could hide themselves in the darkest caves of unknown places. Once again, Rehan held him tightly as he asked him not to let out the truth if he did not want to be engulfed by the monster of hidden mysteries.

At last, with shivering hands he pointed towards his tablet lying on the bed as an abandoned property. Rehan clicked it and Nasir’s Twitter account flickered a tweet from the Education Minister that read, “No student will be promoted without exams and all students will return to school from Monday onwards.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 28th, 2021