Losing Echoes [Complete]

12. Window

Flashbacks are in bold*

The weather forecast hadn't announced it but from the north dark clouds gathered above the capital and started whispering about the upcoming drops of God's blessing. The initial days of summer were starting to get suffocating but this pleasant surprise from the nature had filled everyone with joy. The clouds opened up all they had and the tumbling drops of rain fell on the ground which opened its arms to welcome each one of them, to hold them in its grip and let them fill it to the brink.

Duraid house stood tall amidst the stormy rain. The lawn grass was covering with the downpour but the inside had no inkling of the raging outside. But for how long? A window opened scattering the droplets inside. The glass clattered and the curtain flew under the effect of the wind which had a mind a madness of its own. Safina came rushing in the hallway and forced the window pane on its place but they didn't budge. Rain kept rushing inside and the echo of dark clouds kept on booming in the hallway.

Down the stairs, to the left, the dining hall was filled with the clatter of crockery and the smell of food. But the people sitting around were silent. Each morsel was being eaten as if you eat your own words so that no one would know what's on your mind.

Yahya Duraid glanced around his family. They were unusually quiet but he didn't mind. Silence is always preferred. It tells the urge for the resistance has died or isn't even strong enough to raise its head.

"Harram is unwell, Baba Jaan."

Khadija whispered directing this information towards him. His response was a frown.

"Did you go to meet her?"

"I was with her all day. So were Hamail and Sohaira. The doctor has asked to keep her stress free. It's messing with her health."

There should've been remorse, the fleeting regret or even just tiny question mark rising in his heart. He had destroyed a family before it could even turn into a family properly, snatched two people away from each other and announced the full stop to their story together. But Yahya Duraid had long ditched these feelings. Not an ounce of anything of that sort could be found in him.

"Take care of her, Khadija. Yes, her grief is massive but she needs to take care of both herself and her child."

Khadija nodded but she knew it won't happen overnight. Telling Harram to get back to her normal life, her normal self won't be easy.

No one said anything but all of them were attentive towards this conversation, even Mrs. Aneesa. She wouldn't accept it in front of her kids but she had felt the remorse palpitating within her when she got to know about Harram's falling health and that had stopped her from going to see her. She didn't have in her to face Harram after what had happened. But she was covering it well with her indifference. Dominating the lives of everyone in this house all her life, apologies and regrets didn't come easily to Mrs. Aneesa so she was finding it hard to process her own emotions.

The dinner ended and everyone got up to leave. Hamail stood outside of his room not having the heart to open it and get inside. The prospect of spending this night in this house under this roof was not settled well with him.

This house was suffocating him. The air from the outside was coming short. The windows were shut and locked. He had never felt it before but now he was. The outside contact was as much as nothing. And he wanted nothing more than outside air to fill him. He left the doorknob with a start and took a step back. He just wanted to disappear and come back only when he was ready to face what this house and its tall arrogant walls had seen.