(1) THE WALKS WITHOUT YOU

Author: Rizwan Ahmed Memon

It has been days since we went for a walk together. The winter has set in. I still go for a walk in the morning and evening, but the walk is not the same without you. Everything seems so desolate and sad in your absence.

Today, as usual I went for a walk in the morning to the fields and sat under that Neem tree on that levee. As I left home for the walk, I felt my walk was useless and empty without you. While I was walking, people saw that I was alone. They wanted to know why you were not with me, but they probably thought it was a rude question to ask, so they didn’t. My heart could hear their unasked question. When I reached the fields, the dew on the leaves of flowers was not shining in the sunlight as brightly as it did in the past when we were together. The dew was missing you. The flowers have lost color since you left. They asked me, too, why you were not there with me. Wind blew from the north to amuse the flowers, but they refused to nod. They were as dejected as a wet hen. While walking, I stopped at the pond where we once sat together and stared the water lilies. They, too, asked me where you were. The grass around the pond had dried, and there was no movement in the pond as if all the fish and tortoises had left living since you stopped coming to the pond. Then I moved up to the levee and sat under that Neem tree, where we often sat, laughed, and shared our sorrows. When the tree asked me about you, I told it that you have gone far away from me. Hearing that, it got depressed and every leaf on it took a sigh out of grief with the wind. I sat for a while under the tree, but everything around me had no charm without you, so I left and went home.

          I somehow spent the afternoon at home, and again went for a walk in the evening. I decided that I wouldn’t go to the fields, the pond, and the Neem tree because I have no answers to give them when they ask about you, and their sadness only adds to my longing for you. So I decided that I would take the other way and go to the river. I was trying to forget you as you have forgotten me, but despite all my effort I couldn’t. I noticed that it was not just me who missed you but the fields, the dew, the flowers, the pond, the tree, the river, the sand, the sunset, the paths, the birds, the herds, and the twilight misses you, too. When I went to the river and sat on the bank, there were no waves in the river. I remember there were always waves in the river when you were beside me. It was as motionless as a corpse. The river was so calm that its silence was breaking my heart into even more pieces. The sand on its bank longed to feel the touch of your feet. I quickly left the river and boarded the levee. The levee and the path were as desolate as tomb. The time of sunset came, but the sunset was not as mesmerizing as it used to be when your hand was in my hand. The melancholy sun went down. The twilight, which used to last for a bit longer when you were around, passed so quickly that I even didn’t feel it. The birds that used to sing songs when we were on our way home went so silently into their nests that I didn’t hear their voices at all. The herds of cows, buffaloes, and goats missed you, too. They moved to the town so sadly that they didn’t fight with one another. The night fell as dark as dungeon, and it grew cold, so I just went home after one more walk without you.