Killer: A Deathbed Confession

Initial Words

As a child, my brother Rahim would often pose the question, "Naseer, if you had to choose between saving one person and another, who would you choose to save?" It was a familiar question that I would dismiss with a sigh, until one day when Rahim changed it up, asking me to choose between saving my sweetheart or my closest friend.

I thought it was an IQ question, so I took my time to think and finally responded, "I would save both of them because my best friend and the person I love are one and the same." Rahim smirked and questioned my answer. "Are they really?" he asked skeptically.

Realizing my response was not entirely truthful, I admitted, "Not really, but I can imagine them to be."

Rahim then said with a serious look on his face, "I was serious, Naseer".
Okay, I don't have a response for that, I replied coldly, feeling caught off guard and struggling to come up with a convincing answer.

B

ut Rahim continued, "Don't be offended, Naseer; it's just a hypothetical question for now. But what if you find yourself in a similar situation? What will you do then?" He chuckled and added, "You should mentally prepare for such circumstances."

I retorted bluntly, "So, genius, what are you gonna do in such a situation?" I wanted him to realize the ridiculousness of his question, but his response changed my perspective.

"It's not about who I will save, Naseer. It's about who I can save," Rahim replied in a way that felt truly genius. He was right. The question had unknown variables, and without knowing them fully, I couldn't respond. But if I did, I could answer right away.

"You truly are a genius. How else could you have responded so astutely? What are you taking for such sharpness?" I had no idea what to say at the time, so I blurted out whatever came to mind, realizing that Rahim's wisdom was not something that could be easily explained.

Naseer Atta
A.D 2021, Karachi.