Rabbit & Mouse (Deb & Ayeza)

Now she knows

Aliya was seated in front of the poet, her eyes were merely moist and her hands slightly shaking still caressing her own arms. The poet was silently listening to her uneven breathing.

"Kya hua hai Aliya?" She called her by her real name which made her close her eyes. "Kuch nahi hua mai thek hu mujhe kya hoga" Aliya mumbled quietly barely enabling for the poet to catch it. "Agar rona hai to ro sakti ho shayad behtar lage ga tumhe" After saying this the poet's gaze caught a little bump on her forehead. She poked it slightly due to her action the bear groaned grumpily.

"Pagal hogayi ho kya tum, dikh bhi raha hai ke pehle ka anda nikal gaya hai uppar se tum pareshan karne wale kaam kar rahi ho" Aliya said it while removing the poet's finger from her forehead bump.

"Maine thodi na kiya hai tumhari hi laparwahi ki wajah se hua hoga lazmi" Hearing her words Aliya remembered the actual cause behind the injury.

As she started to smile, Ayeza understood her problem immediately."Kya soch rahi ho khush insaan?" She asked trying to get her current thoughts.

"Kabutar se bag khinchte hue lag gayi thi, har jagah udd kar pohanch jaata hai" Ayeza nodded her head after listening to her 'reason behind the smile'

"Lagta hai kaafi gehri chot lagi hai tumhe sar par warna apne kabutar ko yaad kar ke itna muskura rahi na hoti"
Ayeza said trying to make her realize something unexpected. Aliya nodded first then shook her head hardly as she landed a slap on the poet's shoulder.

"Apne fizul ke kahayalaton par break lagao!" Aliya said sternly, the other one started to laugh pleasantly then answered her "Maine kuch nahi socha hai bhalu, jo bhi soch rahi ho tum khud hi soch rahi ho" In a second she was holding up the pillow while dodging the confused bear's attack.

"Arre.. baat to sun lo meri pareshan insaan!" Ayeza said still trying to convince her then threw the pillow aside. "Acha theek hai jaane dete hai baaki sab baaton ko.. ok?" The poet held out her hand to grab her mobile which was in Aliya's hands, she tried to grab it but the bear held it tightly aiming it towards Ayeza's head.

"Ek baar dhaka dene ke liye maaf kar diya hai, agar ye mobile mere sar par laga na to acha nahi hoga tumhare liye laparwah insaan" She calmed down a bit after hearing a slight serious warning then threw the phone in the poet's lap.

"Acha theek hai batao kya hua hai tumhe? Or agar inkar hi karna hai sachai se to mujhe bata do, mere pait ma abhi bhi jagah hai mai thoda or khana kha ke asakti hu tumse behas karne se to behtar hai na wo, to kaho kya hua hai?" Ayeza asked her, to send the bear's thoughts on the edge.

"Mujhe.. ghusa aaraha hai kabutar ke upar"

"Kis liye?"

"Wo.." Aliya keeps stammering while shaking her knees.

"Wo kya pareshan bhalu?"

"Uske chahne wale hai na jo, uski wajah se" She said reminiscing about the car encounter.

"Dekho mai bhale hi ghalib hu lekin tumhare ye alfazo ki paheli mujhse nahi suljhe gi" The poet said resting her back on the headboard.

"Jo bhi hai tumhe wajah jaan kar kya karna hai? Khud bhi to uljhi hui ho na"
Her words leave the poet in shock for a while then she shrugged it off with a little smile.

"Tumhe Ishq ho gaya hai kya Aliya?"
She asked her to which the bear got completely silent.

"Nahi.." Replied back hesitantly.

"Bina atke jawab do mujhe" Ayeza stated calmly with an amusing smile still playing on her lips.

"Agar mai sach keh bhi du to koi farq nahi padhega"

"Ye tumhare khayalat hai, sirf soch lene ki bina par tum khud ko takleef kyu dena chahti ho?"

"Farq hai.. ham dono ma"

"Samjhao mujhe kaisa farq hai, mai agar tumhari baat se raazi ho gayi to tum inkar kar dena apne dil se"

"Mai.. sirf dosti ka irada tha us se, jo shuru hi ladai se hui" She was smiling again while talking about him. "Socha tha wese bhi to kuch waqt ke liye hi aye hai yaha par to kyu na kuch ache dost bana lu.. lekin.." After stammering for a while she said it clearly "Dost hi na ban saka wo or pata nahi kya kuch ban gaya mere liye.. agar ye shurwat bhi hai na is anjaan rishte ki to kaafi khubsurat or khaufnak tareeke ki shurwat hai" By ending her words tears were rolling down from her eyes. Ayeza asked her to stop crying while passing the tissue box to her but she was not stopping.

After half an hour later and finishing almost all of the tissues, the poet looked at the bear's lap which was full of tissues.

"Ye kon saaf karega? Tumhara kabutar?" As she said it Aliya's face turned light pink then she zoned out and Ayeza hurriedly took a picture of her.

"Bohat shok hai na tumhe dusro ki tasveer lene ka ab tumhari baari hai" She poked her forehead again then got up slowly while Aliya was still zoned out.

A loud bang was heard from outside as both of them worriedly glanced at each other.