Echoes of a Sleepless Night

The whole day, due to mental and physical exhaustion, I couldn't make sense of anything. All l wanted was to lie on my bed, to feel a cool breeze and to rest peacefully. As the night fell, I collapsed onto my bed like a log. After a long time, I saw a message from Ayesha on WhatsApp around 10 p.m., and my heart fluttered. We kept chatting, and without realizing it, the night had turned to 4 a.m. She got annoyed at my late reply and broke up, blocking me. Maybe she just needed an excuse to end things, or perhaps she wanted to cut ties for good. I cried myself to sleep eventually.Without even noticing, I slept until 9 a.m., when my mother woke me up. "Get up, Elias, you lazy one. It's 9 a.m., and you have an exam, and you're still asleep!" Due to incomplete sleep, it felt as if my body was chained to the bed by iron chains. I got up, washed my face, took two quick sips of tea, ran my fingers through my hair in a hurry, and got on my motorcycle, heading alone from the village to the city. Along the way, and feeling drowsy, Ayesha kept coming to my mind. I yawned several times while riding, and with one of those yawns, she appeared in front of me. Her soft, wool-like hands gently covered my mouth. I kept looking into her eyes, wanting to ask, "Why...?" but she placed her finger on my lips and then started fixing my hair again. The honking sound from an approaching soapbox-like Cultus car snapped me out of my reverie. The car's horn broke my sleepy trance completely. I hit the brakes hard, stopping my motorcycle, with its tires skidding to a halt beside the car. I tried to restart, but my bike stalled, and a Scrawny young man stepped out from the car, grabbing my collar in an angry tone:"You son of a dog, are you blind? Can't you see where you're driving?" His behavior was persistent; perhaps he was in a similar state of intoxication as I was, except mine was from sleep and his from some substance. I freed his grip from my collar quietly and continued on my way. After going a little further, my bike's rear tire got punctured, and since I didn't have the time, I didn't get it repaired. Moving along, I finally reached the school. Seeing the crowd of parked vehicles and rickshaws outside the exam hall made me feel suffocated. I parked my punctured bike and entered the classroom, which looked as small as that soapbox-like Cultus car. There were about 50 students inside, three students on a bench. and two ceiling fans, which were not even running. The invigilator handed out answer sheets and question papers and remarked with some annoyance: " You idiot, take a look at time, it's 10 and the paper started at 9." I quietly took my seat and began my paper. Here are the questions: Question 1: Describe the layers of human skin and their functions. Question 2: Explain the process of transpiration in plants. Question 3: What is the function of the cerebellum in the brain? Question 4: Why do humans evolve? The room was unbearably hot, and the questions were tough. Seeing the questions, I forgot all about biology and began to think about life. I started looking for an imaginative answer in my mind, and this one kept coming back to me: "We are like stones trapped in the wheel of life, like the stones we used to put inside tires in our childhood and roll around. The wheel kept turning, and so does our life. Life is the wheel, and we are the stones within it, moving forward through life. At every new round, we encounter joy, sorrow, sadness, success, failure, and many other experiences. example, in the first turn, there's happiness, and we enjoy it, living our lives with joy, everything is temporary. Then, at the next turn, sorrow comes, and we are deeply affected. We remove those things from our life, learn lessons from our mistakes, and change ourselves." Then, I thought maybe Ayesha had realized that I, too, was a lesson for her. That might be why her attitude toward me changed, or perhaps she simply grew tired of me. While doing the paper, I didn't notice the time, and it was already 12, with a break in between. After finishing the MCQs, everyone went side to grab Something to eat and drink. I was still While doing the paper, After the MCQs, I wanted to go out to get Something to eat, but the bell rang, and everyone returned to class to start the physics paper. I began working on the physics paper, but hunger was gnawing at me, and my back was aching from sitting, causing pain in my stomach. By 2 p.m., we finally finished the paper. As I stepped out of the exam hall, Sir Rehan called me and asked: "Elias, is your paper done?" I nodded and softly replied, "Yes."All right, then come quickly to the tuition center. The boys have already started the mega test." "Yes, sir" I replied and hung up. I had completely forgotten about the mega test, and I hadn't prepared for it at all. As I got on my bike, my stomach growled loudly with hunger. I thought l'd grab something to eat along the way, but both hunger and lack of sleep had left me feeling weak. I was barely in a condition to drive. The bike slipped out of my hands and collided with another vehicle. I ended up under my bike, and it almost ran over me. Seeing me fallen, several kind and helpful people from the city rushed over. They lifted bike and helped me stand on my feet. My legs were scraped up quite a bit, and the front fender of my bike was bent. Thankfully, the other motorcyclist's vehicle wasn't badly damaged. He seemed like a nice person, not like that guy in the Cultus. He looked gentle and asked me, "Brother, are you okay?" Someone from the crowd looked at my red eyes and remarked, " I think this boy is high." The kind motorcyclist gently said, "It's fine, just go on your way." With my battered and noisy, punctured bike, I made my way to the snack stall. "Brother, give me 50 rupees worth of pakoras, mixed." I reached into my pocket for money, but I couldn't find my wallet. I checked thoroughly, but only my mobile was there. I wondered if one of those "helpful" people from the crowd had taken it. I told the pakora vendor, "Never mind, just leave it, brother" and headed to the tuition center. I entered the class, my eyes fell on Ayesha. She looked at me with a frown and then resumed her test. I collected the paper from Sir Rehan.Seeing the blood dripping from the Scrapes on my leg, Sir said, "Hey, what happened to you?" As I sat down on the chair, I looked over at Ayesha and replied, "Nothing, Sir, I just fell off the bike." I kept looking at Ayesha, but she pretended not to hear, as if she didn't care or as if she didn't even know me. " But there's a lot of blood" Sir said, with a strange expression. He took me to his office, gave some money to one of the boys, and asked him to get a bandage and ointment. After sitting there for a while, everything went dark before my eyes, and I collapsed onto the sofa. I remained unconscious for quite some time. Everyone stopped their test and stood over me, watching. Before I fully regained consciousness, I found myself saying, "Water, water, water." Sir Aftab came over with a glass of water and helped me sit up. Sir Rehan asked Salman to take me home. I left with Salman. As we reached the alley leading to my house, there was a crowd like in the classroom. When I got to the door, I heard crying and saw people looking at me with strangpressions. Salman left after dropping me off. As I entered the house, I saw a gathering of people surrounding a cot in the courtyard, my heart sank. My heartbeat was racing. My aunt ran up to me, clung to my chest, and started crying, calling my mother's name: "Nuri, why did you leave us in desolation? Oh, my beloved sister!" I freed myself from my aunt's grasp and approached the cot. I pulled back the sheet over the body and saw the face of one of the most precious person in the World, darkened death. I screamed. Tears flowed beyond my control as I knelt beside my mother's Cot. I turned to my aunt, asking, "How did all this happen?" Wiping her tears, my aunt replied, "Today was your mother's last hearing in court, in Kamran's case. Today, the judge ruled that you are not Kamran's biological son and that your mother falsely accused him for money. Your mother's claim was proven false. She couldn't bear the people's insults, calling her names and labeling you illegitimate. As soon as she returned home, she went to her room and hanged herself with a Scarf." My aunt began to cry again. I couldn't understand how this could be possible. My mother always told me that my father was in Iran, so how could this be happening? My pain reached its peak, my chest felt heavy, and I struggled to breathe. I tried to regain control, but I was gasping with increasing intensity. Just then, my uncle came and said, "We've dug the grave; give her the final bath quickly so we can lay her to rest." But little did he know that today, not one but 2 graves were to dig. I leaned over my mother's cot, feeling lifeless, when my sister came and tried to wake me, saying, "Elias, get up, get up!" But she didn't know.. My sister gently patted my cheek, trying to rouse me. She gave me a few soft taps, but this time, she shook me firmly, breaking the 4 a.m. sleep that had dragged me on until 9 a.m.