I met him in the school when I was 9. It was the first day in the 5th grade. I was sitting on the bench alone. A boy with short spiky brown hair & a fair complexion sat with me. We didn't know each other infact I saw him for the first time.
"Hello" he said. I said "Hello". We shook our hands. "My name is Aneeb" he said introducing himself. "I am Ahsan. Nice to meet you" I said in a pleasant tone.
We ate the lunch together that day. Gradually, our friendship continued to grow better & better. He lived in my neighborhood. Everything seemed right when we were together. We helped each other with study & other co and extracurricular stuff.
We used to play cricket together and always on the same team. He was a very good player. If I remember right, he scored an amazing 72 off 23 balls and on the very next day got 6 wickets in a local tournament. In short, we were living the best days of our lives, together.
In the Matriculation, he chose Accounting and I chose Medical. Our destinations seemed to be different but we were still in the same college in the Intermediate.
Professional life started. He got admission in a Professional Institute for Accounting while I got admission in a Medical College. Our ways parted or atleast some people thought so.
11 years had passed..
We grew into men. One day, during my first year of MBBS, we were sitting together. Met each other after a long time. I felt something unusual. He seemed to be confused, silly & tired. He had forgotten many of our memories from the past. Then he asked a very unusual question.
He: "Do you know about Prion's Disease? What happens in it?'
I was just a first year MBBS student. Didn't knew much about it but our teacher told us once that it's one of the diseases with 100% mortality rate. I was shocked on listening it.
Me: "What?? Why are you asking?"
He: "Just for the sake of Information you know."
Me: "They don't survive." (I said laughing).
There was a pained look on his face that I noticed but didn't give much attention.
We talked about our future and all but he seemed to be lost in thoughts.
10 days passed by..
It was Saturday and both of us were free from colleges during vacations. We had to play a Cricket match. I texted him. "Hey get there in 30 minutes". 10 minutes passed by. No reply. I texted again before leaving for the ground. "Get there asap, everyone's waiting". 20 minutes, 30 minutes passed. No response. I was a bit worried. I called him. It rang for some time and no response at it again. It was happening for the first time in all these years that he did not respond to a call or the text from me.
I was frightened. Took a mate with me and went to his house. It wasn't locked. We headed to the hall. No one was there. We headed to the kitchen. No one was there. His parents used to live abroad. We then headed to his bedroom. He was lying there.
"You fat bear, there you are." I said. I thought he was sleeping. I jerked him. He was totally unresponsive. His body was pale & cold and limbs were rigid. I was in shock. Checked his carotid pulse, and it was still. He was gone.....
He was holding the mobile in his right hand. There was a half typed text:
"We'll meet ag".
He tried to text me while he was breathing his last, he tried to tell me about his disease but it was too late.
I was holding his still body and crying. My tears were pouring over his cheeks and I don't remember what happened after that.
An year has passed today and I'm holding our photo together. Remembering him. Looking in his eyes. I say these words:
"Wherever you are my friend, be happy! We'll meet again!"
