Sara and Saham

It was a usual evening when I sat with my prayers and was drowned in my own miseries. The person I cherished most was my best friend and he was gone to his hometown due to summer vacation. You cannot call this a summer vacation when all that we can see is thunders and puddles on the streets. It was not a gloomy evening at all. Evenings are beautiful. When Zuhair is in town, we are mostly out till the evening. We see the sunset and part ways. I miss his presence.

I opened my eyes to see a vision, not something that I could cope with. I was still in the middle of my prayers. I quickly finished it to clear my vision.

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While I was praying, my sister lurked in the room and she made herself comfortable on my bed. I remember watching her read her books, her favorite, 'The Lurking Demon'.

I looked straight at her. I was assured that everything was alright, it was the same. That what I have seen wasn't for real. I reconfirmed myself that I was too much engrossed in thoughts that my vision dumped me. Then I stood up hastily and uttered in a demanding tone, 'Stop reading unreal stories and wasting your time away. Get a hold of reality!' I totally snapped at her, and she was dumbfounded.

I left my room and went downstairs into our living space to only bump into my sister. I stared at her. She gave a frustrated look but said nothing more and rushed to the living room with some chips in her hand. Cheesy bites, is a corn chips, it is amazing in taste and she loved them the most. Or so, lately, her taste buds changed. While I was still in pause motion, her munching sounds were piercing through my ears. She glared at me from a distance, but when I looked at her straight she was munching her chips while engrossed in her book. It was the same one.

I made some coffee for myself and took the bucket of toast to give my mind some time to process. I was recalling the events and was trying not to think too much. The days of monsoon are too hazy and gloomy already. I did not want to burden myself with deep thoughts. In spite of that, I could not stop the thoughts that occupy me from the day she returned home from her college. I kept on dismissing the thoughts and visions that occupy my head but for how long more?

A while ago in my room, while I was praying her entire body turned coal black and smoggy. I could feel a sense of another creature that I am unaware of. So, I tried to look straight at it but it did not appear then. I kept those thoughts aside. Demons do not exist.

Our vacation has just begun. She has been acting differently and also I am not sure if it is her behavior that changed or we haven't been with each other for a long time. It is true, we haven't been living together for 3 years now. For her college she was transferred to a public college which was far from home and our parents let her stay alone. I had my studies that got me into architecture university and we had diverse pathways.

The thunders started again, bringing me back to reality. I took my cup of coffee and biscuits up in my room to only see my sister lying on my bed relaxing. I made no motion but I knew for sure something is wrong and acting up will not help me. I drank my coffee and immediately left home, bidding her goodbye, as I will be taking a walk to the store to get her favorite sweets on the way back.

While I left home, I could sense that from the window she was looking at my shadow disappearing as if knowing I would never return. I did plan on not to but before so I called out to my parents and went to a nearby shop.

The phone slipped my hands, and my mother cried out to me and repetitively said sorry. I did not know how to respond to her. My sister was dead. She asked me repetitively why I was asking her but I did not want to disclose about her existence in my apartment. I was imbalanced and all I wanted to do was see her although the lurking spirit in my room was a demon. It is my sister but not her at all.

I returned home and my sister stood in the doorway, she was astonished to see me return. This was the first time I saw an expression on her face. I hugged her and returned to bed. I kept the sweets on the table.

The next morning was like the night. It was cloudy and the sky was too doomed. I could sense my sister in my room and I asked her, 'Why are you occupying her body?' I finally said it. It was all out. She glared at me while I did not look at her straight. I was still looking at the ceiling and she stormed out of the room.

I was right and I hit the point. I was thinking if it was a demon after all. Does a demon exist? Who is she now? A ghost or a demon? She had bad expressions, so I assumed it to be a demon. I do not know, she always carries that book of hers around the house. That morning she did not come upstairs. I had the whole space to myself to do research and find out more about demons and spirits. However, the internet had nothing unique. Nonetheless, a myth suggested that ghosts are likely to love sweets and cheesy foods.

All I could do is give out a sigh. I shut the lid of my laptop and went downstairs to only find the sweets were over. I made breakfast and called out to Sara but none responded.

Every day I used to go outside and buy her favorite sweets and cheesy bites to only see her face again. But after that day she didn't return. I didn't lose hope but she never returned until my birthday.

After 1 week from the day she parted away from me, she returned home while I was asleep. My sleep broke as her cold hands touched my forehead. She was in tears. She kissed my cheeks and said to me, 'Happy birthday brother.'

My sister was 16 years old when she died in her hostal, away from me and my parents. It was due to an infection that was not attended to earlier that caused her death. I was not informed about it earlier because my family new how dear she was to me. Her ghost was lurking in my apartment because she wanted to wish me before we parted ways. She made a gift for me in her hostel but before she could make it to me, it all became a history.

The gift was a showpiece, engraved was her name and mine. "Sara and Saham, always together!"

Zuhair returned to town, he came to make a visit to only find me occupied in my miseries. He was the first I shared everything with. I had a burden in my heart that was killing me. 'What if she never comes back because I said her a demon?'

However, I was mistaken. She always made her way to me when I closed my eyes. She was never so close in so many years. I missed Sara, my little sister.