Before Time (The Time Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

Gathering my purse and cell phone, I was on my way for the meeting. It was scheduled in Kuch Khaas, which was a centre for arts, culture and dialogue, located in the heart of Islamabad. The drive to Kuch Khaas
was quite short from my home, and soon enough, I was walking through the gates towards the entrance. The meeting was scheduled to take place at the library. After I got my bearings, I walked purposefully towards it. They were setting up for the meeting when I entered.

I took a seat in a corner and looked around. The library was packed with books, every shelf and wall loaded with them. The faint smell of old paper hung around the room. All the tables had been removed so that there was more room for people to sit and discuss. At one corner, there was a computer, which was connected with the projector in the center of the room. Right now, the projector was only showing the Sony logo because the computer wasn’t logged in. Slowly, the room started to fill up with the participants.

“Well, let’s start with the introductions while we wait,” Anis, the event organizer said. “We’ll start with you.” He pointed to a boy sitting four seats away from me. He was short, stocky, with light brown hair and thick-framed glasses.

“Hi! I’m Ali and I’m doing my A-levels from Headstart School. I have been writing for the last four years and my favorite genres are dystopian, paranormal, and science fiction.”

“That’s nice, Ali. We will definitely include a piece from that genre today. I’m looking forward to reading yours.” Ali smiled politely at Anis.

Next, Anis pointed towards the girl sitting beside Ali. After two more introductions of the same sort, it was my turn to introduce myself.

“Hi. My name is Onaiza Shahid, and I graduated from my A-levels a year ago. I have been awaiting admission for med school. I loved reading since I was a kid and I’ve been writing for the last eight years, although I’ve never published anything of what I’ve written. This is the first time I’m putting my piece out there for people to read. I love paranormal romance, historical romance, and contemporary fiction.”

“Nice to meet you, Onaiza. I’ve read your piece, and it was pretty good, but we will discuss it in detail once the meeting commences,” Anis said.

“Sure.” I said giving him a small smile. Slowly, as the room filled up, everyone took turns introducing themselves. A girl passed a plate of homemade cookies around.

“Alright, guys! As we are done with the introductions, let’s get on with this meeting. Our strategy for today is that each person will read only an excerpt, as we are short on time and there are so many of us here. Therefore, please read one paragraph or page and then we will each discuss ways in which the writer can improve their piece. Who wants to go first?” Anis asked as he looked around the room.

Ali volunteered to read his piece first. Everyone turned their attention towards him as he read. His prose was good, but I felt that it was too wordy, lacking impact. I believed that every piece of literature should influence the reader in some way and it should mean something. This was what was missing from his piece. The others also felt the same and majority of the comments suggested that he should use less vocabulary but try to make an impact on his reader with his prose.

I volunteered to read mine next. I stood up from my chair and went closer to the laptop so that I could read. I was near-sighted, and reading from this far was a tough job for me. I folded my legs beneath me and sat down on the floor to read my piece.

I had skipped to the last paragraph of the piece. When I finished, I looked around at everyone.

Our destiny is written in the heavens before we are born. We have no control over that, but our prayers can change our destiny. Aida was also born with her destiny already written in the heavens, her fate finalized. Only she could change her destiny, but what she was supposed to change, she had no idea.

I can only keep a close eye on her. I will give her something she lost in her childhood and see how she nurtures and protects it with her life. In return, I will change her life. I will teach her how to love, how to trust, and how to give love to others. I will bring her back to life. You must be wondering who I am and why I am so concerned about her.

I am her FATE!

“Who would like to comment first?” Anis asked. Nobody spoke, so he turned towards me.

“That was an exceptional piece, Onaiza, but there are so many improvements that you can make there. For example, the concept behind your piece is rather rare. Authors who use such concepts need to organize their thoughts in order to work their way through it. As I said before, it is a rare concept, but I would recommend you to read the novel
My name is Red
by Orhan Pamuk. He is a Turkish author, and like in your idea, he used objects that speak in his novel. I believe reading that novel will help you as a lot. Like, you have depicted fate as a person here, which is quite debatable, but let’s not go there; he has similarly done so. I think you will learn a lot from his novel once you read it.”

“I will definitely check that out,” I said.

“Anyone else would like to comment?” Anis asked.

“The concept behind the paragraph is really impressive,” a girl sitting to my left side said. I thanked her.

“Yes, Anum, it is impressive, and I would like to see her convert this into a novel.”

“Someday, I will.” I said and smiled. Since I was thirteen, I’d wanted to write a novel. I dreamed of being an author but how would I be able to do that? I didn’t know. I wanted to leave a piece of myself behind me after I died, and writing a novel was the exact way to do that. But did I have it in me to write something great? I didn’t know, but someday, I hoped to do it.

I had lazed the afternoon in front of the television, watching all three
Lord of the Rings
movies. I loved Strider, the heir of Gondor. His character in the movie was quiet and strong, and the actor was talented. Being a fan of fantasy and a daydreamer, I enjoyed watching ethereal characters and movies. They took my mind off my troubles and kept me distracted. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have something in your life worth fighting for? The characters in LOTR have one force driving them to do the right thing, but what about my life? If I had such a push, something in my life to fight for, what would I be? A winner or a loser?

Loser.
I was sure about that. I had friends who understood their importance, their respect, while I could never understand that. I still wished for my mom’s kisses and hugs, which I knew I would never get. The reason for that was simple enough; my younger sibling was more important than me. As a child, I had been scared of loneliness, and now, on the verge of adulthood, things hadn’t changed. I was still scared of being left all alone, friendless and loveless. I was so scared that it freaked me out a lot.

I broke out of my reverie and concentrated on the movies. When the movies ended, I stretched on the couch and yawned. I went upstairs to the kitchen in search of food.

“Mom, is the dinner ready?” I asked as I entered the kitchen.

“Yes, it is. Please set the table, Onaiza,” she said.

“I’m on it,” I replied.

After the table was set, I called everyone for dinner. There was only one rule at our home, and that was that everyone should be present at home for dinner. My dad preferred to have all us of around him at dinner time. I was ladling some rice on my plate, following it with some curry, when my dad spoke.

“How was the meet up, Onaiza?”

“It was fun, Dad. I learned many things, and I think it was a healthy exercise. I should go to such events more often.”

“You should,” he said. My dad was always supportive of what I wanted to with my life. He didn’t believe in my going for a career in medicine, because according to him, the medical field wasn’t a good career for me. I agreed with him, but my mother was adamant in my going to medical college.

He turned his attention to my little brother then, and I silently continued eating my dinner. After dinner, I helped mom clean up and then I returned to my room.

I logged into mIRC and saw him online. He didn’t greet me when I entered, so maybe he was busy; I didn’t message him. I was chatting in some other channel, when that loser, Sunny, who had been bothering me all around mIRC, showed up and started irritating me again. I meant to tell Impassioned today who he was.

ME:
Will you do me a favor?

Impassioned:
What is that?

ME:
If I invite you in a channel, will you come? Remember, I told you about a guy, who misbehaved with me and abused me a lot just because I am fat? He is there. Will you come there?

There was no reply from his end.

ME:
And by the way, as you showed me your picture, here is my picture on my Facebook profile. You can see me as well.

I pasted him my Facebook profile link, yet there was no reply. Forty minutes later, he did reply.

Impassioned:
I’m sorry, that won’t be possible for me. :) Don’t mind.

ME:
why?

Impassioned:
I know who you are talking about already. Princess, I have made my own rules, which are the reason that I don’t join every channel.

ME:
I like that.

Impassioned:
I know people consider it spying, and I know people who sometimes change nicks and visit other channels to spy on people, but it’s not my style. I don’t care about IRC dramas.

ME:
That’s good. I’m going off now.

Just at that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

ME:
By the way, did you have a look at the link I sent you?

Impassioned:
Which one?

ME:
I gave you a link.

Impassioned:
When?

ME:
A little while ago.

Impassioned:
Please send it to me again.

ME:
Sure.

I copied the link of my profile and pasted it again.

Impassioned:
First, tell me, what is this link about?

ME:
As you showed me your picture, you can see mine as well. Tit for tat.

Impassioned:
No! Let me close the window.

Although he said that he was going to close it, I knew how curious humans are. He must’ve have seen the picture before closing the window. I could bet my life on that.

ME:
Why not?

Before he could answer, he got disconnected from the server and I had to wait for him to reconnect.

Impassioned:
You were very close to destroying everything. Don’t mind it, but did I ask you to show me your picture?

ME:
Nope, but you saw mine.

Impassioned:
saw yours?

ME:
I meant I saw your picture. That was a typo up there.

Impassioned:
Correct! Listen!

ME:
I’m listening!

Impassioned:
It might sound quite strange to you, but once I create someone’s image in my mind, then I never let physical appearances change that image. I could’ve easily found you if I wanted to see you, but not now.

ME:
And what’s my image?

Impassioned:
That is something only for me.

ME:
Share it, please.