Boy of Fire and Earth by Sami Shah

Author:Sami Shah
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Brio Books
Published: 2019-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Hamza was standing in a universe of nothing. Pristine white stretched around him in every direction, brilliant in its clarity.

‘Hello?’ he said.

Silence swallowed the sound of his voice.

He looked down. He was standing on more emptiness, a single speck on a blank page. He was about to take a tentative step forward, when he noticed his clothing. When he died, he had been wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, stained dark with blood. The jeans were gone and in their place he saw a clean white skirt, starting at his waist and ending just above his ankles. A second length of cloth, just as pure white, was loosely draped around his shoulders, covering his torso. He had never performed Hajj, but recognised the ihram worn by those who did. The cloth was as white as his surroundings, so that it almost looked as though his hands and feet were disembodied, floating below him.

‘Is this . . . is this Heaven?’ Hamza said aloud. ‘Am I in Heaven?’

‘Yeah, I thought that too at first,’ said a voice. Hamza whirled around with a yelp. Arif was standing behind him, dressed in the same white ihram, a grin stretching across his face.

‘Oh my God, Arif!’ cried Hamza. He threw his arms around his friend and when he felt the solidity of Arif’s body against his, Arif’s arms squeezing him tight in response, he began to cry.

‘What a pussy you are,’ Arif laughed and Hamza pulled away, punching him on the shoulder, then wiping his tears.

‘You’re here. Am I dead?’ asked Hamza.

‘Yeah, sorry,’ said Arif, shrugging. ‘I don’t know which one of us died worse.’

‘I’m really dead. Shit.’ Then, ‘Oh God, is this Heaven? Can I swear in Heaven?’

Arif laughed hard, meaty guffaws ending in a snort. ‘Oh Barslow, you are too funny.’

‘Piss off, Chantilly. So I’m dead. Wow. Shouldn’t I be more, I don’t know, traumatised? Like in shock or something?’

‘You’d think, right. But I don’t think anyone ever is. Not when they get here anyway. The trauma probably happens just before death. Mine was too quick for me to notice really. I felt it in the grave afterwards. Did you see those two angels? Monkey and Nonkey, or something?’

‘Oh God, yes,’ said Hamza, rubbing his face as he recalled the experience. ‘Munkar and Nakir, I think. Those were angels? I thought they were demons from Hell. You saw them too?’

‘Yeah, they came to me in the grave.’

‘They came when I was still hanging in the room where I died. I didn’t even realise I was dead until I saw them.’

Arif began to walk, motioning for Hamza to follow him. They started off through the emptiness, feet finding firm ground with each step even though none could be seen below.

‘Not for me, man,’ said Arif. ‘I woke up in the grave. It was horrible. I think I woke up as soon as they closed it over me. I remember it was completely dark and I could hear the footsteps of people walking away.

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