Obscurities by Nahid Husain

Author:Nahid Husain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
Published: 2018-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

Obscurities

Dedicated to AJ. T, J.M B, S.M.A.K

“And this is Michael.” I looked at my future dance partner. Yeah, he was cute. Why the hell were they sticking him with me? His eyes crinkled up in a smile as he put out his hand, “Hello!”

Too nice, I thought, reciprocating. My mind wandered. I had piles of organic homework still left. Maybe this transgression from my GPA would cost me more than I thought.

It’s only once, though, I reasoned with myself. Two two-hour rehearsals a week…yes, I could manage it. Yeah. With co-op duties, work, and my 4.0 to maintain, it would be real easy.

“Stop being sarcastic,” I told myself. “If you don’t want to do it, leave. This thing hasn’t even started yet, so don’t start making a big deal about nothing. What the hell, Shayana, give yourself a break. This is going to be great.” But I had never danced before in my life. And I was anal about moving my body. It was a great combination for someone who was going to be in a dance show a couple of months later. I looked at the people step-dancing around me.

“Got that?” the guy next to me inquired.

“No,” I answered plainly.

It was midnight when I got done with rehearsal. As I trudged home from the student union where the rehearsals were held, the star-studded velvet sky above seemed to envelop me like a cocoon. There was a lively silence around me, interspersed with the punctuated crooning of crickets, the sound of a distant passing car and the footsteps of an occasional study rat making his way to the library.

I felt strangely content during moments like these. The events of the day, the vast expanse of the campus, and all my energy had culminated into an inexplicable feeling of time being frozen and of me melting my way through an obscure mistiness. I had ceased to think, feel or even hear consciously. It seemed as if all earthly senses had given way to complete muteness, and the tiredness seeping through my body was the only force that was driving me home.

The fog of thoughts vanished as my two-story co-op house appeared with the usual white light shining in the balcony. The sounds of laughter were louder than the voice that wanted to surrender to tiredness. My dark blue organic text appeared before my eyes as I made a mental list of what I had to get done before my lab tomorrow. It was going to be a long night.

“Trrrrrrrrrrrrring!” Somewhere in the middle of blurred dreams, I heard a single trill from the telephone handset next to my bed. Managing a sleepy hello, I sat up straight. Only a couple of people would call me at this ungodly hour.

“What? You’re getting married? Are you serious? How… When… Who?”

I had known Reena for fourteen years now. We had played in the sand together, had our share of catfights, had discussed, with the greatest gravity and seriousness, the future, and had finally graduated.

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