STORY TIME:A Strange Bracelet By Ayesha Zia Khan
Friday,10 Oct,2008 | 11:42 AM PST |
It was my 12th birthday and all my friends were gathered in my room and we were opening presents.I got a branded watch from Haya,my best friend and a decoration piece of a goblet from another friend of mine,Mahnoor.
However,I was very anxious to open the gift of my friend,Rabiya,who had recently visited Kuala Lampur and had told me that she had brought a very special yet an expensive gift for me.When her turn came,she took out a very tiny object wrapped neatly,from her pocket,I was shocked!
Actually I was dreaming of a laptop or an expensive cell phone but when I opened it,I discovered that it was a very pretty bracelet.It was stylish yet it looked expensive too; however,I liked it,it seemed as if it was made of crystal or something like that but it wasn鈥檛 my dream to have such a gift.
I thanked her as well as my other friends.Rabiya told me to wear the bracelet at the very moment so that she could check out how it looked on my hands.I did so but as I wore it,I began to feel a little uncomfortable; I did trust Rabiya as she was one of my good friends but still,she was acting a little weird.She wanted me to wear that bracelet as soon as I could so I wore it but as I did this,I could very clearly see a smile spread on her face,not a pleasant smile but a wicked one.This made me shiver!
I grabbed Haya to a corner and told her all about my suspicions.She replied,鈥淎fter all what can Rabiya do to you?She is a very polite,kind and generous girl.Ayesha what has happened to you?I am astonished to see you in this depressed mood.Come on,cheer up,it鈥檚 your birthday and you,yourself are not happy?鈥 I knew Haya was right,鈥淪he is the only person who understands me so well,鈥 I thought.
* * * * *
In the cafeteria
鈥淥uch!鈥 my head hit the floor hard as I sat on the chair,to my surprise,the chair was broken.It was an embarrassing moment,however,I managed it.As I stood up,the first thing I did was to look at Rabiya; as our eyes met,she reacted by saying,鈥淥h my God!Ayesha what has happened to you?Did it hurt?鈥
鈥淣o,it was just鈥 I am fine,you don鈥檛 need to worry about me.鈥 These words poured out of my mouth automatically,I knew they were harsh but I did not know what was happening to me.Somehow,I knew that it was the bracelet that was hurting me.And as I tried to get rid of it,I stopped; I felt myself being superstitious.My life was a mess now.
鈥淚 am so sorry Mariam,please forgive me!鈥 I begged for my friend鈥檚 forgiveness as I had poured my coffee on her pure white shirt,everyone in the cafeteria turned around to see what was happening and Mariam burst out of the hall angrily.I felt so embarrassed.I,myself didn鈥檛 know what was happening to me.I sat at one of the corner seats alone,then Haya and Mahnoor came to console me,it did work but actually I didn鈥檛 want to talk to them,I wanted to talk to Mariam.Where was she?I heard the bell ring; I hadn鈥檛 eaten even a bite of my sandwich.I left my tray at the table and exploded out of the cafeteria.
* * * * *
At home
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 mean to do it,please believe me,it happened鈥 I mean I didn鈥檛 do it,why would I do it,why would I rip your teddy bear?Why?Tell me,why is everyone after me,I didn鈥檛 do it!鈥 I began to cry because I was being accused that I had torn my younger sister鈥檚 teddy bear.
鈥淥kay,you are saying you didn鈥檛 do it,then why was your ring hanging in my teddy鈥檚 ear?Why?And why was my teddy in your room鈥檚 dustbin?Do you have any answers?Of course not,am I right?鈥 my sister shouted back at me,my parents also believed her and then I also pretended to admit that it was my mistake and that I had ripped that silly stuff toy but I knew I hadn鈥檛.I still thought that it was the bracelet which was causing all the troubles,I accepted this fact and loosened its grip round my wrist and tied it to Casper,my parrot鈥檚 neck,I then pulled out my tuition bag and went out.
The tuition class went normal without me encountering any kind of problem,maybe because of the bracelet.I entered my house and then screamed.I guess all my neighbours must have listened to my fearful scream.Casper was lying in his cage breathlessly.My sister didn鈥檛 show up,only my brother did,Casper was mine and my brother鈥檚 parrot.Now I believed that it was the bracelet which was the reason to all the bad luck that I suffered from.
The next day,I went to school without the bracelet,no one took any notice except for Rabiya whose reaction was very weird indeed.鈥淎yesha,where is your bracelet?You didn鈥檛 throw it somewhere,did you?鈥 her eyes glared in my eyes.鈥淵eah I threw it away,actually it broke in two parts so it was useless.I am sorry,鈥 I replied.
鈥淣o,it鈥檚 okay,鈥 Rabiya answered back.After getting rid of that
