Life

Short Story by Nadeem Alam It was getting late at night and Adnan was not back from the office yet. I always wait for him to arrive, serve him hot food and then without much talking, we go to sleep. I was lying in my room and reading some book when I heard the door opening. I jumped out of the bed and rushed outside. There he was, placing his briefcase at table and looking tired as usual. I asked him about food. Instead of any answer, he glanced at me with his loving eyes and smiled. I got confused. First he was not wearing the white shirt which I had ironed for him in the morning and secondly he never smiles at this hour of the time. However, I shredded my thoughts and went into his open arms. Later, we went out for the dinner. It was past mid night but we knew some restaurants in the city which remain open till late. We had dined in few of them before our marriage.    We worked in the same bank. He was senior to me yet we developed good understanding. ...

Short Story by Nadeem Alam A serial killer was on the loose. There had been multiple fatal incidents of knife attacks on housewives with no signs of break in or forced entry. The knife being used had a special blade called hawkbill which creates a unique cut pattern. The local news channels and our community organization had issued warnings to all housewives not to open doors to anybody in the absence of their husbands. But was it practically possible? Early in the morning, children go to school followed by the husbands who leave for offices usually by eight. And then a series of people start ringing the bells. First of all comes in the maid, then milkman, the newspaper guy, mailman, vegetable seller and fish vendor. Then there is a chain of persons distributing utility bills, notices, advertisements, leaflets, and then there are couriers, sale representatives, delivery boys, beggars, and the complaint handlers of various services like plumber, electrician and carpenter...

Short Story by Nadeem Alam When I woke up again, sun was shining and the heat was unbearable. My body ached more than before. I was feeling dehydrated and my head was spinning. With blur vision, I looked around and tried to recall the events leading me to this place. I touched my head where I was hit. It was soft and I could feel blood clots with my fingers. Suddenly I remembered last night and I felt chills going down my spine. My eyes got wide open and my heart jumped in my throat. I was under a small shelter made of straws and my right ankle was tied to a chain whose other end was locked around a tree. In front of me was a vast desert. The shelter still had signs of straw walls on three sides. I desperately started looking around for the person whose sound I had heard before I went unconscious. I was lying on ground and could not gather enough strength to get up. And then I heard her sobbing. It was coming from behind the tree. I did not feel any fear now. I knew ghost...

Short Story by Nadeem Alam For next one month, I did not get any call from the mysterious caller. Earlier I had traced the caller identity and address, and had been to her house only to find out that she died in the air crash accident couple of years ago. I had visited the airline office and the federal investigation agency to find out about the crash details. I was told that the investigation is still going on, and there were absolutely no survivors. I was though amazed to dig out the fact that many dead bodies were beyond recognition and few incomplete bodies were found. DNA tests were carried out and even small body parts and personal belongings were given names and handed over to their relatives in closed caskets. To my horror, Sumbal was one such person whose body was not recovered at all. I ran a small business of my own. Lately, I have been distracted with the cryptic calls which had started affecting my business. So I decided to concentrate on my work now and more ...

Short Story by Nadeem Alam Yesterday, I was in middle of an important meeting when I received a call from the same mysterious number. My phone was on silent but I saw the screen flashing. I turned the phone upside down. I had been getting calls from this number for the past one month. Whenever I attend the call, nobody says anything from the other side. I only hear some radio noise and electromagnetic disturbances, and the call gets disconnected. I have stopped attending these calls now. I have also tried calling back on this number several times but I always get the same computer generated response that the number being called is not valid. I lodged a complaint with the concerned service provider and I was told that this number is not active. I sent many short messages as well but never got a reply or even the confirmation receipt. It was late last night when my phone started ringing. I attended the call while half a sleep and said hello. All I could hear was radio n...

Big Bang was a weekly game show and its host was notorious to do something outrageous, spectacular and thrilling every week. The show had continued for almost ten years but it was now getting monotonous and boring. To bring back the viewership and to boost its rating, producers of the show promised the next show to be astonishing, mind-blowing and breathtaking. This week, a large crowd was gathered in a stadium of a small town to witness the game of Russian roulette and there were several million viewers watching it live on television sets worldwide. Selection of the show site was done carefully to avoid intricate legal issues in the big cities. The game selected for the show this week was Russian roulette.   In the actual game of Russian roulette, a person would be loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at his head. It is a lethal game of chance where a player bets his life to try his luck....