Self living

As Hana and I were walking out, a sweet voice suddenly pipped up, “I’m coming with you guys!” Hana and I turned around. It was Safwa.

 

Yusof looked at Safwa in disbelief. “What? No!”

 

“I can’t be the only female here!” Safwa replied with hands on her hips. As Safwa was about to go, Yusof held her by the arm and said, “I’m not letting my own sister go!”

 

Naqi put his hand on Yusof’s shoulder and said, “She has a point Yusof. Let her go.” Yusof was speechless but yet, he let go of his grip. Immediately, Safwa ran towards me and Hana.

 

I looked at Yusof; he gave me a cold stare. The three boys went inside the cabin and slammed the door shut.

 

“So where are we going to stay?” I asked. Before Hana or I could say anything, Safwa said, “We can built a shelter made out of sticks and leaves at a flat ground, somewhere near water, where we can get sunlight and where there’s wind.”

 

Hana and I looked at Safwa in amazement. “How do you know all of this?” I asked.

 

Safwa took out a book entitled, ‘the survivors guide to living in the wild.’ From her pocket.

 

“Where did you get that book Safwa??” Hana asked.

 

Safwa grinned and then said, “remember when we were digging through Naqi’s chest of stuff? I found this particular book and figured that it’ll be useful in the future.”

 

“Smart thinking Safwa.” I said impressed.

 

That night, the three of us slept in our self-made shelter. After Hana had slept peacefully, Safwa suddenly nudged me from my sleep and asked, “how long will we have to stay hidden?”

 

I turned to Safwa and looked into her glimmering silver eyes, trying to figure out a perfect answer for the little innocent child.

 

After a long moment of silence Safwa finally whispered, “You don’t have answer for me don’t you?”

 

I only gave her a smile and nodded.

 

“I miss Yusof.” Safwa said sadly as she looked up into the starry night. I hugged Safwa and patted her back. “Don’t worry. Sooner or later we’ll reunite with them.”

 

Safwa hugged me back. “At least I think so.” I whispered softly as I drifted off into sleep.

 

The next morning, I woke up to see that Safwa wasn’t in the shelter but only Hana was. I got out of the shelter and saw Safwa sitting down while throwing stones into a beautiful lake.

 

I sat down next to her and said, “well your up early.”

 

Safwa only smirked and said, “Well you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm!” And with that she threw another rock. “Why don’t you wake up Hana?” Safwa continued.

 

I went back into the shelter and shook Hana. “Hana wake up!”

 

“Wake me up later! It’s too early!” She whined. “Come on Hana. Safwa and I are already awake!” I exclaimed.

 

“I’ll only wake up when cows speak our language.” Hana said with her face still in her jacket.

 

“We both know that that’s never going to happen!” I said.

 

“Exactly.” Hana replied. 

 

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and called for Safwa. She came in the shelter and I whispered my idea into her ear. Immediately Safwa smiled with glee and did what she was told.

 

Safwa turned into a cow and said, “Hana… Wake up!!! Moo!!”

 

Hana opened one eye and said, “it’s Safwa, isn’t it?”

 

Safwa and I giggled and in an instant, Hana woke up. “So, what’s today’s plan?” Hana asked. 

 

“I’m starving.” Safwa pipped up.

 

“Point at who you want to go to town and buy food.” I said. Instantly Safwa and Hana pointed at me.

 

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. But, if I don’t come back alive this is going to be your fault.” I said as I pointed to Safwa and Hana.

 

Before I left, Hana gave me her jacket and glasses while Safwa gave me her cap. “Good luck.” Safwa wished before I left.

 

“Don’t worry, she’ll come back alive…. I think so.” Hana replied with a giggle. I only shook my head, flew and left.

 

When I arrived at the town, the place seemed so peaceful. Even more peaceful than I thought it would be. In the distance, I saw my village friends playing together like they didn’t know I was gone.

 

I held my tears and went to look for Hana and Safwa’s food.

 

“Two egg sandwiches and one sardine sandwich please… To go.” I ordered as I looked fished for the money that Hana gave me before I left in my pocket.

 

I looked up; the waitress gave me a long look before repeating my order. “Please, find a seat while waiting for your order miss.” The waiter said as she left.

 

I turned around; not a single seat was available. Only a table with a man in a hoodie had one seat available. Having no other choice, I sat down in front of him.

 

This particular man was looking down so I couldn’t see his face clearly. “Hello sir.” I said.

 

The man looked at me. The moment I saw his face, I gasped. “Naqi!”

 

“Shhh!!!” He hissed back. “We both don’t want to be seen so better off you shut your mouth!”

 

“You don’t have to be so crabby!” I answered back, not liking the way he responded.

 

“How can I not be?” Naqi replied. “Ever since you and Hana took Safwa away, you’ve been causing me and Azim trouble!”

 

I looked at him for a moment before saying, “How?”

 

“Yusof has been worried sick. Day and night without stop he has been wondering around the cabin whining, “why Safwa? Why??” It’s been giving me and Azim a headache! Azim is back at the cabin trying to find a way to help Yusof put himself back together!” Naqi snapped.

 

“So what are you saying?” I asked. “That this is all mine and Hana’ fault??”

 

“Technically yes!” Naqi said.

 

Before either Naqi or I could say another word, a waiter interrupted, “Sorry to interrupt but sir, here’s your order,” the waiter said as he handed Naqi 3 sandwiches.

 

“Thanks.” Naqi said.

 

“Remember when Yusof was holding Safwa’s arm and disagreed with the fact that Safwa wanted to leave? Remember who was the guy that told Yusof to let Safwa go? Remember who that was huh??” I asked.

 

Naqi stayed quiet for a moment. So did I. Suddenly, I found myself in the air, lifted by Naqi’s telekinesis. The people in the shop gasped.

 

“Naqi what in the world are you doing?!” I shrieked.

 

“Showing you that you chose the wrong day to put me and Azim in chaos!” Naqi said as he threw me out of the shop window where I landed on something soft.

 

I turned around. It was Safwa who had turned into a horse. “Safwa!” I shouted in relief. “How did you and Hana—“

 

“Simple! Hana could hear your shriek and urged me to the town!” Safwa replied.

 

“No time for chit-chat!” Hana said. “Move it Safwa!”

 

Without another word, Safwa used her horse legs to take me and Hana into the forest.

 

But, before we knew it, Yusof and Azim had found us. Yusof had turned into white stallion horse and Azim was on Yusof’s back.

 

“Safwa!” Yusof neighed.

 

“Brother!” Safwa replied.

 

“No time for sibling talk!” I shouted. “Run Safwa run!” I shouted again as I saw the village people raising their pitchforks in the air and running towards us.

 

As Safwa was running, before we knew it, the village people had cornered up the whole village. “We’re trapped, cornered!” Yusof neighed in distress.

 

“They’re back!”

 

“I thought they were dead!”

 

“I wished they were dead!”

 

“Trouble makers!”

 

I flew over the whole in time. I saw people with torches and pitchforks everywhere.

 

“I wish…” I said. “I wish that this would all just stop!” I screamed at the top of my lungs while closing my eyes. Suddenly, all the screaming, shrieking and sounds stopped immediately. I opened my eyes, everyone had stopped moving.

 

I flew down. I looked around. Everyone in sight had turned frozen!

 

“Hana?” I said as I touched her stone like face. “Safwa?” Safwa had too turned frozen.

 

“Azim? Yusof?” I said as I look at the two boys who didn’t move. Azim had that fighting look on his face while Yusof was still a horse.

 

“I knew it.” Said a voice. I looked up; it was Naqi. He flew down right in front of me.

 

“What, what happened?” I asked frightened.

 

“I knew that you had the particular power that only one out of all the emerald eyes in the world have. The power to freeze time including every existence on earth.” Naqi said with a smile.

 

I was confused. What did this whole thing mean? “How do I activate this power?”

 

“You activate it whenever you’re stressed out or frustrated.” Naqi explained. “But, you don’t know how to control it yet. But don’t worry; sooner or later you’ll learn how, naturally.”

 

“But, but how do I make things back together?” I asked.

 

Naqi walked to me and whispered, “just relax and let me fix this.” With that, he moved his hands in the air and suddenly, I found myself in a carnival with Hana, Safwa, Yusof and Azim. This carnival was held last month!

 

“But how—“ I said. I turned around and saw nothing but village people living happily. I didn’t see Naqi anywhere.

 

“What’s the hold up?” Safwa asked me.

 

“Wasn’t Naqi here?” I asked.

 

“Naqi? How do you know him? His mine and Yusof’s long lost cousin.” Safwa exclaimed.

 

I gave Safwa an odd look and said, “you seriously don’t remember any…” and stopped. “You know what, forget it. It must have been a mistake.” I continued.

 

Safwa took it lightly and said, “Hana’s waiting at the ferris wheel with Azim and Yusof. I guess that I’ll meet you there?”

 

“Yeah… Okay.” I said as I saw Safwa leaving. I stood at where I was for a second, thinking about what actually happened.

 

“Was it all a dream?” I muttered. I shook my head and put my hands into my pocket. I felt a folded paper in my right pocket. I took out the piece of paper and unfolded it. It said: “Anyone can run away, it’s a piece of cake. Facing problems and walking through them, that’s what makes you strong.”  Remember that.

-Naqi 

Reunited

“Naqi is me and Safwa’s long lost… cousin.” Yusof said while looking at Naqi and awkwardness.

“What??” Azim, Hana and I said in confusion.

“Is it weird to say that I feel the same way as you guys?” Safwa said.

“Naqi is it true?” Azim asked.

Naqi only sighed and said, “Actually, I recognized Yusof and Safwa since we met in the forest.”

“Well, why didn’t you say anything??” Yusof asked in frustration.

“Because I thought that you or Safwa’s memory would come rolling back after seeing my face.” Naqi explained.

“How can we remember? It’s almost been 4 years!” Safwa exclaimed.

Azim, Hana and I just kept quiet throughout the whole ‘family reunion’ session. After 20 more minutes of ‘family-talk’, Hana finally spoke up. “Hey! The three of us have been standing here like mannequins for almost 20 minutes!”

At that moment, Safwa, Yusof and Naqi stopped speaking at once.

“Now, explain. How did Naqi get lost and how did you two siblings manage to forget Naqi?” Azim demanded.

“Why don’t you explain the whole story Naqi?” Yusof insisted. Safwa agreed.

Naqi sighed while the rest of us looked at him, desperate for an explanation. Especially Azim, Hana and me.

“This whole thing, started 4 years ago in 20…” Naqi stopped for a while as he was counting.

“It’s now 2020 so 4 years ago was 2016. We were 11.” I said.

“Ah yes. 2016. Your dear friends, Safwa and Yusof, were like siblings to me. Until one day, we were playing ‘Simon Says’. And I still remember Yusof saying, ‘Simon says, be like me.’ And that’s when, I accidentally, duplicated Yusof’s form.” Naqi stopped for a while when he saw me sitting in the air. I grinned while he shook his head and continued, “Safwa begin to said in fear, ‘brother why is Naqi you?’ I told them, ‘promise me not to say a word about this!’ The two siblings glanced looks and nodded.”

Naqi stopped again to let some memories flow back. “But Safwa being such a chatterbox, told her father about me duplicating Yusof’s form. At first, her father thought it was just some of Safwa’s tall-tales. After Safwa actually convinced him that I actually turned into Yusof, Uncle Izham (Yusof and Safwa’s father), asked Yusof. Yusof not being able to tell a lie, told uncle Izham about my abilities. And soon, I was chased out of the village.” Naqi stopped to turn to Yusof who was looking down at the floor speechlessly.

Naqi continued, “Everyday, my father would bring me food to this cave where I used to live in. But alas, after two months, the townspeople soon found out about him bringing me food and 2 days later, he was sent to prison.” Naqi’s eyes turned red. So, from there, I had to live on my own. Finding my own food, building shelter you get the point.”

“But, I never thought that the day will come where four other lads would come and join me on my fabulous life.” Naqi said as he smirked.  

I flew down to land and said, “Interesting story Naqi. Ever thought of writing a novel based on it?”

Hana made a small laugh. “Anyone agrees with me on leaving this man made cabin by tomorrow at dawn?”

“Me.” I said while raising my hand.

“Well good luck living on your own mates. I can assure you that you two will only live for one day, and that’s a promise.” Naqi said.

Hana lifted one eyebrow and said, “I’d rather die than rather stay in your cabin of secrets.” I chuckled. We both walked out the cabin door, searching for the unknown.

To be continued in: Self living. 

Secret of the Cabin

The three of us were climbing down when Safwa said, “I feel like a spy.”

Hana and I chuckled. Indeed Safwa was the youngest of the girls. And also with the wildest imaginations.

After what seemed like forever, we finally reached the bottom.

“Oof!” Hana huffed when she jumped off the rope-ladder. Safwa and I jumped off too.

Hana found a light switch and flicked it on. We were amazed to see chests all around the area. “Well, looks like we found Naqi’s secret loot!” Safwa exclaimed enthusiastically as she opened one of the chest. 

“How did you opened that locked chest?” I asked surprised.

“I was taught a few tricks before ‘what happened’.” Safwa said as she winked.

“Maybe the youngest but yet the smartest!” Hana whispered to me as she sat down next to Safwa and begin digging into Naqi’s stuff.

“Isn’t this wrong?” Hana asked.

“Not if the person doesn’t know.” I said as I winked.

Inside, we found some old junk such as mugs, trophies, clocks, t-shirts and stuff like that.

“Hey check this out!” Safwa exclaimed. Hana and I gathered next to her. “It’s a photo album.”

Immediately, Safwa and Hana begin flipping the pages through the album while I looked from behind. As the two girls were flipping through the pages, Safwa suddenly stopped flipping and gasped

“What? What?” I asked out of curiosity.

“It’s a picture of a boy being piggybanked by a man.” Hana said. “That man looks like Naqi.”

“If that’s Naqi then, who’s the boy?” I asked. “The boy might be Naqi and the man might be his dad.”

Safwa and I looked in Hana with a weird face. “What? I can tell if someone is single or not okay?” Hana told us. Safwa and I only shook our heads.

“We have to find out who the man is… Now.” Safwa said as she closed the album and walked towards the ladder.

“Hey wait for us!” Hana said as we both got on our feet and walked towards the ladder.

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As soon as the three of us got out of the area, Safwa said, “To the boys’ hideout… ASAP!” as she ran outside the cabin.

As we were running, I managed to ask Hana, “Why is Safwa so excited to find out who the man and boy in the photo is?”

Hana only shrugged her shoulders. The same question kept one replaying in my mind like a sound tape. Kept on wondering…

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When we reached the boys’ cabin front door, Safwa knocked on the door. “Naqi? Brother? Azim? Anyone!!”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down Safwa.” Hana comforted. As if on que, someone opened the door. It was Yusof.

“Brother where’s Naqi??” Safwa begin to ask.

“Why do you ask?” Yusof asked.

“Just tell me where he is brother!” Safwa said in frustration.

Suddenly, Naqi came out behind Yusof. “What’s going on?”

Safwa opened the album to the exact page and pointed. Yusof gasped. “How do you have a picture of this man?” Yusof asked.

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Hana asked. “Did we get caught in some weird triangle??”

“Yeah what’s going on??” I asked.

“That man is my father, Iqbal Faiz. And the boy is me.” Naqi answered. Both Safwa and Yusof gasped.

“Why? What did I miss??” Said Azim who came out of nowhere.

 Safwa was playing with her thumbs while Yusof took a long look at Naqi before saying,“Everyone, Naqi is me and Safwa's long lost..." 

To be continued in: Reunited

A New Discovery

“I am Naqi.” The young man said.

I gasped. “What’s wrong?” Hana asked me.

“According to his jade coloured eyes, he is no ordinary human. He’s like… us.” I explained.

“What? No.” Yusof said in disbelief.

“My uncle used to teach me how to different shade an ordinary human being with the unusual types.” I said.

“And how do you do that?” Safwa asked.

“By looking either at the colour of their eyes or lips.” I explained. 

“Impossible.” Yusof said.

“Why not brother? She did manage to tell us that we were unsual by looking at our eyes.” Safwa told her big brother Yusof.

“Usually… People with jade colour eyes have the power of flight and weather control.” I said.

“Ooo! Double the power!” Hana said with glee.

“Heh. Flight and weather control you are correct. But there is one more power that I hold and you don’t know it.” Naqi told us with a sly smile.

“And that is?” Azim asked.

“Ever thought of seeing yourself in real life?” Naqi asked as he transformed into Azim. Even his voice was equal to Azim’s.

“Wow!” Hana said.

“My uncle never told me that jade eyed people had the power to duplicate forms!” I said with amazement.

“Only rare jade eyes get this ability.” Naqi said with pride as he turned back into his original form.

“Yeah, yeah we’ve all seen your great powers. Now, why are you in this forest anyway? With the snowy weather like this.” Yusof exclaimed.

“Well, lets’ just say that I got chased out of town like you guys.” Naqi answered as he looked at each one of us.

“Seriously?” Safwa said.

“Is it because you brought the fruit seller up into the sky with you using your flying powers?” Yusof said while looking at Azim.

Azim just rolled his eyes.

Naqi was quiet for a while before he said, “I duplicated every single person in town just for the fun of it. Soon, everyone begin losing trust for each other and blamed me for it. And, a few days later, I was chased out of town.”

“Wait, Naqi could you turn into Hana for a while?” I asked. And with that, he did.

“Couldn’t they tell the difference?” I asked.

“What difference?” Yusof asked in confusion.

“There! His body might have changed but the colour of his eyes haven’t!” I exclaimed while pointing at Hana and Naqi’s eyes. Naqi turned back into his form and said, “I don’t know. Maybe they have to get an eye check.”

Azim giggled. “For how long have you been out of town?” I asked.

“A month.” Naqi said. We looked at him in amazement. “Yeah… It’s been quite a while.”

“Where have you been staying? What have you been eating? How do you manage to live in this forest? Especially during winter right now!” A bunch of questions came flowing out of Yusof’s mouth like a river.

“First, I’ve been staying in a hideout not far from here. Second, I duplicate my grandmother’s form to get food from town once every two days. Lastly, I’m a born survivor.” Naqi replied with a smirk.

“Well could you let us stay at your hideout?” Azim asked.

“Gladly.” Naqi said with a smile as he floated up into the air. “Whoever can fly or turn into an animal, you can fly along with me. Whoever can’t fly just walk slowly and look up for directions.  Usual the emerald eyed people can fly so… You there. Fly!” He told me with a small laugh.

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Minutes later we reached Naqi’s little hideout. We went in.

“Oh, only three rooms?” Safwa said half disappointed.

“No worries. I made another hideout not far from here. You ladies can stay in the other hideout.” Naqi told us. “Here are the directions.” He said as he handed me a paper with a few scribbles.

“Thanks…” Hana said softly as we three went out of the hideout and set off for our hideout.

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“He is so not a gentlemen! I mean like, what type of man tells women to take off and search for their own place to stay?!” Hana complained.

“You should at least be grateful that he let us stay at his hideout… Even though he told us to go search for it.” Cheered Safwa.

“Here we are.” I told them as we stood right in front of a cozy looking wooden cabin.

Hana and Safwa ran in like little children. I smiled and walked in.

“Wow.” Safwa said with excitement.

“Not bad for a runaway boy.” Hana said with a snicker.  

After settling down in the cabin, making hot chocolate from the hot chocolate packets that we found in the kitchen cabinet, the three of us sat in front of the window that showed the whole town that we used to live in.

“One minute we were leaving peacefully and the next thing you know, we got chased out of it.” Hana said as she drank her hot chocolate.

Safwa sighed. She drank her hot chocolate. “I remember hearing stories about people with powers saving towns, cities told by my mother. Who knew that I had the ability to do all those things.”

“I’ll be back.” I told them as I stood up. As I was walking, suddenly, a door on the floor opened. There came out a rope-ladder

“Guys! Check this out!” I called out. Hana and Safwa came in a jiff.

“Where does this trap door lead to?” Safwa asked in curiosity.

“I don’t know but we’re going to find out!” Hana said as she climbed down there using the rope ladder.

“Wait for us!” Safwa and I exclaimed as we both followed behind Hana.

To be continued in: Secret of the Cabin.

Wanted

“Get out of our town!” Shouted a man.

“You five are just causing trouble!” Shouted a woman. The whole town was practically chasing us. We ran with all our might. Behind us, were all the town people, shrieking and screaming at the four of us.

One of us by the name of Hana turned back for a moment to look for her parents. They were just crying in the middle of the crowd.

“Don’t look behind Hana! Just keep on running!!” Azim shouted.

The four of us ran until we reached a forest. Safwa turned into a panther and climb a tree. I flew up the same tree as Safwa, Hana ran up the tree, Azim super jumped up the tree while Yusof teleported onto the tree.

Yusof and Safwa turned back into their human forms. The five of us just watched from up the tree, the town people just shouted.

“Where did they run off?!” Shouted a man furiously.

“Oh who cares? As long as their out of sight, that is fine!” Shouted a woman. And with that, the town people walked away. As soon as the five of us were sure that all of them had gone, slowly and cautiously we got down the tree.

“I don’t understand why they have such a grudge on us.” Hana said upset.

“Remember who teleported into someone’s home while they were having dinner?” Azim asked with hands on his hips. We all looked at Yusof who was covering his face. He uncovered his face and there showed his ocean blue eyes.

“Hey! At least I wasn’t the one who took the fruit seller by the hand and super jumped into the air!” Yusof said upset as he focused on Azim and his shimmering golden eyes.

“He didn’t want to sell me any oranges!” Azim said.

“Well, you two bickering won’t do any good. It’s not going to make the town people change their minds about us.” I said as my emerald coloured eyes showed.

The two boys kept quiet at once. Not saying a single thing. “I’m sorry about blaming you. I was just tensed.” Azim confessed. Yusof looked at him. And said, “I understand.”

“Okay so? Now what?” Safwa asked as she focused her silver coloured glimmering eyes on Hana who had been quiet.

I elbowed Hana. “Ha? What? Oh.” Hana said with a smile that made her sky blue eyes shine.

“What are we going to do? Where are we going to stay? How long are we going to hide?” Yusof asked.

All of us just stood there quiet. Suddenly, a male voice said, “I have the answer to all of your questions.”

We all looked around. “Who said that?” Azim asked.

“Me.” Said the same voice as a figure with jade green eyes flew down from a nearby tree.

“And you are?” I asked.

“I am…”

To be continued in: A New Discovery 

Make a wish

There was once a girl by the name of Vivian Darkbloom who was a girl who had a really bad behaviour. Her parents couldn’t take her anymore and she was always up to mischief at school. At school, she bullied any students that she pleased. She had no friends; everyone hated her and she was alone.

One morning, Vivian was walking her way to school when she came upon a man that blocked her way from walking. The man was dressed in black and was wearing a hood.

“Who are you? You know what, I don’t care. Get out of my way.” Vivian said.

“Well, I have many names.” The man said. “Some call me Old Nick, Lucifer. You better know me by Satan.” The man continued.

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” Vivian said with hands around her hips.

“Fine then.” The man said with a sly smile. “I will grant you three wishes. Anything that you want, just say it.”

Vivian thought of it for a moment. After nodding a few times, she said, “Ok. It’s a deal.”

“What’s your first wish?” Asked the man.

“I wish for unlimited wishes.” Vivian said.

“Smart young one.” The man said as he smiled. “It has been granted.”

“What is your second wish?”

“Hmm… O! I wish to be a millionaire.” She said. “And I mean millionaire in American dollars not some weird foreign currencies.”

“And with that, your wish is granted.” The man said.

Vivian opened her schoolbag and found wads of money. “Sweet!” She said.

“For my next wish,” She said. “I wish to be the most popular girl in school.”

“Your wish is granted.” The man said.

Suddenly, Vivian heard the school bell ring. “Oh no! I’m late for school! The teacher is surely going to give me detention!  Oh how I wish I was dead!”

 And with that, she was.