THE UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKE(Short Story)

THE UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKE

BY: AHMAD ABUBAKAR



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He ran to me with opened hands, smiling cunningly,"APPA-APPA-APPA"He said, his mother standing by the door looking at us admiringly. I opened my hands and held him by shoulders, rising him up so that we face each other’s. I kissed his fore head"Hm-mts my young freind, how you doing today?". He opened his small beautiful lips"pine".I laugh always when he pronounced 'fine' as 'pine' with that speed like the word pine is the only word he knows. I put him down, opened my briefcase brought out something confined in my palms,streched my hand to the boy “take this" I said, as he stretched his hand, I held mine “what is your name?”. He drew, stepping back alittle,turning his head left and right, his face changed, he twisted his mouth,"uhm-uhm-uhm my chocolate Appa".I opened my mouth wide in amazement, “who told you it is a chocolate?”. He just stayed starring at me, with that searching gaze of kids, that send a person asking himself questions he never knew the answer. I opened my palms, there is a chocolate on it, he took it and ran back to his mother.

I went directly to my room, I was very tired my wife came in to the room, she handed me a chilled glass of juice,sincerely,I was very thirsty and it took a strong force within me that prevented me from buying the so called 'pure water' along the road side, to me they should have honestly named it table water, as there is nothing pure about it hygienically. I drank it in gulped, I sat at the edge of my bed, she switched-on the room's fan, and directed it towards me. I felt relieved after long hours of work.It was really hectic for me in the office. As I lied on my bed my wife started to massage my feet,"thank you very much my dear, they really hurt painfully” she just smiled. The boy licking his chocolate came to the bed side with his ever ready smile.He climbed on the bed."Appa-Appa",he lied beside me facing me face to face, his nose touching mine. I felt his respiration, and it smelts me. I look at him thinking in my mind” the boy looks like his mother, I like him, this is the most important treasure I have in this world, I will use all what I have to see that this boy get the most qualitative available education, I will train him to be a medical Doctor, he looks caring and gentle and very intelligent.So he can be a good Doctor. I drew him to my chest “sleep boy let have our siesta now".

Suddenly it came to my mind, I left my car wrongly parked outside. I rose up from the bed telling my wife “let me drive my car in to the garage, I parked it wrongly outside”. I went out holding the car keys. I entered the car, turned-on the ignition and stepped my feet on the gas pedal, it came to life again. I drove frontally at least two metres and moved to the left, so as to give enough space for me to drove back in to the garage. I held the gear lever, drew it in to reverse, I stepped on the gas pedal the car moved back abruptly with a high speed, and I felt the tyres are prevented to move by an obstruction along the line, I said to my self “it is a stone”. I shifted the gear and drove forward three yards, I steered the steering wheel a little to swap the imaginable stone and back the car moved. It stepped again on something and this time I pushed hard on the gas pedal, aiming at the garage door, I drove straight in to the garage.

As the car entered the garage, I look through the windshield to see the sort of stone that was there,"Ah h h h! What I saw transformed my whole life, my heart was in my mouth, my eyes widely opened in search of what was there lying smashed flatly by my car's tires, because of my careless driving. I rushed out and quickly on my kneels, I looked at the mess down there,ofcourse, this is unmistakable'Farhan' my lovely child, who was lying lifeless, he has gone with all my dreams. Tears rushed on my cheeks like a flowing river, I wept bitterly, how can I forget this ‘unforgivable mistake'