"Bamson, do you know what it feels like to be away from your loved ones? I know it too well. Many children leave their homes and go to other countries to study… they return, they manage… but I feel not everyone must have broken inside the way I did.
You know, Bamson, living for your loved ones is not hard. The real pain begins when you are no longer part of their lives… when even in their prayers, there's no place left for you. Bamson, my heart is aching.
I tried to hold back my tears, but despite my efforts, I started crying out loud. My heart is swelling with pain. Bamson, look at me—I feel like I'm breaking apart, like there's no one left for me here. I keep asking myself, how can someone remove you from their heart so easily?
Zoya sat a little ahead, looked into his eyes, and whispered, 'How can a family remove her child from her heart?' And in that moment, She felt as though Bamson's eyes were filling with tears.
Then suddenly she thought and wispered—no, Zoya, you are not completely alone. You still have Allah,who understands your paine surely understands your tears.
And with that thought, she laid her head on the fresh grass beside him, and cried again, this time letting her heart pour itself out."
Present Scene (Before Flashback):
When Bamson saw her crying, he slowly began to walk towards her. But then, at a certain distance, he stopped and sat down. On the fresh mat of the room, he laid his face down, watching her silently.
She curled her knees up to her chest, hiding her face behind her arms, and kept on crying. He just kept looking at Zoya with those tearful eyes, as if he was crying with me. His eyes too were moist.
After some time, She grew quiet, though her sobs turned into hiccups. She gathered herself, lifted arms away from face, and looked at him. He was still sitting at that same distance, staring at her with glistening eyes.
She whispered, "You're the same, Bamson… just like the first day you entered this room."
---
"Ruhi, do you have a first aid kit in your room?" Minji asked urgently as she examined Bamson's wounds. The injuries weren't very deep, but cleaning them was necessary.
"Yes, I'll bring it," Ruhi replied. Minji carefully cleaned Bamson's wounds.
"We also need to arrange some food for him," Minji said while still looking at Bamson.
Hana sighed, "But what will we give him right now? We don't have anything. In the rush to rescue Bamson, we didn't even think about his hunger. And the hostel mess must already be closed."
"We have to do something… Bamson's health doesn't look good," Sofia said with concern.
"Wait, Sofia… think carefully. Is there anything in our room that Bamson can eat?" Minji asked.
"I don't think so," Sofia replied. "We haven't even done the grocery yet. Remember? We planned to go tomorrow."
"Oh right, I forgot," Minji said, a little embarrassed.
"What about you three? Don't you have anything?" she asked Ruhi and Hana. Both shook their heads firmly.
Zoya stayed silent, sitting on her bed, listening to them. But when no one spoke for a few seconds, She lifted her head—only to find that all of them were staring directly at her.
"Not again!" she exclaimed quickly. Still, they stood there, waiting, watching her.
"Fine, fine… I do have some snacks, but that's all. Just snacks… and yes, some biscuits too. But I brought these all the way from Pakistan! I know Bamson won't even like them," Zoya said reluctantly.
"Zoya," Minji called my name firmly, putting pressure on her tone.
She looked at her, then sighed and went to her side cupboard pulled out a packet of biscuits and snacks. They weren't the kind of things Bamson would like, at least that's what, she thought. He didn't like masala-flavored snacks or sugary biscuits. But the moment the girls saw the packets, they all lit up with excitement. They practically jumped at them, squealing, "This will work! This will work!"
She couldn't understand their happiness.
"You know," Hana said, "if there's no pet food, little milk can sometimes work. But if you don't have that, even salty or sugar-free biscuits are fine for now. See, these are perfect."
Without wasting another second, Minji searched for a container. She quickly spotted one on her desk her own box where she kept her writing tools. Without hesitation, she grabbed it.
"Look, he's a dog. Just put these on the floor, he'll eat them easily," Minji said, as if it were the simplest solution.
She looked at her in disbelief. The way she held that box, it felt like Zoya had told her to serve her on the floor, not Bamson.
Sitting on her bed, I watched in silence as her favorite snacks were poured into her own box, placed in front of a dog.
The more she try to run away from Bamson, the more these girls are dragging her into his world, She whispered to herself.
"We could have just ordered proper food for him," She muttered, watching Bamson happily munch on her snacks. He didn't hesitate at all—he devoured one, then two, biscuits packs along with the snacks.
Allah will surely ask them one day for this injustice—my favorite biscuits, fed to a dog! I complained inwardly, watching my treasure vanish.She whispered to watched bamson sadly.
"Yes, we could've ordered," Minji replied with a small smile, "but only if late-night deliveries were allowed here."
Bamson finished all drank water too—the same water poured from her bottle into the box in which he had eaten her biscuits. After that, he came and sat down near the foot of her bed, as if he belonged there.
"Okay guys, let's go now. We'll meet in the morning," Minji suddenly stood up.
"What? Where are you going? And why? And what about Bamson—where will he go? I mean—" Zoya hadn't even finished her sentence when Hana interrupted,
"He'll stay here. In this room. Don't you remember? We have to hide him. He's still not well, he's getting weaker."
At Hana's word weaker, She lifted her eyes to look at the so-called "weak" dog. From any angle, he didn't look weak at all. Maybe tired, yes—but weak? Not at all. She guess to his four doting caretakers, every breath of his seemed fragile.
"Fine then, do one thing," Minji said quickly. "You go to our room with Sofia. I'll stay here tonight. That's better."
"Why?" Zoya asked.
"Because we can't take him to our room. Two other girls share it with us," Minji explained.
She was already lost in thought: If I go to their room, then Minji will stay here. And if she stays here, she'll look after Bamson all night. She might even let him sleep on the bed… and then sleep on the floor herself. And the bed? Of course, it's mine. No. Absolutely not.
Zoya whispered to herself.
She looked at Minji and smirked. "Meeting you on your very first day has been such good luck. Imagine—your crush's dog came straight to you. Who knows what else might happen next? Maybe we should stop this friendship right here."
Zoya said dramatically
Everyone burst out laughing at her words. She couldn't help but laugh with them too.
She crossed arms and declared firmly,
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm fine right here. But make sure of one thing—he doesn't come anywhere near my bed. Just explain it properly to your idol's son."
Zoya order to them.
The room burst into giggles. Minji tried to hold back her laughter but failed, Hana nearly fell over on the mattress, and Sofia covered her mouth as she snorted.
"Idol's son?" Hana teased, raising her brows at her.
"Yes! That's exactly what he is," She shot back, pretending to be serious. "So keep him away from me. Especially my bed."
Zoya said.
Bamson, completely unaware of the drama, simply curled up at the foot of her bed, resting his head on his paws as if he had found his new kingdom.
The girls laughed even louder. Zoya turned away, pulling her blanket over her self, but deep inside, She couldn't help smiling too.
Zoya, listen. Sofia came to her and said, "He will not disturb, these dogs are very intelligent because after being separated from their owner they understand that now no one will fulfill their tantrums, and they should not bother anyone. And if after being separated from the owner they find a peaceful place, they become even more careful not to make any mistake. So don't worry, we will take him to our room but there our other roommates are, and we don't know if we can handle them or not. So Bamson is safe here now. Look, he has become so weak, don't know since how many days he is separated from his home, whether he got food or not. Now see, he is trying to sleep because he has found his comfort zone in this room with all of us."
She started looking at Sofia and began thinking, "For a dog, such a long lecture? Oh God, all of them have gone mad. Since evening, for one dog they are worried like parents preparing for their daughter's wedding."
Zoya softly said to herself.
Minji was sitting beside Bamson, stroking his hair. Hana and Ruhi went to their own beds. Zoya looked at Sofia and loudly said, "Right now you all are looking like my mother, who is forcing me for marriage and telling me the boy's qualities. Friendship with you people has become expensive, seriously. This is only the first day, I have to live here for two years. On the first day a dog became our start-up for friendship."
Allah know what come next Zoya said..
"Not a dog, Bamson!" all said together.
But no one knew that Hana caught a painful point from her words and even she didn't realize what she had said when she spoke, 'You are looking like my mother, who is forcing me for marriage.' she didn't even realize what she had spoken.
Minji said, "Okay guys, it's too late and I think snow still and cold is too much. Take care of yourselves. And just now Minji was saying—" Zoya said, "Of course, we will take care of your idol's son also."
"Hana, won't you lay a bed for him? See how fresh he is and how he is sleeping."
Zoya asked
Hana quickly stood up. She was looking at her when she pulled another mattress from under her bed, and Zoya eye's eyes widened.
"Really? This much? Oh God."
She thought these girls impossible.
And then Hana put him in the middle. Zoya said, "No, not here. Look, I get up very quickly even in sleep when sometimes I have to go to the washroom. What if I am asleep and I step on your idol's son's neck? Then—" she put her hand on her own neck making a gesture as if saying he would die, "—and you all will curse me. Please not near the window either, my table is already mismanaged because you raised your nephew up there.
Uff, Zoya, uff, stop it."
Suddenly all said, "Why did you call him nephew?"
"Oh, your idol's son became your nephew. Look, idol is your brother and his son is your nephew."
Zoya said with smile
All their mouths opened, "Brother???"
She quickly went silent, slipped into her bed, pulled the blanket over her face and said, "Go, it's very late now, sleep."
But those four girls' hearts were still stuck only on that word Brother.
To be Continue....
Regards
ZK💌