The singing of birds, laughs of the children, the beauty of nature, this is what attracted me to this place. To many people this was a normal park but to me this place was special. It reminded me of the old times, the times when I was a carefree kid just like the ones playing here. I too, like them would spend hours playing here,enjoying every moment of my life. Above all,the major reason why it is is so special to me is because this reminds me of the last few blissful days I have spent with my family.
Its been ten years, but the memories are still fresh. I remember each and every thing that happened. It was July 1999. Everyone was finding a way to escape the extreme summer of Karachi. Surprisingly, my parents decided to travel towards the north. It was unexpected for us as we hardly went anywhere. My father was usually out of town because of his business and mother too busy with her social life. They hardly had time for us. My elder brother and sister had no problem with it a they thought what mum and dad were doing was all for us. I agreed with them but but I can not deny the fact that I felt lonely. My family was never there for me when I needed them. At that time I felt as if they did not even love me, but now I realized how much they were important for me.
Finally in mid-July we reached our destination, the beautiful valley of Swat. I had heard a lot about it from my class-mates who visited these kind of places almost every year. The beautiful mountains, the pleasant weather made me want to be there forever. Every single thing showed the signs of nature and I asked myself how can be things so perfect? Till then I was unaware of the evil practices going on inside this totally different world.
We were greeted by a native of Swat. He greeted us in Urdu but his accent was different. The man, his name Asif, took us to our guest house. Those days were one of the most amazing days of my life. I made quite a lot of friends there. There was this Nadir,son of asif, and Salman, his friend. Nobody there could pronounce my name properly. They always said Yaseer instead of Yasir. These people did not get any formal education but they were an expert in the stuff the they did. The kids were of my age,8 or maximum 10, but mentally and physically much more stronger than me.
As days passed I grew more aware of the different culture of this place. I enjoyed visiting the all the historic places but my favorite place was this park. I came here almost every day and spent hours here. On my last day of the trip my whole family was together in the park. It was for the first time we all had been together on this trip. As I was playing I saw few men coming towards me. They were weird men with long beards and were wearing a turban on their head. I ran away from them but they,of course were faster than me. I started to shout for my family. They heard me and made their way towards me but they were too far away. In a split of second those men grabbed me and threw me in a van. There were many kids there. A few faces I recognized but others were unfamiliar. The man stepped in and after that I don't remember a thing that happened.
*
Since that day I am with these people. I heard from somewhere that while I was being thrown in that car some other people killed my family. Killed almost everyone who was present there. Its been ten years now. As much as I regret that day I also feel glad that every thing happened. If it would not have taken place I would be out there doing the wrong. With these people I at least learned what was right and I am glad I chose this path. Still sometimes, I think that what we are doing might be a sin. How can killing those innocent people can be a good thing. It is true that they are doing what is wrong but STILL. Our leader say that we have to fight. Fight to bring people to right path.
I returned back to the headquarters. Tomorrow was the big day. I was the on leading the men who were leaving for Islamabad. I was too exhausted to even eat so I went straight to bed.The next day we left before dawn. All the way I thought about the same thing again and again. I don't know why but I was feeling that this was not right. We were going to attack one of the major places of Islamabad. The name of the place was to be told when we reached our destination.
At reaching Islamabad we were to go directly to the headquarters there.There, while the master was telling us about our major plan, I was again and again distracted by the thoughts that kept me from achieving my noble goal.
At night I couldn't sleep. I was not sure that whether it was fair to kill those people. I know how it felt when you lose all your family. When there is no one left for you. The door creaked open and in came a dark tall man. He sat down beside me. I didn't recognize him but he seemed to know me.
He spoke in a hard voice " You having second thoughts boy?"
I did not reply.
"Look, I see you have the potential to finish all this. I mean how many more lives are we going to take. If you think I am right the finish it off. You know how to do it."
I again kept silent and just stared at him. He than gave up and left the room.
The next morning everyone seemed to be ready to do what they thought was noble.I quietly
joined them in the bus. On my way I thought about what that man had said. May be I could change it.
The car stopped. This was it. This was the place where we had to give our lives. The master asked me for our main equipment for this mission. I hesitated. He asked again and I retreated. All the eyes were on me.
I made my decision . I won't let any other life get wasted for no reason. I had to do it.Nothing was going to stop me now.
" It's better to die here than kill anyone else."I spoke in a shaky voice. These were the last words that I ever said.I pressed the button.Everything was over!
