Rewind

[Scene: Karim (25) Standing on the edge of a bed holding on to a part of it his face is clouded by fear and it’s like tears are going to come bursting out from his eyes he starts mumbling]

Karim: Hey you are kidding right, this isn’t real is it. It can’t be happening, hey tell me. {Flashback}

[Scene: Karim locked his cycle outside then rushed inside his house then to his room he jumped onto his bed after throwing off his bag then starts playing game on his phone]

*12-12-14*

Karim:
I’m Karim(25). I'm a university student. Last year I passed my HSC exam. My parents were furious after my results came out. To be honest I myself was kind of shocked but what to do what’s got its gone. I live in Aractic, it's a city of Bermuda. I live here with my family which consists of me, my little sister, and my parents. After I passed high school, I had dreams to study in Marshal Arai College. My classmates are also getting admitted in it even though it didn’t need high-end results required to get admitted here but it would take a heavy amount of money.

[Scene: Karim’s sister Arisa (19) knocks on his door then comes inside]

Arisa: Brother are you in there? Mother is calling, come out dinner is ready. {Karim shouts at Arisa and tells her to go eat. He will be there after finishing the game. Arisa goes back}

[Scene: After a few minutes Karim’s mother tells Karim to open the door his father has arrived. Karim then goes to open the door then after that all of them sit at the table to eat. At that moment Karim speaks out]

Karim: Have you gathered the money to pay for the exam? {Mr. Basir shakes his head}

Mr. Basir: Yes, the money is ready, but hear me out son, do you really want to study there? You know after that incident how we are struggling with our family now this amount of money. I know you wished to study there but if you had better results you would have entered a better varsity, maybe in a government varsity it would’ve been better for our family. There is still time. I know it will be hard to be alone without your old friends but sometimes you need to make some sacrifices for others' good, boy. {Karim throws the glass on the floor then gets out of the dining room and locks himself in his room again}

Mr. Basir: There he goes again, why won’t that boy think once for what's better. I know what he is feeling but he just can’t see through something that I want him to do if only he listened to me. {scene ends}

[Scene: Karim sitting on his chair saying to himself about what it could've been if his father didn’t have that accident and had to lose his job]

Karim: I just wanted to fulfill my one dream if only I had another chance in life, if only I could change the way it is. {Suddenly a voice speaks out}

Voice: Is it so, if you had another chance, if you changed the way it is, will you be happy with the outcome? {Karim at first thought it was his father who was speaking but after a few seconds he realized it was someone else but who, he can’t see anyone}

Karim: Who is it who speaks? {A man appears behind Karim then puts his hand on Karim’s shoulder then speaks}

Man: You don’t have to look back, just listen. What if I give you another chance, will you be happy to change the past? Will you accept your fate and face the consequences that come with it? Remember if you fail to make any changes to your life, you will end up just as you are, as how things have been written for you. But remember this, even if it stays the same, for the little changes you make there might be a different outcome. {Karim without even thinking for once agreed, then the man closed Karim’s eyes with his hand and Karim fell asleep}

[Scene: Karim wakes up when he hears someone calling for him while knocking the door with the voice of a child can be heard. Karim stands up then opens the door then he sees Arisa(10) but waits a second, why she is so small. Then he sees his father getting ready for office, what happened here; his parents look much younger too. Then he runs to the dining room in front of a mirror. He was stunned when he saw himself. His mother shouts at him telling him to get ready or else his father won't be able to drop him to school. Karim looked at his phone to check the date when he saw the date he looked up for once then looked back again to check the watch. It was 11:23 / 09-10-12.

Karim: Dad, you can go, I will go alone today. {Karim goes back to his room then he realizes what has happened. Few days have passed}

Armin: Karim please take care of Arisa, your father forgot to take his laptop with him so I'm going to his office to give it back. {She left}

[Scene: Things were going well, Karim was having a great time again, he couldn’t imagine that he had been given a second chance. He studied hard, everything was going ok until that one fateful day when his father had that accident which will start the beginning of the dark chapter of their life, but this time it was more catastrophic. Karim got a call from an unknown number.]

Karim: Hello, who is it?

Unknown person: Is it Karim speaking? If I'm not wrong, is your parent’s name {checks ID cards} Mr. Basir and Mrs. Armin.

Karim: Yes, who are you and where did you get those names?

Unknown person: I’m a doctor from Omaha Hospital. Your parents have been admitted here. Can you come here as soon as possible?

Karim: Hospital? What happened? Hello sir, what has happened to my parents? {Arisa comes out from her room and grabs her brother's legs, asks what's wrong}

Doctor: It seems like your father had a heart attack while both of them were on the bike before crashing. {The world stopped for Karim for a moment. He almost lost his senses until his sister shook his legs}

Doctor: Hello, is anyone there?

Karim: Yes, yes, I'm coming.

[Scene: Karim took Arisa in his arms then ran out of their house, took a taxi, then reached the hospital. Upon reaching, he rushed to a nurse while asking. The doctor that called Karim came to him and asked if he is Karim or not. Upon confirming, he took both of them to the room where their parents were. Arisa jumped from Karim's arm when she saw her parents lying on the hospital bed. She ran to her mother and tried to shake her when the nurse stopped her. Then Karim asked the doctor how they are doing.]

Doctor: Not good. Your mother has injured her head upon crashing and your father's situation is worse than hers. He suffered both a heart attack and damage. It's a miracle that he is still alive. Pray to The Almighty boy, we can’t do anything unless he gets back to his senses.

{Karim grabbed one edge of the bed}

Karim: Hey, you are kidding right? It's not true, isn't it? Tell me it can't be happening! I didn't want this, so why? Everything was going right then why I don’t want this. Lord, please, please don’t do this. {Karim starts crying when Arisa comes and hugs him}

Voice: You said you could face any changes, any consequences. {Karim looks at the door when he sees that doctor standing right there, but the voice isn’t the same, it's the voice from that day. Then the man comes closer and takes Arisa on his lap then looks at Karim}

Doctor: Why do you ask The Almighty to change something again? You said you could face anything. You will be happy if you were given a second chance, but here you are not.

Karim: How can I be? Can’t you see my parents are dying? How can I be happy? I don’t want this. Please change things back. I am ready to sacrifice this for the life of my parents.

Doctor: Now you want to sacrifice this life for the sake of your parents' lives, ha? I told you that if you try to change your fate, there will be heavy consequences. Did you care to understand back then? Now you want to sacrifice, but why couldn’t you do that when your father told you to? Life isn’t easy, sometimes making sacrifices for others is needed to progress in life. Did you know how hard your father tried to fulfill your wish alongside running your family? You didn't, you just wanted to fulfill your wish like a greedy person. {Karim stood still like a rock, no words came out from his mouth}

Doctor: I’m not saying don't fulfill your dreams, don't work hard to achieve what you want, but you have to understand the situation always. Without sacrifices, there is no life.

Karim: I understand where my mistake was. I'm ready to get punished for it but please save my parents. That's the last request I have.

Doctor: Well then. {Everything goes blank}

[Scene: Karim wakes up, looks around himself then he hears his mother knocking the door]

Armin: Karim, wake up, it's morning already.

[Scene: Karim jumps out of the chair then opens the door and sees his mother standing right there. His father is standing behind her. Tears come out of Karim’s eyes then he hugs both of them and says]

Karim: I’m sorry. {As the story ends}