This is How I wrote my First Ever Short Story
Younis, a teenager, was deep into his slumber through the chilly night of January in a small yet cosy bed in the mysterious town of Manghanwari. The boy, aloof from everything, opened his sleepy eyes and rubbed them with his cold hands. While yawning and still lying in bed, he turned to the bedside table to find his pack of cigarettes. However, what he saw with his blinking eyes was a shining golden key on his pack of cigarettes. He continued to gaze at the key while lighting his cigarette, remembering that it was an ancient key to an elusive door leading to an extraordinary world — a mystery to him.
After smoking a cigarette, he went to the washroom, brushed his teeth, took a bath, and got dressed. His mother had already prepared breakfast for him; he ate his meal and went outside to find his confidant, Babli, his only childhood friend with whom he always shared everything. When he met Babli on that cold, foggy morning, Babli also had a similar key. They both shared their discovery of the mysterious key. Upon closer inspection, everyone in Manghanwari seemed to have a similar key, and the streets echoed with folklore about the imagined world beyond the door.
Someone exclaimed that they had found fortune beyond the door last time, while Mir Sain, among the crowd, claimed that he had wished for good health and had become nearly superhuman since then, free from illness. Amidst the commotion, Younis and Babli grew more restless to explore beyond the door. However, a lingering thought troubled Younis, and he struggled to find the right moment to share it with Babli due to the chaos around them.
In his mind, Younis couldn’t pinpoint what he actually wanted to change in his life. He believed that altering life through superstitious means was not the solution to his problems. Despite his ambivalence, curiosity led him to contemplate exploring the imagined world to gain a new perspective on real life. Eventually, he decided to go beyond the door without asking for anything.
As the commotion died down, Babli asked, “Tell me what you want to ask for when you get beyond the door. I desire to ask for immense fortune.” “I don’t want anything from that superstitious world,” replied Younis. Babli, with knitted brows and a strange look, responded, “Khasi,” a term for a person without any worldly desires.
Suddenly, Sain Mir, standing across the street, yelled, “The door has been spotted in the cricket ground near the main street of Manghanwari.” Excited, everyone with a key rushed to experience the otherworldly adventure, leaving Younis and Babli behind. Both of them moved forward, and as they got closer to the door, Younis overheard someone saying, “Last time when I got beyond the door, I had nothing to ask for, yet I received everything in my heart.”
Hesitant, Younis became reluctant to go further with Babli. Despite Babli’s attempts to persuade him, Younis had made up his mind. As Babli entered the door, bidding goodbye, Younis felt his decision might seem strange or even wrong to his friends, but he knew he had made the right choice. Life is a precious gift, and giving it to superstition to alter for good is not the right path for growth. The correct way to change is through struggle. Thus, from that day onward, Younis doubled down on working on himself to achieve everything he could for the rest of his life.
