On a quiet Monday morning

On a quiet Monday morning

By: T.

The alarms from her clock pierced Mahazarin's eardrums. Rubbing her sleep-encrusted eyes, she forced herself out of bed. The air in her enclosed bedroom smelt of old sneakers, sweat and Ralph Lauren Blue. It smelt of drowsiness and sleep.

But, the red digits on her alarm clock read 7.30 am. She wondered why she had bothered to wake herself up so early that day. Sliding her sluggish feet into a pair of chappals, she dragged herself to the bathroom, washed her face and began brushing her teeth. Spitting out the toothpaste, she remembered.

French Final.

With a groan, she bore a cold shower, warmed herself by donning black jeans and a hoodie and stuffed a granola bar into her mouth. The smell of frankincense wafted from the kitchen. Mahazarin heaved a sigh of relief. Her mother would be praying in front of a framed photograph of Zoroastrian prophets and would be too busy lighting sandalwood fires to notice that Mahazarin was leaving without praying or eating a proper breakfast.

Her sneakered feet made little sound as she grabbed her large shoulder bag, cell phone and car keys.

"Mom, I gotta go now," she called out. "I think I still have my period so I didn't pray today and I ate a granola for breakfast! Don't freak out, ok? Ciao!"

She heard a loud clang of something falling on the kitchen tiles and her mother's angry grunt before she shut the door and ran to the garage. As her second-hand Honda warmed up, she began checking her voice-mail.

"Hey, this is Jignesh. Do you have yesterday's English notes, yaar? I missed class. Call me ok? And are you going to the South Asian Formal? Lemme know. Bye!"

She deleted it with a click.

"Honey-bun, I mish you. SMACK!"

The beep of a text message disturbed her and she accidentally deleted the message.

"Oh no," she moaned. "I wanted to keep that."

Angrily, she switched to her inbox to see who had messaged her so early.

New Messages (1)

Sender: George "Rocker" Clayton (Private Number)

Time: 7.48 am

"yo losa! u comin' today or what? im in da study rm already. move ur ass or its gonna fill up!"

Panic. Panic. Panic.

He was right. The study room filled up by 8 am usually during exam week and she had wanted to get a head start on revision for the exam.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of tarmac roads, street lights and neatly planted trees before she pulled up into the campus parking lot. The morning was cloudy and peaceful. She revelled for a moment in the silence before the university filled up with boisterous students and honking cars.

Slamming the car door shut, she began running to the smaller study room in the library where George liked to study.

She nearly collided with a guy walking in the opposite direction. He pushed her aside, with a hard shoulder and kept walking without another glance.

"What the fishhh…" she bit off the swear word habitually even though she wanted to curse the moron for not apologizing. For some odd reason, she did not scream, but turned and watched him. He appeared to be carrying a package in his hand and a very bulky backpack on his left shoulder. His bright red scarf carelessly fluttered behind him.

The springtime breeze was pleasant, but she felt a chill run down her spine as she saw him. Her cell phone buzzed against her thigh, reminding her that George was waiting. Shaking off the chill caused by the rude man, she raced to the study room and pushed open the door quietly.

George saw her and snapped his phone shut with a glare. He had good reason. The study room was completely full. There was not a single table free. If George moved, he would lose his spot as well.

Its ok, she mouthed. I'll go somewhere else.

George sighed and stuck his French book under his arm before getting up quietly and pulling Mahazarin out with him.

"Loser. You're always late. Do you think I was gonna be able to cram without you helping me out, dumass?"

"You're such biatch, Georgina," Mahazarin giggled.

"Don't call me that."

"But, you bitch and gossip better than any of my girlfriends. Of course I'm gonna call you that, mah looove."

"O shaddup!"

They bickered their way around the corner before they heard the first shot. Then a bloodcurdling scream. Then another gunshot. And another.

Mahazarin found herself slammed on the tiled floor; the vibrations of her heart were filtering into the ground.

George swore. "Someone has been shot. Some goddamn bas***d shot people round the corner…"

"George, let's get out of here, Mahazarin whispered, shivering violently. Her eyes watered in despair.

The gunshots rang out behind them as they ran out of the building. Students were hiding in every corner. Fear was etched on all of their faces.

Mahazarin did not know many of them by name. This was after all a pretty big university. But, that evening she found out more about one of them.

An armed gunman had entered the study room where they had been planning to study and shot every single occupant there before taking his own life. He was wearing a red scarf around his neck. The university shut down classes soon after the massacre and advised students to go home.

Mahazarin called her mother.

"Mahzu, tu theek che ne? Oh, Mahzu, maro to jaan nikli gayo!" Her mother cried out amidst sobs.

Biting her lip to control her own tears, Mahazarin replied. "Yes, Mummy, I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm coming home…"

That night, before going to the vigil that the students had organized for the victims, Mahazarin prayed and tied her kusti around her waist. She thanked God that she was not one of them.

Author's Note: This story is in dedication to the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings on April 16, 2007 and their families. May their souls rest in peace.

P.S. Do read and review. While this is a dedication piece, any criticism is appreciated.

Very well written Mysti. When you were describing the guy with the red scarf i thought of the Virginia Tech shootings, honestly. So i guess the feeling you wanted to capture of their collision was right otherwise i wouldn't have thought of it.
The story does get me thinking how everyone was going about their normal routines and this came out of the blue. Really sad.

Awesome Mysti dii and Thanks! Untile you described the guy in the red scarf, it all seemed like a normal day to me. Then everything kind of changed from light to dark. The mood so changes! It quite makes me think of how many people's lives had changed with one single event. And how much,we, living across the world, are affected by it.

omg.... u've written it so well, its almost as if u were there.... 😊
its really sad that some ppl for their own selfishness can actually go to the extent of killing 32, 32 innocent ppl 😭 😭 😭
i didnt know any of d 32 ppl who died, but i do hope & pray that they rest in peace 😭 😭

Thanks Azzy, Nutz and Shriya for the lovely reviews!

Great capture, Tanaz! 👏 Good transition....Very good attempt 😃 😃 😃

Mysti di, the writing style was effortless and the narrations were very effective. You're definitely frozen the that moment that shocked and silenced everyone with your brilliant writing!

👏 u really did a gr8 job 👏 it really touched me 😭

Thanks Maryam, Preeti and Shelly! 😳

I wrote this in a rush because I was studying for exams and I wasn't really satisfied with it.

It is very well written Tanaz. You are such an excellent writter.

As Azzy mentioned, the story caught me offguard. Watching a girl go through her regular day-to-day routine and then suddenly reading about the shots caught me offguard. It shows how the students must have felt when the left their sheltered homes in the morning and had their lives affected forever by seeing this. So many of them didn't get to return. Shows the unpredictibility of life.

Brilliant writing Tanaz. It was simply excellent 👏