The sight of waterfall traumatizes me. I know I was young and naive but, couldn't I have thought about something else..?
Ahmed was my best friend, we shared good memories together as kids.
The villagers used to call us "the twin from different mothers". We did not look much alike , but we were given birth to by different mothers.
Everything changed the day we last visited kanji waterfall.
Everyone was there playing and enjoying themselves. And there, were the older kids , playing a game at the top of the waterfall. It was a bet.
Who ever jumps down would take the cash when we got back to the settlement at the village.
No one was willing to jump. After few seconds of silence, my friend Ahmed spoke up. He said he would do it.
I was surprised and doubtful with a little mockery expressions. Everyone was curious to know why he would risk his life for peanuts.
He reached the edge of the cliff and was prepared to jump down.
I saw the confidence he had from his face. But he was taking long to make the move.
So I pushed him.
It was usual, people used to jump in and climb back up.
While we were waiting for Ahmed to swim up, we didn't see anything. After looking down into the water for long without a sign.
People had to rush down and check on him.
I followed. When we got there, we swam into where I saw him land.
The whole area was covered with red pigment. Could that be blood? I thought. When I got closer , I saw a body laying lifeless. This was Ahmed .
What went wrong? We pull him out and discovered a crack on his skull.
Ahmed landed with his head on a rock.
I didn't know how to act. What have I done? What will I tell his parent? What will the village council do to me?
All this didn't matter . The only thing that mattered to me was see Ahmed's eyes open. But it never happened.
My parents were sued for murder because I was too young to go to jail.
Till today, no punishment the villagers gave to me and my parents was ever enough for what I did. They all didn't matter. I wanted to play one more time with my best friend. But I murdered him.
Image properly sourced
US-ANDREW 😜