“Icarus! Whither?” Someone sang, their voice heavy with longing.
“I long to witness! I long to behold!” His face contorted with an ache for the unknown.
“Oh majestic, winged angel, your wings are fragile,” someone cried out, their voice thick with anguish.
“Fret not, mortal. I am formidable. I shall ascend to the heavens,” Icarus declared with a tinge of bitterness.
“But your wings are frail! You are frail,” a mournful wail rose from below.
As Icarus ascended higher, the supplications from someone blurred.
Unflinching, he soared ever higher, ripping through the gusts, cleaving through the shrouded skies. Then, he glimpsed it. “LIGHT!” “BLINDING LIGHT!”
“Sublimity! MY GOD!”
……….. From THE SKY ABOVE, a piercing cry unfurled,
Echoing through the mortal’s very core,
A tremor felt, as if the heavens hurled,
Their anguish down, through ethereal door.
“MY WINGS!” – he screamed.
“HIS WINGS” – I screamed.
“MY WINGSSSS!” – he cried.
“HIS WINGSSSSS!” – I cried
A warm droplet alighted upon my cheek, as if plucked from a stove’s, igniting sensation.
Swiftly, I swept my hand across, crying “Blood! Blood!” before succumbing to unconsciousness.
As I teetered on the edge of consciousness, Icarus descended, his wings aglow in a resplendent shade of gold beyond mortal imagination.
“Icarus! Your downfall was the sun’s betrayal. Your excessive love for it led to your ruin.”
A fiery entity chuckled, “Human, you misunderstand love entirely.”
“I harbor boundless affection for HIM,” I declared.
In the depths of my subconscious, a frantic whisper emerged, “You’re vanishing, you’re fading.” “What manner of love is this?”
“It is the love I reserve for my sole and eternal, the Ultimate, the Divine,” he proclaimed.
Tears streamed down my face. “I see your flesh tearing,” “something…. someone is seizing your essence, your soul,” “ICARUS!”
A deafening roar echoed, reverberating across the globe as if a meteor struck, signaling what seemed like the final trumpet.
A voice whispered in my ear, “Icarus encountered HIM and yearned to be by His side. But he paid the price.”
“As he plummeted from the sky, he ascended to heaven.”
When I finally opened my eyes, there was nothing but emptiness. Icarus had vanished. Only ashes and dust remained.
One question lingered in my empty mind as everything else faded with Icarus. “What was the cost he bore?”
-Nayab Saqib Ghani
About the writer-
In a world where bicycles and video games held sway over doll houses and make-up, Nayab found solace amidst chaos and dilemmas. Unyielding, she stood tall, undefeated, until confronted with the harsh reality of life. Initially destined for a path in pre-med, Nayab’s journey took an unexpected turn when the solace of Austen’s persuasion and Rumi’s love captured her heart. As she delved into literature, choosing Shakespeare over Darwin, Nayab faced the judgmental gazes and hurtful comments of those around her. However, amidst the noise, her mother’s unwavering support echoed: “Do what your heart says.” And Nayab’s heart whispered literature. At 23, having earned her Bachelor’s in English Literature, this is Nayab’s story.
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