“Set me free! I feel suffocated in here,” Monis begged the cruel man to release him.

“No, you have to live and die here,” said the cruel man while giving Monis a wicked smile.

“No, no!” shouted Monis as he moved back. Monis then opened his eyes to find that he had actually been dreaming. “Oops! It was just a dream,” saying this, he got up and freshened up.

It was a Saturday morning and Monis, a school teacher, took a cup of tea and then went jogging. After he returned home, he went to the dining table and was having breakfast when his childhood friend, Aziz, come to meet him. Monis invited him to have breakfast too.

“Hello, Aziz. How are you? I am seeing you after a very long time.”

“I am fine. I was passing by and thought I should drop in and meet you. Yes, it has been a long time,” replied Aziz.

“You did the right thing. I often think of you and our school days,” replied Monis with a nostalgic expression on his face.

“I have some exciting news to share with you!” said Aziz excitedly.

“Really? What is that?” asked Monis.

“Haven’t you had a look at the newspaper today? My daughter, Zarjan, has topped in the medical college entrance test,” explained Aziz with great pride.

“Congratulation!” Monis replied to Aziz.

“By the way, where is your daughter, Fahmeeda? I can’t see her. Which class is she studying in now?”Aziz asked.

“Actually, she doesn’t go to school.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t?”asked a surprised Aziz.

You are cruel because you have never thought of your daughter’s education. Have you ever bought a school book for your daughter? You spent a lot to educate your son and left Fahmeeda to do the household chores only.

“She doesn’t go to school because of some personal problems,” came the answer, followed by an awkward silence.

After a pause, Aziz finished his coffee and said, “Ok, then I will leave.”

Aziz left Monis’s house and after that Monis started reading the newspaper and then went about his weekend routine. That night when Monis slept, the previous night’s dream returned to haunt him.

“Let me be free! Please let me go outside!” Monis begged for his freedom.

“Why do you want to go outside the house, despite having everything? You have a nice room, nice clothes to wear and you get to eat food on time. What else is missing here?” replied the cruel man.

“I am not born to be caged in this small room. It is suffocating here. I want to see and explore the outside world. I too want to see the beauty of nature,” Monis begged as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“No way! You have to work for me,” the cruel man replied with anger.

Monis then got up from his sleep with a jerk and couldn’t get back to sleep. The dream continued to trouble him for a few night more, until one morning at the breakfast table his father noticed his worried face.

“You look disturbed and as if you haven’t slept much. Is everything fine, beta?” Mr Bahad asked.

“Yes, papa, I had a very terrifying dream last night,” shared Monis.

“So what? Beta, dreams are parts of our lives,” replied Monis’s father.

“I know father, but I have been seeing a nightmare for a few days now.”

“What was it about?” asked Mr Bahad. Monis narrated whole the dream to his father.

“So this is the case,” said Monis’s father while keeping his teacup down. “Tell me, how did you feel when you weren’t allowed to go outside?”

“I felt suffocated. I was so scared and frightened by the cruel man because if I would have said something, he would have killed me. I was missing my freedom.”

“Listen to me carefully, beta. That dream signifies that you are cruel in your real life.”

“What?” exclaimed Monis with surprise on hearing the word ‘cruel’ being used for himself.

“My son, freedom is the right of everyone, be it a bird, a fish or even human beings. We don’t have the right to snatch anybody’s freedom. Everyone has the right to breathe in open air, the right of freedom of speech and the right to be free to become educated. You are cruel because you have never thought of your daughter’s education. Have you ever bought a school book for your daughter? You spent a lot to educate your son and left Fahmeeda to do the household chores only,” Monis’s father explained.

“But we can’t go against our customs and start sending girls to schools!” reasoned Monis.

“That is our misconception. No custom, the world over, forbids girls from gaining education. Am I not a Baloch and follower of the same customs as you? But I sent both you and your sister to school. If you don’t send Fahmeeda to school today, then her children will be uneducated tomorrow. In reality, Fahmeeda doesn’t have the right to go outside the house, just like you couldn’t go out of the house in your dream.”

Monis felt ashamed of his old-fashioned thinking and he realised how cruel he was with his own child.

“Now I got it, father. I won’t deny Fahmeeda her freedom and I will educate her well,” replied Monis emotionally. He now called out to Fahmeeda.

“Do you want to go to school, Fahmeeda?”asked Monis, while giving her a kind pat on her head.

There was stunned silence from Fahmeeda at first. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After Monis repeated his question, she answered delightfully, “Yes papa, please can I?”

“Yes my dear. You have to study a lot and beat my friend Aziz’s daughter’s record in the exams,” saying this he hugged his daughter.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 28th, 2018