The little boy's walk to the grave

The little boy walked
past the unswept stiarcases, the sleepy houses
past the smells of the night, the cigarette butts,
and the heap of leftover food collected on the sides of the streets, rotting and unclaimed by the street dogs
the slum was begining to wake up to the sounds of the megacity
the buses honked, the cars screeched
and the muezzin called from five different mosques
then the doors creaked, someone looked out of a window
but Wasim continued walking

outside the boundary of the graveyard
Wasim stopped, looked over his shoulder
nobody was around
he gently pushed open the gate
then he tiptoed to Aesha's grave
and sat down
For two weeks he had been coming here
after his sister died in a school stampede
for her, he carried incense sticks, and even brought roses
every morning he decked up the grave, sticking flowers around it
gently touching it, and lighting the incense
He always got up when Aesha prepared to leave for school
and he would turn his back and try to sleep again
because his school didn't start until noon
in the evenings they played together
his sister with her reddish hair and light eyes, a beauty
and he, dark, with a large nose envied her
she had delicate features and she stood first
Aesha had everything going for her

On the fateful day
when the stampede killed the girls
Aesha had crawled out
she was to live, and play with him, and marry into a nice house
but a voice called out to her, a friend who needed help
and Wasim had watched helplessly from the other side of the gate
he had gesticulated wildly, and screamed till the police shooed him away
On the other side of the gate, Aesha turned back
and disappeared into the dark staircase
Wasim ran home, and then saw his sister's body when they brought her home

So every morning he walks to her little grave
and talks to her
tells her about homework, about their mother, the news and everything else
for hours he sits there
sometimes, he carries a little of Aesha with him
and sprinkles the mud on the side of the bed where he sleeps