They say life is often about being at the right place at the right time. Tonight, that's exactly what happened.
I was at CTC mall and less than 2 km away, a massive blast shook up the city - literally! All we heard inside the mall while searching for yet more material for festivities (it's permanently wedding season in Pakistan) was the sudden rattling of a shop's shutter. Shopkeepers, immune to the state of Karachi as of late, ignored it. Within seconds - yes, seconds! - hundreds of shoppers poured in from behind us and rushed towards the exits. I heard some random voices saying it was an explosion in the building across the street. Our driver said he heard the blast loud and clear and had started to run away from the car. My cousins and aunt are equally immune to the pathetic lawlessness of Karachi and decided to drive over to another area to continue shopping. The city thought faster and everything was dead except for speeding cars escaping the city to find refuge in their homes. We managed to collect some more fabric along the way from a darkened alley. The lights had been switched off and the alley - in reality a tiny mall - was deserted. Luckily the shopkeepers agreed to come outside on street level and hand over the goods. The city, which fifteen minutes ago was hustling bustling with activity, became still. Unfortunately, the only time the roads are peaceful to drive on and the drive a pleasant one without honks blasting in your ear is at times when fear pushes people off the streets and threatens them into silence.
At home, four windows and one door had been forced open because of the blast. As someone who has fortunately never been through war or any real hardship (excluding a cheating ex and making a life for myself in a strange country twice), I'm still in shock I suppose. I couldn't even get myself to listen to the news afterwards. Too disturbing. Too real.
Lights out. The city's asleep.
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