Zain Faaris

“A Day of Minor Inconveniences” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #188

No working day, tomorrow. The wife is out of town to visit her mom, no bills due, no errands pending, nothing big, at least…Finally, after like what, months!? I get to have a weekend where being selfish won’t hurt,Hopefully, today doesn’t suck. Let it not be ruined by more than a few minor inconveniences…******Okay, will have to get ready and show up at office today, sigh…I mean I could take a day off, it seems like a great day to take one off, I mean.Sadly, I’ve exhausted all my personal day-off allowances for this quarter. Darn it! Shouldn...

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“The Great Human Recollection” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #186

It was raining outside, pretty unusual, considering it ought to be bright and sunny typically during this time of the year. Johnny seems not too bothered at the sight of the heavy spell outside. Poor lad…if not for the power outage, his library of video games would be giving him company. And he’s a grateful boy, not wishing for anything else more than those collections that he already possess and cherishes. Jeff wanted to make lunch, he felt it’s been a while since he cooked anything. I remember the last time he cooked. Pizza Margarita. ...

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“Two Mutual Friends (and their Quest)” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #181

“Tranquil here, ain’t it?”“Mmm…ya, I guess. To be honest, I don’t get the appeal. It just seems like any other random café to me.”“Maybe it doesn’t seem that way to you because you befriended him long after he stopped showing up here…”“And yet, in all these years of having known him as a friend, the two of us never hung out here.”“I stopped being a regular here after one fine day.”“Food sucks here?”“What? Nah…that ain’t it. Although, the taste isn’t what it used to be. Honestly, I can’t blame them, knowing how intense the past few years have...

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“A Forgotten Future...” by Zain Faaris

“Back in my day….”Oh boy….here he goes, every single time whenever I am supposed to serve his obligatory cup of evening chai!And every single time, it’s such a chore! Either it’s about how swift he was in his old job at the post office. Remembering almost every single detail from every single task he did. Or how he savored the dishes he used to have so thoroughly, from a restaurant that closed a few years back and the one that he used to be a regular customer of.Honestly, for someone as senior in age as himself, one would expect him to be a ...

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“Enacting the Unfamiliar and the Unknown” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #105

I CANNOT believe what I am looking at!It’s…..breathtaking! Jaw-dropping! Awe-inspiring…..I have only come across this through third-person accounts. Through the tales told by those who are no longer with us. Through reading texts that have been long since forgotten, its language having morphed into something else, entirely.I was tempering my expectations, trying to rationalize myself that what I might end up seeing, won’t be as spectacular and grandeur as I might imagine myself of it being. Since I love fleshing out my imaginative streaks in...

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“Breaking the Barrier” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #104

“Are you coming tonight?”An awkward pause ensues.“It would be fun! Almost all of them will likely show up. We haven’t pulled this off prior, and I bet we can never pull off something like this again! You’ll be missing out a lot!”“Bro… I’d love to but….”“.…but what?”“Let me finish first, geez!”, this is not the first time that he does this to me, as he has this habit of doing this to others too, “But….I….have some….errands….. to take care of. Personal ones. Wish I could tell what they are but as I said, personal.”“Mo, why do you be like this?...

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“Longing...” by Zain Faaris

Submitted to Contest #102

As the bell rings, all that spirit and energy that I and the others seemed to lack, returns. I pack my belongings and bail myself out of school, as fast as I could.Ah…..September. Evening time. The sky is lit orange, as so are the leaves in almost every tree that I could see. Warm and fuzzy, as will the supper that’ll be awaiting me with impatience. What will it be today? Pie, pizza, cookies? Regardless….I am starving.I walk briskly to my home, barely a mile away from here. In the next street, in the middle of it, lies a lush park. A place w...

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