You caused great disappointment to someone…

Or you made a bad mistake and tried to put things right…

"So which track should we take boys ?" Abdullah inquired. He was our leader of the day. The reason we
chose him to be our guide and the front-runner was simply because he knew the Margala hills very well;
and also because we were his guests in Islamabad. Although Ali and I were known to have stronger
surviving skills, yet we were happy the way things were moving. Saim however, was only good for
cracking jokes. So, there we were, four of us at around two thousand feet from sea level, starting our
trekking venture into the thickness of lush green Margala mountain of Islamabad, famously called as
Hills.

Our unanimous reply to Abdullah’s inquiry was the ‘eastern path’, because we had already heard that it
was only half-built trek and would be more dangerous; and we believed ‘danger is adventure’.

Our journey began and our destination was the famous Pathan restaurant about 100 feet below the
peak of the mountain, but trekking from the eastern side was like climbing a cliff to that point. It was
fascinating and scary at the same time.

We enjoyed the twists and turns learning a great deal from each other’s talk. Saim however, was just
goofing around and taking snaps. Thanks to markings of Ali we never lost our way. But this journey took
a turn when I confronted Saim for a mischief.

After finishing his water supply he secretly opened the cap of my bottle which was in the outside pocket
of my backpack. With a straw he drank all of my water as well. I only came to know when Abdullah and
Ali started laughing their hearts out.

At this point I got so furious at him I pushed Saim really hard. He slipped and fell on a dangerous boulder
on the edge of the mountain. Luckily, Saim fell against its support. Abdullah got serious at that and very
soon I also realised my mistake, but chuckling of Saim was a sign that no harm was done. But as soon as
we turned to move forward, the whole boulder slid and fell off the edge onto the bushes below and
then rolled a few metres as well. Saim had fallen along with it. We all shrieked and my heart came to my
throat. Quickly I got down by running downhill a little, but there was no sign of Saim.

I shouted to Abdullah to go to the initial point where we got the mobile signals and call for ambulance,
while I found Saim in a small trench down below. I asked Ali to take out first aid box and went down to
fetch Saim. He was almost unconscious, bleeding from his forehead. I carried him up and together with
Ali brought him at the starting point where ambulance was waiting.

I had made a terrible mistake and in order to compensate for it I donated one pint blood upon hospital’s
request. I really felt bad until Saim opened his eyes and said, “Are you nuts?” as soon as he saw me. We
chuckled with teary eyes, but I had learnt my lesson.