Amir Saleem

“What would you want to be when you grow up Martin? A doctor or a pilot?”

“I want to build bridges”, he would always answer to such questions with such strong innocence that they wouldn’t bother asking him why. They would just stare at him and turn the conversation to his newly bought toys.

Two years back, he got what he wanted; he finally became a construction engineer, bought a house in the suburbs and married Sera, the love of his life. His innocent replies were long gone; today he was the best bridge maker in the country. He would spend 25 hours a day to his passion; building bridges, making two distant horizons meet and connect, shrinking the expanse between two places. Each time he would complete a bridge; he would stand on it the next morning and watch sun dance over it.

Last night Sera left for her parents’, for good. She was tired of living with a shadow that was fading with each passing sunrise.

Martin stood there on the unfinished bridge while the sun went down. He remembered building bridges, but forgot to sustain them.