Yasmeen wakes up stretches her arms over her head but does not need to open her eyes to know that Yasir sleepwalked into her room at four in the morning. Hes now fast asleep bunched up against the wall. His long legs are folded close to his chest and his head is hanging so low that his breath keeps stirring his curly hair. A notebook and pen lie on the floor by his slippers. In Hawagali Yasir usually sleeps in the attic but the twins are accustomed to waking up in each others rooms sometimes on chairs sometimes on the floor and often in the same bed. Yasir jerks himself up. It was about us flying to Hawagali. She finishes his sentence. But that is what they always do. He gets up and circles his neck. So how did it end? They both know how their dreams work. Sometimes he sees the beginning she the end and sometimes vice versa but their dreams are incomplete if they dont share them. Now fully awake Yasmeen grabs the new camera her mothers sister has given her and the twins race through the verandah to the back of the house. Its one of those warm sunny days one doesnt see very often in the mountains and they both want to spend every moment outside. On the way up Yasir stops by the kitchen screen-door and slips three cigarettes wrapped in newspaper under the water pot for the cook Riaz to retrieve when he takes a break. Yasir always there to help anyone who needs it supplies Riaz with the Dunhills Riaz loves but cant afford. Yasmeen sticks out her tongue at her twin. In return he grimaces at her and wags his thumbs in his ears.


AUTHOR: Sehba Sarwar grew up in Karachi Pakistan. She earned a bachelors degree from Mount Holyoke College (South Hadley USA) and a graduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Presently based in Houston (USA) Sehba is the co-founder and co-director of Voices Breaking Boundaries a non-profit multi-media arts organization that aims to create social change through art. In Houston Sehba performs her work at numerous venues including colleges and schools runs writing workshops for adults and teenagers and co-hosts a weekly radio show on local art and politics. Sehba is married to a Houston-based Chicano educator.