Boy (A Novella)

Abstract

Ayub, a year older and with an overactive imaginati on, cannot cope with the ever changing world. He grows up in a loving family whic h comprises his father, an editor for a national newspaper and his mother, a hotel owner. B ut the complexities of the changing world push him into his imagination where he creates imag inary companions – his secret friends – who guide him along his journey of discovery and often offer an alternative to the ‘real’ world. Ayub looks up to his parents and they become the an chor that holds him to reality. His relationship with his father is particularly strong and he seems to learn a lot from him. But the changes in the world prove too harsh for him and he is pushed further and further into his imagination and further away from reality and the r elationships around him. When the Head of State is almost overthrown, the co untry goes through a significant change that leads to his father losing his job and later his identity. Ayub has to deal with a father who is angry at the world, who becomes Abusive, and who becomes a shadow of what he used to be. Ayub has to travel through worlds to find his f ather and ultimately himself. After losing his job, his father becomes an alcohol ic and gets into trouble with the Party of The Cock which eventually arrests him causing hi s family – and Ayub – to fall further into turmoil. Ayub has to reconcile with the changing wo rld around him and beyond, and find his place.