Fizah

شکرانہ|Shukrana

"Khwaab se nahi khwaab dekhne se darte hai, acchi zindagi ki khwaaish karain kaise jab zindagi ko dard ke andhere me dooba dekhte hain."

The blue sea smiled widely at Fizah as she looked at it in awe. The sun had just started to settle under the sea, leaving the traces of burnt red in the sky. Fizah came out of her house to help Ayda in her cafe and to tell her the happy news but got stuck in the middle when the magnificent view caught her eyes. Karachi was indeed beautiful. And to celebrate, she decided to bake a cake and feed it to the homeless, unattended people she often found laying on the corner of pavement. Those moments were one of the times when she felt gratitude for having a safe roof over her head and she was not left on the roads. For gratitude is all it takes to please the creator of universe

Fizah fished her phone out of the bag to capture the enthralling beauty of the bewitching sun and while unlocking, her eyes accidentally fell on the date. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Tears pooled in her eyes as she visibly gaped. It was her brother's birthday. She sucked in a wisp of air that it ached. This was his ninth birthday without her. His birthdays were her favourite that she learnt to bake frosted cupcakes only for him given it was his most favourite.

"May Allah be with you today and every day, happy birthday Saleh!" she wiped the lone tear that went astray and took off from there to distract herself from what awaited. It was not the time to break down and be sad. If Allah willed, she would meet her elder brother again.

Roads were busy, people were in haste to reach their abode. No one would want to waste weekend eve, it was the time they got to spend with family post the busy weekdays at schools, universities and at work. She walked past the sweaty bodies getting crumbled between the crowd. She muttered harmless curses for choosing to go out in the rush.

Fizah got exposed to the warming aroma of vanilla and coffee as she stood at the entrance of the cafe. She waited all day for this moment when she would tell Ayda about the job. The cafe was less crowded. She heaved a sigh of comfort but that didn't live long when someone smacked the back of her shoulder. She yelped and pivoted on her heels to see Hamza stand with his brow cocked up.

"You're early, don't you think?" He asked sarcastically.

"Gee thanks for informing! I know it already." Fizah scoffed, snatching the half-eaten sandwich from him. She walked away to Ayda after pushing Hamza lightly by his shoulder.

Ayda stood near the smoothie maker with berries laying around the counter and pretended to search for something when she saw Fizah enter into the kitchen. She crouched down and rested her hand above her eyelids and rolled her eyeballs sideways. Fizah got confused. She went up to Ayda and watched her actions.

"What is lost?" She asked. Her palm rested on Ayda's left shoulder. Her rose gold dupatta fell off from her crown and settled in the neck.

"There's this friend I have, her name is Fizah. I have been trying to contact her since morning and she is not available so I was wondering if she is lost somewhere under the kitchen counter. Mind helping me." Her eyes were still on the white tiles like Fizah might actually disappear in them.

"Well I can't. I heard she ran off somewhere." Fizah sighed exaggeratedly and jumped on the counter grasping a strawberry or two and tossed it into her mouth. She waved her legs waiting for Ayda to stand on her feet.

"Ayda, come on."

With that and with a straight face, Ayda stood up and glared at Fizah, "Do you even know how worried I was? Where in the hell were you?"

Fizah had her phone switched off so she could sleep for a bit but ended up sleeping the entire afternoon after the Friday prayer. She looked down because she had no answer knowing she wouldn't take that for an answer as she never slept in the day. She slowly chewed the berry, swallowing the juice, hearing Ayda's concerned and tired sighs.