Miraal

The hospital. Bleak, dreary, filled with the sick and wounded, and even the dead. Eyes seemed to peek out from the walls, as people came in and out of this hall and that. Scurrying footsteps. Distant hacking. And the smells. Cold, dry air which would carry the faintest scent of urine to even the most obtuse of noses. People sob and cry outside the door, learning of a recent passing, struggling to cope with the loss. Others lean against the wall, keeping their grief to themselves. It was truly a nightmare.

And yet somehow, it is also a miracle. A gift, as if sent from God Himself. Ugly crying, and the loudest of shouts. The tickling sensation inside the heart of a family member realizing that their brother is finally cured and freed from the chains tying him to his bed. The labored breathing of a woman just recently given birth beginning to balance out as she begins to realize the beautiful bundle she brought into the world is alive and breathing too; her smile spreading large across her face as she holds the crying babe to her chest. The hospital, too, is a place filled with warmth, joy, excitement, and life.

*

"Oh, Lev, would you just take a look at her? She has your cute little nose."

"My nose? Ha, funny joke. I'd like to think she has yours instead. All... pointy and soft, or whatever."

"You still aren't that great with your words, huh?"

"You know me, Roshni. I've never been great with that type of stuff." The man smiled sheepishly. "Good thing you chose the name; I'd probably name her Barbara or something like that."

"Thank the good lord I didn't let you go through with that," she sighed. Roshni smiled down at the bundle in her arms, sound asleep. "How could you look at this cute thing and think, 'I wanna call her Barbara'?"

He leaned in closer to the baby's face, almost to the point where he was breathing on her. Lev shrugged. "Beats me."

"You're insufferable, you know that?"

"Yeah. But that's why you love me, right?"

"Right." She moved her hand to hold Lev's. He glanced at her, to their hands, and then back to her again. Whispering, she laughed tiredly, "I'm sure Miraal will too."

*

On the streets, people always told the couple what a sweet baby they had. They smiled and nodded and moved on; they didn't need to hear what they already knew to be true.

'What's this cutie's name?' Miraal.

'What's that mean?' She's an angel of heaven.

She never speaks out of turn, is always the top of her class, and respects her parents to boot. She does all the chores, is part of every club, and has great integrity. Is there anything Miraal can't do? She really, truly seems like an angel of heaven.

That's what they always said.

It's what her father, Lev, and her mother, Roshni, thought too. They told her they loved her. They told her she was the light of their life, the biggest blessing they could ever have. They told her they expected her to be the best and out-do everyone in the world. They told her she was the only one. Because she was an Angel of Heaven.