Resounding Rhythm Of Rutted Love

Chapter-26 Companionship Of Metaphors

23 October 2021

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Anyone who wants to have his provision expanded and his term of life prolonged should maintain ties of kinship."

Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 56

Afreen ended the call when the receiver didn't pick up for the fifth time in the row. While texting the message the last time, she watched the screen diminish as it eventually blacked out. She sighed exhaustively. Nothing was making sense. The responses from Samira's side had almost turned non-existential. After the abrupt revelation, Samira had stopped texting Afreen and it was only Afreen who would text and query her wellness. And eventually, her responses became brief and abruptly halted. Even the calls were being forwarded.

At first, Afreen was least bothered by the messages that were left on read by Samira. She deciphered that Samira, being the victim of a bruising past akin to her own, needed time to process the events and to compose her counterbalance, but as Afreen started to feel the communication gap, she became apprehensive. She had visited Samira's house yesterday and found her to be nowhere. She was welcomed by Haaim alone and when she showed her desperation to meet Samira, Haaim instantly shunned the topic away by saying that she was unwell and Afreen immediately recognised the discomfort in his voice but concluded not to intrude the privacy that he was veiling.

She exhaled heavily, packing her belongings as she made her way out of the house. She was going to Fajr's house, which was located near the orphanage, and often remained overwhelmingly excited about meeting the old lady, but during the journey to the house, her thoughts were boggled up and exasperated, wiping her sanity. She was restless and wondered if she was the reason for Samira's pain.

A feeling of melancholy tucked into her heart, refusing to go away. Her thoughts burned with unfathomable intensity. This time, the events seemed to be tangible enough as a complicated maze with no possible means to detangle it. She was left to experience a dreadful silence with an unknown guilt. It appeared as if the end to their friendship was near. They say to leave your past behind, but her pain was rooted in the past and had branches that reached into the present. Nonetheless, she was left with no choice but to experience the stagnant phase. When anything demands a person to feel, they should not shun it but rather let themselves feel the emotions in every fibre of their being. If they resist the obvious emotion, it gets accommodated and eventually breaks them, and Afreen was already bruised by countless matters in her life.

She was not alone in experiencing guilt, but Samira, too, was not in the right state of mind. And accusing her of being extra emotional over the past would be a little unfair to Afreen. But life shouldn't be lived holding onto things that are gone. People make amends, they seek forgiveness from Allah. Forget or forgive. That is how life should work, but nevertheless, some people cannot see past their emotions, and Afreen never belittles them for their position of feelings. If they somehow turned out to be a lead in someone else's heartache unintentionally and helplessly, then they are not at fault, absolutely not and nobody can make Afreen change her stance.

Taking her phone out of the purse, she logged into her word app and without a second thought, her hands meticulously tapped the terms, her heart was grieving over.

25 September

Thursday,

Some people who have taken the most place in your heart are not meant to be your reason for happiness always. Sometimes even the sun betrays the blooming flowers. Sometimes even the rain betrays the barren lands. And humans are no less than what nature is. We cannot alway want a bright and sunny day, but a few stormy skies and heavy downpours.