SHATTERED HEARTS

Ch.9.The most precious keepsake...!

Dedicated to ♥Zarahfarooq♥ for being the best friend ever; I hope you enjoy this....!

               The afternoon sun was gleaming brightly and displaying its rage by emitting scorching waves of heat, as it completed its tiresome mid day journey. The piercing hot sun rays entered a wide open window of a spacious kitchen where a  girl in her early 20's was working quitely.

                She was dressed in a patiala dress and it's dupatta was loosely wrapped around her head. Her fair face was void of any emotions and she was engrossed in her cooking silently doing zikr at the same time. 
The tall, pretty girl frowned as the harsh sunrays approached her and slided the glass window to shield herself from the burning heat.

             Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and she sighed exasperatedly as the steam of the dish on the burner touched her face.
Nonetheless she continued her tasks of chopping, stirring and adding ingredients as per requirement. Once done with the chicken gravy, she swiftly placed the pan on the burner and poured oil in it.

          Ignoring her sweat covered self, she began to fry kebabs while simultaneously slicing fruits for custard. She felt someone pull on the
free end of her dupatta and turned to look no one in particular. Her gaze shifted down to see her little neice tugging on her dupatta.

         Little Asbah motioned for her to bend down and as she did the 4 year old silently whispered in her ear,
"Zuppi , goldie has come outside. Mamma and dadi are shooing it away.Come soon."

       So this was why her ever loud speaking neice had tip toed into the kitchen and whispered to her instead of the usual screaming and chattering.

         Goldie was Zaara's pet ; a big, grown male cat. He had beautiful white fur and rich golden strips from which Zaara had derived his name.
The cat wasn't too good with strangers however he was a big softie with Zaara. He was well known as Zaara's bf in the Bakhtiyar house and by some of Zaara's aunts.

           Mrs . Bakhtiyar however didn't favour her daughter being so close to the cat. She had her reasons for the opposition. Zaara had very poor immunity ever since her childhood, a slight change in weather and she would fall ill; this was also one of the reasons her mom didn't let her out of sight. But the main reason was Zaara had allergic rhinitis inherited from her father just like her brothers and neice.She was allergic to fur, pollen and dust.And so was her neice Asbah yet the two were pretty attached to cats. Also Zaara's mom was well acquainted with her daughter's sensitive nature.

          Once Zaara had brought in a little kitten that was lost and helpless, lying outside the gate of her house. She had taken utmost care of the little one as if it was a baby,  herself feeding it and putting it to sleep in a little cozy bed. She never let the kitten go out for fear of it being attacked by other animals.

          Zaara had made it feel so secure and homely that the kitten never knew hardships and danger which are essential for learning defense in an animal's life. Unfortunately for the kitten, Zaara's sister in law Farheen  was afraid of cats and since she was expecting Asbah at that time Mrs. Bakhtiyar had decided that the kitten would be given to one of their relatives for the time being to be taken care of.

          One morning however, the relatives had informed Zaara's family that the kitten had sneaked out at night and since it had always lived a sheltered life it couldn't defend itself which had led to it's sad demise ! There were claw marks on its body and it was found in a deserted patch. Zaara had sobbed and wept for days after burying her kitten.

     She had even stopped eating fish which was a big deal seeing her craze and obsession of sea foods!

          That day itself her mom had asked her to stay away from cats.Poor heartbroken Zaara had composed a poetry in memory of her little pet and framed it , neatly displaying the frame on her study table!