Maham unlocked the dusty trunk that once belonged to her mother. She sneezed when she sniffled the dusk, tears momentarily wetting her eyes. Her eyes widened in excitement as she took out a dress.
She smiled, staring at it before smacking the dust out of it. A feeling of nostalgia hits her even though she had never seen her mother wearing this -- or she didn't remember. Tears wet her eyes but this time in sadness and serenity.
It brought her peace knowing that the dress she held was worn by her mother and wasn't washed. She brought it to her nose, a faint almost nonexistent scent of a mother and a floral fragrance of delicate jasmine entered her nostrils.
A small graceful smile painted her lips. She looked at it before standing up, she locked her bedroom door and started undressing. She tried on the dress, observing and posing. She smiled, a chuckle escaping her throat. It was a sky blue dress with heavy embroidery all over it along with the edges of the dupatta.
She blew a playful kiss to herself, before twirling and running to try another dress on, and then another, and then another. She tried multiple of her mother's dresses and sarees until she ran out of them. She didn't have the privilege of owning such beautiful heavy dresses. Her wardrobe was filled with simple hand-me-down shalwar kameez.
She wore a red saree with a black sleeveless blouse. It made her blush. She would never wear such a saree in public and she couldn't understand how her mother had the confidence to do so.
Her blush intensified as she daydreamed of wearing this saree on a private date with her future husband. A chuckle escaped her again and her eyes widened, her smile dropping when she realized how stupid she seemed.
She turned around, running to her dressing table when an idea popped into her head. She grabbed the kohl from her table and applied it along with a deep red shade of lipstick. Her eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't looked so beautiful since... ever. Her green eyes were enriched with kohl, and her honey skin was enhanced because of the red lipstick.
She ran a hand through her raven hair before bringing it over her shoulder. And for the first time, she felt like her mother. Beautiful and bold.
But she was still a coward.
A gasp escaped when someone pounded on the door. She hastily wiped off her lipstick with her hand and grabbed a cheddar to wrap around herself. She ran to the door and opened it revealing her eldest mami, Shehnaz.
Shehnaz opened her mouth to say something but she stopped herself, her brows narrowing. She looked at the residue of lipstick left on the corner of Maham's lips, her eyes shifted to her eyes seeing the waterlines filled with kohl.
Anger filled her veins for no apparent reason and she stepped inside, causing Maham to stumble back. Shehnaz reached for the cheddar and snatched it away, exhibiting the revealing saree Maham wore. Maham's eyes widened once again. As if every surprising and scary thing had to happen that day.
"Besharam! Yeh kese kapre pehne hain?!" Shehnaz yelled.
(Shameless! What kind of clothes are you wearing?!)
"Bari mami, saree hai," Maham answered.
(Old aunt, it's a saree.)
"Mujhe bhi nazar aaraha hai! Apni maa ki hi pehni hogi zaroor. Jaise randi maa waise beti," Shehnaz cussed. Maham's eyes widened, in shock and a gasp escaped her mouth at the curse word but the gasp was stuck in her throat when a hand struck her on her cheek, and with a giant force her face was turned to the left.
She could feel her skin burning and her veins popping because of the exertion. She is visibly shaken even though the touch is familiar. She falls on the bed, breathing harshly. Tears welled in her eyes and she gasped.
"Jahil aurat," Shehnaz spat and walked away.
(Illiterate woman.)
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𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐍 - rewritten | ✓
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