Fariya Shafiq's life seems to have become a series of unfortunate events after a life riveting accident that took everything from her, leaving her painted with scars, quite literally.
She struggles to find herself everyday, to find even a trace of h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She woke up when the stinging rays of sunlight kissed her face. She had never been able to sleep in a lit room. Before the accident, her room had always been pitch dark during the night. After the accident, she was forced to let go of the habit as she would only get more scared whenever she woke to a dark room after a nightmare. Still, the soft glow of her lamp was very mild compared to the blaring sun.
"Why did you open the curtains, Maliha?" She muttered sleepily as she rubbed her eyes and hugged the blanket closer to herself when the other girl tugged at it hard enough to send it flying down the bed.
"Aapkekoirishtedaar bin bataitapak pare hain, baji. Begum sahibane bola thakeaapkouthadoon." Maliha informed and pulled the blanket once again. This time, Fariya let it go, too carried away with her thoughts.
*"Some relatives of yours have shown up unannounced, baji. Begum sahiba asked me to wake you up."
She couldn't think of any relatives of hers that would show up like this. In fact, she had no relatives in the city.
Driven solely by curiosity, she limped to the washroom with Maliha's help then picked out something presentable to wear. She didn't put any effort in her appearance this time, deciding to only roll with the moisturizer she used every day, and braid her hair to rest over one shoulder under the dupatta that covered her head.
With the help of Maliha once again, she walked out of the room with her hand holding onto the younger girl's arm. Outside, in the lounge, sat four people, from which she only recognized her mother. Although the older man from the other three people looked quite familiar to her. She just couldn't remember who exactly he was.
"Asalam Alaikum." She softly greeted the man, the woman who she assumed was his wife, and another man who she guessed was his son. The older man instantly got up on his feet and ran a hand over her head as she stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"Walaikum Asalam, Fariya beti. Pehchanaaapnemujhe?" He asked, resting his hand over her shoulder now. She smiled, confused, as her eyes flickered back and forth between the man and her mother, still trying to guess who this stranger was.
*"... Did you recognize me?"
He noticed her confusion right away and chuckled as he patted her shoulder in reassurance. He truly hadn't expected her to recognize him at all, she'd never seen him in real life before after all. "I'm Yousuf, your father's younger brother." He told her and her eyes widened in realization. Of course! She'd seen photos of him and his family before, heard many stories of him and her father's childhood from her father, too. Her face heated in embarrassment for not having recognized him.
