The Crown Of Agony

2

Zarnoor was an obedient daughter of her parents, she was their pride and they also had lot of expectations from their only daughter. She was the hardworking and ambitious girl, dreaming to fulfill all the dreams of her parents.

"Baba, what are you saying?" Zarnoor asked, not understanding what her father was saying.

"You have secured the first position in the tenth class examination, in the whole region, Quratulain. You have not only made me feel honoured but the whole village." Anwar engulfed his daughter in the hug, with tears of happiness, shining in his eyes.

Zarnoor thanked her lord for granting her with such a great success, because her success was solely by Allah. She decided to offer the prayer of gratitude to Allah and after doing the Wudhu (partial ablution), she layed the prayer rug on the rough floor of the small room and offered the prayer of gratitude.

"Our Noorulain, is destined to get the victory and the highest of status. Her future is so bright, just like her name, the golden light." Rabiya said, with a wonderful smile adorning her lips.

"There is a programme tomorrow arranged by Zarnoor's school, for celebrating Quratulain's success." Anwar announced looking at his daughter, who was sitting on the prayer rug with the raised hands for supplication.

"Noor, tomorrow you'll wear the dress, I have got you from the city." Anwar said to his daughter who was coming towards her parents. She smiled at her parents and nodded her head, agreeing with her father's decision.

Mustafa came running there, with a small box of sweet in his hand and engulfed his sister in a tight hug and said, "I'm so happy for you my Zari aapi." Zarnoor caressed her younger brother's head in affection, and taking the piece of sweet from his hand, which he was feeding her, she made him eat it and said, "Mustafa, I'll be so happy, if you'll score more marks in your tenth class than me." Mustafa uttered a InshaAllah انشاءاللہ and she also muttered Insha Allah,  Ameen,  after him.

All the neighbours were present in the small ground outside, Anwar's house to congratulate him and his daughter for the grant success. Everyone seems happy at the success of the village's daughter and they all were giving sweets and blessings to the girl.

"Noor, it's a proud moment for your father, see how happy he is looking." Rabiya said to her beloved daughter, looking at her husband who was busy in collecting the congratulations for everyone. Zarnoor, in her mind, praised her lord for giving them this much respect and honour.

Zarnoor's friend and cousins were also present there, demanding a feast from her. She promised them, she will give them a party in the evening and they all agreed with her. She asked her parents for the same and they allowed her to go to the small hillock, with her friends to celebrate. It was known as the Shams Surya Tekdi (The sun hill) because it used to turned into shade of sun and looked like hill of gold, shining bright. It was one of the picnic spot of the villagers and the favourite spot of the childrens.

The hill was often covered in the green grass throughout the season with some thorny shrubs here and there. But the color of the plants used to changed according to the seasons. It was the summer and now the grass was a little pale and yellowish with a slight shade of green. There were lot of slippy stones on the track, which would often make the climber slip badly from it, if the balance is not maintained properly. There were lots of holes present in the surface of it, showing that it is the shelter of crawling insects, ants and serpent. From the top of the hillock,  the beautiful view of the whole Qamarnagar village, can be witnessed clearly, the stream flowing to the south, the small pond filled with water on one side whereas the fields of crops and orchards present on the other side. The house would look so tiny and cute from the height. There was only one house, which used to look different and easily recognizable from there, it was the only beautiful and tall building in the village, which was the house of the village's sarpanch.(Head of the village)