Abu Monday's Destiny

1

"Come on Layla we're going to miss our flight at this point!" Ahmed called out as he looked at his watch and tapped his foot. "I'm coming baba." Layla replied as she ran down the stairs. Her suitcase in hand bumping the stairs. "I'm here." She said happily as she made her way to the front door where her parents were waiting for her. "Good have you got what you need? You know we'll be staying there for a couple months right?" Her mother Selçan (sel-chaan) informed her. "Yes I know Anne (an-eh =mum). Ive got everything I need." Layla replied. "Perfect. Let's go." Ahmed said happily.

Layla was the first to run towards her uncles car and sit in. Ahmed's friend would be dropping them off to the airport. He would also be watching the house for them whilst they were gone. "Salaam uncle." She greeted as she sat in the car. "Wa'salaam layla. Are you excited?" Her uncle asked her. "Of course! I get to see my sister and brother after all ." She replied back as she put her seatbelt on.

"That's good. You won't feel so lonely when you get there either. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun." Her uncle reassured her.

Layla agreed as she thought about her sister Aisha who had moved to Gaza years back as she had gotten married there and decided to stay with her husband's family. Her brother Saleh had moved back to Gaza a few months back saying he wanted to work as an aid worker, however as the months went by Saleh had kept very little contact with the family.

This had worried her parents and this was one of the reasons why they were going to Gaza. They wanted to see Saleh and find out what was going on. Once her parents had finally joined her in the car their journey to the airport had begun.

The men chatted away and her mother would join in on the conversation every now and then. Meanwhile Layla began texting her friends and mainly kept to her own thoughts as she listened to the adults converse.

She was only a teenager when her sister had gotten married back home and she hadn't seen her sister in person since then. They did use FaceTime every now and then but that wasn't the same. Her sister had two children a boy and girl. Jannah and Amir. Jannah was five and Amir was three. She couldn't wait to meet her niece and nephew for the first time in person. She was going to spoil them rotten.

Layla turned to look outside the window as her eyes slowly dropped and she had fallen into a deep sleep.
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"We're here!" Her mother voice had woken her up with a jolt. Layla yawned and stretched her arms before getting out of the car. Her father and uncle took out their suitcase's and once they said their goodbyes the three family members hurried into the airport. Once they had gone through check in and boarded the plane Layla suddenly began feeling nervous and looking out the window didn't help.

"Close your eyes and pretend you're not here. You might feel better." Her mother advised. Layla stared at her mother in helplessness. "No way. I cannot pretend. Besides the plane moving won't help me." She told her.

Selçan chuckled as she turned to speak to Ahmed. Once the plane began moving Layla hung tightly to her seat gritting her teeth and holding her breath. As soon as the plane began to lift off in the air her heart dropped and come back up. "That did not feel good." Layla whispered. "Don't worry it's only couple hours. They'll go by fast." Her mother told her as she held Layla's hand.

Even though her mother's words were comforting she still seemed to be on edge.

A couple hours later she rejoiced when she heard the pilots voice telling the passengers that they would be arriving shortly. The belt signal had been turned on and Layla did not hesitate to put on her belt.

Once the plane had landed in Egypt the Three grabbed their bags and got off the plane. The warm air greeted them and the sun shined bright as they left the airport and hailed for a taxi to take them to the border. They would have to cross the Egyptian border to Rafah where they would meet Aisha.
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"Be on your best behaviour. I don't want to hear any complaints from Aisha about you." Selçan whispered to layla. As Ahmed had finally hailed a taxi. Layla gasped "I am always on my best behaviour." She said matter of factly. Layla and Selçan sat in the back of the taxi as Ahmed sat at the front. He informed the taxi driver that they needed to be dropped off at the border to Rafaah.

As they got closer to the border they noticed soldiers standing there checking the passports of every person who wanted cross. As their taxi got closer Ahmed started getting the passports out. "Almost there now." Ahmed told the women in the back.

"Passports." The soldier spoke gruffly. "Here you go." Ahmed said handing over the passports. The soldier then checked each one and looked at the passengers faces. "Only the ones with passports can cross over the borders from here." He told the taxi driver gruffly. The driver nodded and Ahmed, Selçan and Layla got out of the Taxi and collected their bags before entering Rafah.

"Anne! Layla! Baba! Over here!" A voice called out. They all looked towards the voice and grinned as they saw Aisha call out to them with her husband Hamza beside her and their two children. Layla waved at her older sister before walking towards her quickly with suitcase in hand.

"Aisha!" Layla said as she hugged her sister. "I missed you." Layla said as they broke the hug. "You've grown up so much!" Aisha commented. "Well I'm not gonna stay fourteen forever now." Layla replied. Aisha stuck her tongue out at her younger sister as she went to greet her parents.

"Salaam Layla." Hamza said as he placed his hand on her head slowly as a way to greet her. "Salaam Akhi." Layla replied back. Just then she felt someone hug her leg and looked down to see Jannah hugging her legs as Amir held on to Jannah.

"Oh hello cuties." Layla said as she knelt down to their level and hugged them. "Hello Khalto." Jannah said as Amir also greeted her in his own way.
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Ahmed laughed at a joke that Hamza made as they began clearing up the table. "Well Im really tired so I'm going to bed." Selçan said as she yawned. "Of course my love don't worry I'll be there soon enough." Ahmed said as he winked at his wife. Selçan gasped as Layla and Aisha groaned. "Baba! We're still in the room." Layla spoke.

"What? It's just a joke." Ahmed said looking around the room at the horrified faces. "I think it's time for us to head home too. The kids must be tired now." Hamza said as he looked towards Aisha. "Yes I'll just help clean up and we'll go." Aisha said.

Layla and Aisha went into the kitchen to clean up as Selçan said goodbye before heading up stairs to bed. "Have you had any news of Saleh?" Layla asked. Aisha shook her head. "He broke contact with me months ago. The last I heard of him he said he was going to protect Al-Aqsa. I don't even know what he means by that?" Aisha informed her.

"I don't understand. How could he just disappear like that?" Layla said as she was deep in her thoughts. "Don't worry I'm sure he's fine. He always is." Aisha convinced Layla.

Once they had cleaned up they had also said their goodbyes and Aisha, Hamza and the kids had left to go home. Layla was still jet lagged so decided to watch a movie.

AN: let me know what you guys think of the first chapter!