Once Upon A Lifetime

Chapter Twenty-three ~ The Orphanage

Taalia's POV~

The second I closed my bedroom door, I exploded into tears and collapsed onto my bed. He was actually gone. And he wouldn't be back for another two months! I sobbed into my pillow. It was hard for me to keep my tears in while giving Dawoud back to Hamiz to drop off at Khalaf's house. I had to keep my mouth shut in the car ride home or else I would gave cried my heart out right in front of everyone. I didn't expect this to hurt so much. I guess what I was really afraid of was... if he came back.

Stop it, Taali. InshaAllah he will. What happened to her won't happen to him...

I continued crying. Oh what had happened to her shook all of us. No wonder Aunty Fatima was so hesitant on letting him go. I shook my head.

I shouldn't think like this.

I managed to stop crying for a bit as I lay there on my stomach hugging my pillow, which was now wet thanks to my tears.

Almira...

I started crying again. What happened to her was terrible. None of us wanted it to happen but it did.

Astaghfirullah. Taalia, Allah made it happen for a reason. It was her fate, you couldn't have changed that!

But we all couldn't help but feel sad.

Almira...

Aasim's older sister.

Who died eight years ago.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

The next day, I found an orphanage online that were accepting volunteers so after Zuhr, I went to check it out.

The first thing I saw when I stepped inside the building were a bunch of little six year olds running around and screaming and a lady who looked in her mid thirties chasing after them. When she saw me, she stopped, out of breath.

"Hi, sweetie, how can I help ya?" She asked.

"Um, I saw your website online and I wanted to volunteer here." I explained.

"Okay, um, why don't you go into the den room down the hall and I'll be with you shortly." She said and took off after the kids again.

I went over to the room as told and found a few sofa chairs, a round table, and a large window. I sat down on one of the chairs and waited for the lady from earlier to come back. Ten minutes later, she finally did.

"I'm so sorry, dear, the kids are just so hard to handle. So you say you're here to volunteer?" She said.

"Yes I am but not for hours or anything. I just want to do it for fun." I said. She nodded and smiled.

"Don't get much people like you around here, sweetie. Now, what kind of volunteer work would you like to do?" She asked.

"I can do anything you want me to do but I would mainly want to read to the children." I explained.

"Oh, that's wonderful! But will you be able to tame them? They are a handful bunch." She warned.

"I have many nieces and nephews. If I can handle them, I can handle anyone." I teased and she laughed.

"Alright, then welcome! By the way, my name is Lucy Megan."

"Taalia Khan, nice to meet you, Ms.Megan." I smiled and shook her hand.

"Oh just call me Lucy." She insisted. I chuckled and nodded.

"Okay... Lucy."

"Now, why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you to them." Lucy lead me out of the den room and into a room that held many toys and knickknacks for kids. The children running around from earlier were now all seated obediently on the round carpet listening to an elder lady sitting on a rocking chair at the front of the room. She was reading them a story from a little book in her hands. Lucy and I waited for her to finish then Lucy called for their attention. "Kids, I'd like you to meet someone. You'll be seeing her a lot around here so I want you all to be nice! Say hi to Miss Taalia!" I waved to the kids as they attention all said hi in unison.

"Hey, everyone! Starting from today, I'll be reading stories to you guys!" I smiled. They started cheering and giggling and fooling around, just being kids and I smiled bigger. I was going to like being here.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

The next day I spent lazying off. It was around Asr when Aleena suddenly came over. I was in my room (reading of course) when she came in.

"Salaam, Taali." She grinned as she placed her purse on the ground and sat on my bed.

"Wa Salaam, Leen. What brings you here?" I asked, putting away my book. She shrugged.

"I was bored. I don't leave for another few days so yeah, thought I'd stop by." I mentally slapped myself. I had completely forgotten when Aleena was leaving and was so worked up over Aasim and the orphanage that I forgot my best friend was still here.

"How about we head to the mall tomorrow and grab dinner after, just a girls night?" I suggested. She grinned and nodded.

"Sounds good."

"Let's watch a movie for now?" I asked. We picked a random movie but instead of watching, we talked about random things. A bit before Isha, she left.

After praying, I decided to go straight to bed. I lay awake for a while. I caught myself thinking of Aasim. I really hoped he would be okay all the way in London. I hoped he got there safely. I should have told him to text me when he got there just to ease my worries.

Wait for me.

My heart skipped a beat. Did he really say that? What did he mean by it? I shook my head and turned onto my right side and closed my eyes.

I'm being way too dramatic about this. I thought to myself. Soon I fell asleep.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

I sat next to Raza and Baba who were watching the news on TV. I was bored so I decided to watch with them.

"And with that, Canada has added one more medal to its collection..." the news lady said about the Pan Am Games.

"Woo hoo, go Canada!" Raza cheered. I think our country was in second place in the games. USA was in first and Brazil was third. I smiled at the thought of Brazil. Mine and Misha's favourite soccer team (along with Argentina) and the place Misha and Saqib went for their honeymoon.

"Two days ago, a plane heading to London, England crashed into the Atlantic Ocean due to major turbulence. It is pronounced that no one survived-"

"Wait, wasn't that..." I trailed off, my heart beat increasing in pace by the second.

"No. No, it can't be." Raza said, rushing out of his seat and to the phone. He dialled a number and pressed it to his ear. He talked for a few minutes and suddenly he hung up and grabbed his head in his hands and fell to the ground. Baba and I rushed up to him and we asked him what happened. I saw that he was crying and I was suddenly in his arms and I could hear him sobbing.

"Raza...?"

"Aasim... he's dead..." He whispered.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

I gasped and bolted upright in bed, now awake. I was breathing heavily and soon I was crying quietly in my hands. That news report seemed all too real. The whole dream seemed too real. Or shall I say nightmare.

I read some Duas and Surahs to ease the pain in my chest and head and to calm my breathing. I laid down on my pillow again but was too afraid to go back to sleep.

It seemed so real.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

AN: Asalamu Alaikum, everyone! I hope you enjoyed that chapter though it was a bit more of a filler (sorry). Brazil and Argentina FTW!! (Neymar and Messi FTW ;) ) Remember to vote and comment if you likey! ♡♡♡