It was saturday. The sun blazed with all its glory, scorching all those who dared to step out.
The people of North Nazimabad town took refuge in their homes, finding cool spots and fanning away the sweat that broke and tricked down their necks.
The birds and animals out in the streets hid on tree branches and under the plants, seeking some pleasure from the moist mud.
With no soul to be found in the open, Asma stood up with a fervor and zeal to do the laundry on the roof top. Her passion and enthusiasm, not in the least bit dampened by the challenging waves of heat and the roaring sun head above.
She collected all the dirty clothes and marched towards the washing machine with a determined swoosh of her head and squared shoulders.
As soon as she had filled the machine with water, detergent and clothes, the electricity went out, saving load on her expense.
Determined not to be put off by this slap of fate, she grabbed a chair and sat down.
While she was busy butchering the Managing Director of Karachi Electrics (formerly known as the Karachi Electrical Supply Company), she noticed that a small kitten curled out from under the washing machine and started sniffing around her feet, clearly trying to locate it's runaway mother.
Asma grab the kitten and cuddled it in her lap, thanking her stars that the power had gone out and the kitten had not been squashed in the machine.
She made up her mind not to let the kitten get in the machine until after she was done with the laundry.
Thinking was one thing, but it was very difficult to keep the kitten in her lap, as the curious little brat kept trying to wriggle its way out of her reach.
It was a tough feat, however, she managed to keep hold of the kitten for the next two hours until the power supply was restored.
But, as soon as she had turned on the machine so that the dirty clothes might finally serve their due time being cleansed, did the kitten eventually break free and ran right into the machine again.
Asma heard a loud thump just before she pulled off the plug from the switch.
Her heart thumping in her chest, threatening to fracture a rib or two, she bend down and called out to the kitten but only silence responded.
After five minutes of trying to find out if the kitten was okay, she decided to open the machine and have a look inside.
She got the screwdriver and quickly took down the back cover to discover the kitten stuck in the back belt of the motor.
A sob broke free from her lips as she saw the helpless kitten that had been hale and hearty only moments ago.
Seeing no movement in the little bundle of fur, she assumed it was dead. With trembling hands, she tried to free the corpse of the kitten, only to see it blink it's eyes at her as Asma pulled her out gingerly.
Her heart filled with relief and thankfulness, she quickly lay down to examine her and see if it was going to be okay.
The kitten had battered its nose and a very small chunk of flesh was missing from the left of the nose and the little thing looked very scared, but apart from that, it was fine.
After cleaning it up, Asma gently picked it up and carried it to the empty bird cage that her mother occupied and laid it down near her mother.
The young kitten quickly curled around her mother and closed its eyes, finally at peace. Soon, it was fast asleep and Asma went back to the laundry.
After completing the laundry which was interrupted by several visits back to the kitten to check on it and making sure it was okay, Asma made her way back to the cool confines of her room.
All in all, she didn't know if she wanted to curse the electricity supply more or thank the Lord for saving the cute fur ball on the day she nearly killed the kitten.
