The sound of Zainab crashing to the floor resonated throughout the house and Mrs. Tahir rushed upstairs to find the cause of such heinous noise. She turned into Zainab's room and the scene that met her eyes was a heart stopping one. A tattered scarf on the floor, a tumbled over chair, a broken fan and midst all this chaos: a crying Zainab, and that was all Mrs.Tahir needed to know. She made her way through the wreckage and wrapped her arms around her child, they sat in silence, and the only sound was of Zainab sniffing as she tried in earnest to keep her tears in, yet they rolled down her cheek and it was as if the valve she kept upon her emotions just broke. She kept crying, tears and mucus ruining Mrs.Tahir shirt yet no one seemed to care, and so they both sat there, mother and daughter amidst a wrecked room; crying.
One day, Mrs. Tahir thought of engaging her daughter.
When Mrs.Tahir entered zainab's room,she could not help but be affected by the heavy atmosphere but she shrugged it off and said "Zainab, sweetie it's a lovely day don't you want to go outside and play" and Zainab delivered a reply that one would expect from a teenager in the throes of puberty " I'm not a 10 year old mom, I don't want to play outside". Sensing a need for different tactics she said "well I don't care if you want to play or not but today is a very busy day and many thirsty people have walked down this street, I think it would be a good deed if you set up a lemonade stall outside".
Seeing a curious glint in her daughter's eyes made her smile, even if she acted otherwise Zainab was still a 14 year old. "well..." said Zainab as she contemplated the idea" ...OK I'll do it" a smile broke across Mrs. Tahir's face as she led her daughter to the kitchen.
