Unlikely To Happen

Part 21 - Filtered Moonlight

Part 21 – Filtered Moonlight

In many of the fairy tales and other novels that Maleeha read as a child and teenager, adventures where the parts were character growth developed. It either made or broke the character. Most of the times, the adventures led to beautiful discoveries.

Were it not for the sudden 180-turn in the plot, not many of her heroines would have found love. It was always during the trials that she fell in love with the story. The trials that the characters faced, turned into beautifully paved roads to happily ever after.

Maleeha snorted – internally. She no longer believed in happily ever after. There was only happily never after. And if there was such a thing as happily ever after, there was no guarantee that they lived together. She knew that it was a cynical belief, but she saw it first hand for herself.

Not everyone had a happy marriage. There was always some fault, some misfortune. Every marriage seemed borderline divorce. What was once the characteristic for marriage, turned out to be the thing that they hated the most during their marriage. If, for example, the husband always fought for his opinion and didn't back down, in their early days of the marriage, the wife would love it, yet later on, it would be the thing she grows to hate.

It seemed contradictory to Maleeha. If you loved the trait earlier, you should be certain that it could be something you could live with for the rest of your life.

Long term decisions should not be made on fleeting decisions, at least, that was what Maleeha believed.

Until she found herself looking imploringly at her husband.

That word still seemed to freak her out, but she learned to hide it well. Husband. She never thought that she would be married to him. Zaakir Ahmed was not her first choice in a husband. Well, truthfully, he wasn't even her choice. She only agreed because she trusted her father and wanted her parents happy and at peace.

"Zaakir," she whined.

To his credit, Zaakir turned around and stopped. He looked at her understandingly, knowing the position she was in. Zaakir let out a sigh. "I know," he replied as he swallowed a large gulp.

Maleeha and Zaakir were forced to walk to the nearest town, to Calitzdorp. However, neither of them were able to make it even halfway. Both of them were too spoiled to manage the long, hard walk in the icy weather of the Western Cape winters. They were forced to take many breaks, many stops. It was past noon, they knew that, but with the sun setting, neither knew the time for sure.

"Let's keep an eye out for any place that looks like it will be safe to rest in."

Maleeha, irritable and tired, scoffed. "We are stuck in the Karoo, Zaakir. It's an arid piece of land. There's nothing in sight!" Maleeha was stressing out and panicking.

He nodded, trying to placate her and keep her calm. "I know, Maleeha." Zaakir walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "But I already told you, we are together, and I won't let anything happen to you."

As he rested his chin on her head, she basked in his comfort. Even if it only lasted for a moment.

Then, Zaakir pulled back and looked at her in her eyes. He could see her fear, her exhaustion and the toll that the trip was having on her. It pained him and made him feel guilty that she was suffering through all of the troubles. "I know that it's almost dark, but I think I can see something, like an abandoned structure," he told her.

"But what if there's something there? What if people are staying there?" she squeaked out.

Although Zaakir was afraid, he concealed it well and kept himself together for her sake. "It's okay, Maleeha," he placed his hands on her face and forced her to look at him. "We'll chase whatever is there away, and if there are people there then you and I will ask if we could sleep there, okay?"