SHATTERED HEARTS

Epilogue

Dedicated to my beloved sis Zarahfarooq :)

      

  Five years later :

         The most beautiful & precious lessons learned in life , are the ones
taught by Nature.In its own stupendous & peculiar ways,nature has lots of
valuable things to say to us.The glorious sunrise that fascinates the world each
morning,the sweet enchanting melodies of the birds which impart a refreshing
aura of enthusiasm for a new day & even the thousands of dazzling stars ,
spread out like bright sparkling diamonds,illuminating the dark night sky ;
there is a beautiful message hidden in each of these breath-taking sights of
nature- a silent,..yet clearly evident message of 'Hope' !

      The Sun never stops rising ,no matter how many thunderstorms overpower
it's brilliance,or the many times it gets concealed by the dark stormy clouds,the
Sun still shows up,it still rises every morning,with the same magnificence &
radiance ,casting it's brilliance all around ,conveying to the world that no storm
in life is powerful enough to devastate you,until you,yourself give up hope.
Nothing can overpower you ,unless you lose your own inner power......the
power of 'Hope' & 'Faith' ! And there lies this precious lesson for life :
No matter what hardships & obstacles you face in life, what people think &
say about you , you've got to shine like the Sun with the power of your faith!
We need to live each day with hope in our hearts, because time changes,
circumstances change & life goes on.

       Winter was on its annual visit to the elegant little town of Sundarnagar.
A bright ,lovely morning had settled in,with the same enthusiasm as always.
Near the area, surrounding the Sundarnagar beach, the Shaykh villa stood,
tall,proud & utterly magnificent. Five long years had passed by,there had been
lots of changes ,many ups & downs along the way & yet one thing was the
same ....the love in the hearts of the members of this family .....the love for
the Creator & the love for each other, that made every trial & hardship seem
easier, knowing you are not alone in this,that together we can survive this &
merge out stronger than before!

 
    Just like every year, the Shaykh family was back to their lovely hometown
to spend the winter vacation. The welcoming morning breeze entered the
magnificent villa & leisurely strolled within. It was silent.....silent & peaceful
inside. In one particular room ,which had a lovely pink & white theme, the
ever handsome Mr.Afzal Shaykh ,was sitting by the window ,with a book
in his hands. It was a spiritual book & he had been engrossed in reading it,
ever since he finished his Quran recitation some time before. As always,
he hadn't slept after Fajr Salah.

     A small whining sound,followed by a slight movement on the bed nearby,
interrupted his reading session & he instantly closed the book & stood up from
the chair. This was exactly the reason why ,he had been sitting in this particular
room since he had returned from Fajr Salah. With slow,cautious steps, he
walked towards the bed & halted right by the edge. There, sleeping underneath
the soft,pink blanket was the little version of his beloved wife;......the
beautiful four year old daughter of Afzal & Zaara. This was her usual time
of waking up,which was why she had started to grow a little restless in her
sleep, though it didn't at all mean ,that she wanted to get up!

     Afzal sat down on the bed & stared affectionately at the sleeping form
of his beautiful little daughter. A few silky strands of her shoulder length dark
brown hair had rolled onto her soft,round , protruding cheeks & partly curtained
her lovely pink lips. In a very gentle manner, Afzal pulled down her soft,pink
blanket a little & it was then he noticed the red heart shaped cushion that she
had been holding in her arms. Slowly,he took it out of her hands & keenly
read the words on it :