The Orphan Child

Chapter 17

The moment the fan turned off, the after effects of the sound played in the room as Zahra thrust open the window as she usually did when it would rain. The sound was soothing to her ears and somewhat comforting when she was alone at home.

"Allah humma sayyiban naafian." Zahra whispered as she leaned forwards on her elbow smiling at the beautiful scene before her.

Her mother and father had gone off to meet a family which Zahra wasn't familiar with. She had been waiting eagerly for a while now awaiting for the return of her parents and to hear some good news In Shaa Allah.

It wasn't until after some moments her eyes finally noticed a figure by the tree in the far distance. A man by the looks of it sat in the rain, resting it appeared.

Zahra diverted her eyes so as not to pry on someone else's business. He certainly wasn't from around here since most of the men around here wear long thawbs on a day like this. This foreigner was wearing foreign looking clothes that only she had witnessed at the market where travellers usually passed by.

After feeling content with having watched the rain she went to her room pulling out her books. She had some lessons to prepare for and knew she may not have time when her parents get back.

The topic she had chosen was about Hijab. She felt that it was necessary for the girls and boys to know why they done such things and that it was more than just a piece of clothing for covering. Hijab didn't just apply to girls but to boys too.

She pulled out her large hadith book and skimmed through the index page finding exactly what she needed and the with the words of her Lord she began to prepare.

It didn't take long, but even then her neck hurt from all the bending over. She placed her notes in her bag ready for tomorrow and placed her Bukhari in the shelf where it stayed.

Alhamdulillah. One less thing to worry about. Usually she spent the night preparing but since she had spare time on her hands why not just get it over with.

She walked back to the open window and still the rain had not stopped. She hoped for her parents to get home safely. She knew how much her mum hated being stood in the rain and had Zahra knew it was to rain she would have offered her the umbrella this morning.

Out of curiosity Zahra's eyes wondered back to the tree. Surely the man should have left by now but to Zahras surprise he was as she had last seen.

Eyes closed and head tipped back.

The rain continued to pound the grounds uncaring of the man who seemed like he had a dreadful day.

Zahra who's heart felt discomfort at seeing such a sight turned on her heels picking up the umbrella and made her way out in hopes of some reward.

A sudden unexpected downpour of rain burst through the clouds which made her hurry her pace. She could sense a storm approaching and she didn't want to be a victim to it.

As she neared the tree Harris who was oblivious to his surroundings didn't hear footsteps approach. Any other sound besides the wind was muted by the rain as it pounded heavily against the earth, and when Zahra had finally gotten close enough, she realized he was quite the young looking.

"Excuse me Sir?" She called over the wind and rain. Harris took his time to open his eyes and when he did he caught sight of a figure before him. It took him a while to realise she was the same black clothed figure he had seen a while back, and when eventually he brought his eyes up to meet the face it wasn't at all who he had thought he had seen.

Zahra who was surprised at the mans eye colour took a step back as his eyes penetrated right through hers.

Harris squinted through the rain unable to see passed the blur. He blinked a couple of times until his vision cleared and he found himself looking at a familiar face. A face he had forced himself to forget long ago.

Zahra Ismail.

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My dear sweet readers, I apologise for this very very late update. Unfortunately updates will be very slow.

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