Fatat Al Jasus

Part:1- Dad's Posting

The voice of the school leader booms throughout the assembly hall.

"I do promise that I shall abide by all the rules and regulations of the school, I shall pay allegiance to my nation and shall be ever vigilant to maintain the unity, integrity, and sovereignty of my country. Oh the Almighty, give me the strength to serve my country and make it an ever strong state.

Victory to Orland!"

"Victory to Orland!"

The assembly hall vibrated as the students repeated.

After the morning assembly all the students exit the assembly hall for their respective classes, but I and my best friend, Naomi, decided to bunk the first class. As soon as we are out of the hall we run to the girls' washroom covering our faces with our hands so that the security cameras couldn't recognize us.

"So... What are we going to do now?" Asked Naomi while panting.

"To the library, because it's the best place to hide," I said as we were sneaking out of the washroom and again covering our faces with our hands. As soon as we started running, we heard a deep voice calling us,

"Girls!"

Both of us stopped in our tracks and slowly looked back. Mr. Frazzer was standing there, giving us a deathly glare. He stood still for a couple of seconds and then said in a deep and angry voice,

"Come down at the field with me now!"

Both I and Naomi started walking down the stairs behind him. He was silent and it meant danger. As soon as we reached the field, he said,

"Miss Naomi Ash, you will run five times around the field...."

Then he looked at me and said,

"And for you Miss Taylor Knight, it will be ten."

I looked at him with wide and confused eyes.

"What's the special crime that I committed!?" I said in helplessness and astonishment mixed tone.

He gave me a sarcastic smile and said in a calm tone, "The mastermind behind this crime should get the double punishment."

Then he regained his serious posture and said, "Now, no more arguments."

And that's a signal that we need to start running.

Both of us were in the second round when Naomi said,

"I expected a worse punishment."

I laughed and said, "Even me."

________________________________________________________

Dinner was the most exciting part of the day for me. Not because of the food, but because of the 'Dining Table Talk' all of us in the family have during it. After a day of boring classes in the school, dinner time is what I always look forward to.

We all settled down on our respective chairs and started to serve ourselves. When I just took the first bite of my food my Dad said,

"I have good news."

He was smiling from the ear while saying this. All of us looked at him with anticipation.

"I have been posted to Soal, and we will be shifting there in three months." He said with excitement.

I became sad hearing the news, but on the other hand, it wasn't so unexpected. Being an Army officer's daughter I was used to shifting from places to places inside the country, but a posting abroad was a surprise.

"They are sending you abroad?" I asked in annoyance and sadness mixed tone.

Dad saw my expression and his smile slowly fainted, but then he smiled again, not as brightly as last time, and said,

"Yes. For four years. There are a lot of officers in Soal from our country, all spend four years there."

I let out a heavy sigh. I have stayed at many places and changed many schools, but this time I have developed a soft place in my heart for this school, even though it's an Army Public School like the rest of the other schools I attended in my life and has very strict rules and regulations. The friends and teachers, even though they are strict, are really close to my heart. The cantonment at which I am currently living feels more homely than any other cantonments at which I lived before.

"Is it possible that only you go to Soal and we live here in Orland, in this cantonment?" I asked with a slight hope of getting 'Yes' as an answer.

"Nope, we are all going." My father said in a normal tone while chewing his food.

"Ahhh!!! Why!?" I asked, groaning in annoyance.

He turned his head and looked at me with seriousness in his expression and the next thing he said filled my mind with confusion,

"Because, you, Taylor also have a small job to perform there in Soal."