Life Of Afreen

Chapter XXI

And why should we not rely upon Allah while He has guided us to our [good] ways. And we will surely be patient against whatever harm you should cause us. And upon Allah let those who would rely [indeed] rely.
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                    Chapter 21

A mystery!
That's what you are to me.
I keep telling myself to steer clear of your thoughts, but you have a way of ruling them.

I think of our future together, and it makes me so incredibly happy.

And every time I pray for a future husband, you come to my mind.

And so, in my torn up state, I ask Allah to make the two of us better for each other.

Whenever the fear of a future without you haunts me, I ask Allah to never attach my heart to that which is not meant to be mine.

And despite that, I end up praying for you. Only you.

As Afreen stared at the words, her feelings rather, that she had typed in her laptop, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. She didn't know what was better, to cling on the last spark of hope or just prepare for the darkness.

When Afreen was little, she used to write a lot, though it was more of a diary writing, all of which had stopped after she lost her mother. From then, she resorted to pouring out all her thoughts, pains and desires in the depth of night. Diary writing was a hobby that was forgotten in the way.

But when everything got too much for her, she brought back the old hobby, thinking of it as a way to talk out her problems, since she was tired of sharing her burdens with the people around her.

Afreen started writing a few months back, after the 'big new'. She remembered everything like it happened yesterday, she remembered her fathers teary face, the first time she actually saw him cry. She remembered how he consoled her, even before he told her what was going on.

It was after her test results were out, Dr.Bilaal called her father to update him on what was happening.

Afreen was diagnosed with cancer!

She had lung cancer and it was as a result of severe exposure to smoke. A reason for her to hate Abdoul the more. He always made her seat with him while he took a puff of his cigar. He beats her to death whenever she coughs or complains about his action, and now she's suffering the consequences.

She had locked herself in her room, crying for days and not letting anyone in. And one day, like a light switch that had been clicked, she stopped crying. She let everything go and was back to normal, not so normal tho, as she was always downcast.

Everyone was fazed by her actions, thinking it might be a trick, maybe she wanted to hurt herself or something, but she didn't, she never did. She only told them that she was living with her destiny, that Allah had better plans for her.

Though she had refused any type of treatment, she even turned down an appointment her dad had booked for in India. She said it was only a matter of time before she perishes off the surface of the earth, so she didn't want anyone wasting money on her.

Her father had gone against it, but she pleaded with him, saying she wanted only this favor from him. He had no other choice but to oblige, just so he could make her happy.

"Forty days, Afreen. You've survived the past five months, you can do this" she mumbled to herself while she shut down the system.

"Well Afreen, what's resulted in this pep talk that you're giving yourself?"