RUNNING

Chapter Six

“Worship Allah and join none with Him and do good to your parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is near of kin, the neighbor who is stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer you meet and those (slaves) whom your right hand possess.” Q4:36

It is late already when Maraya returned to the hostel after spending most of her night with her friends in the club, clubbing is another activities that she usually does when she is bored or stressed. She enjoyed those moments she spent with her friends especially with Betty and Akin continuous argument that made her laugh out all her sorrow, both are friends are just two contradictory character and they always goes in opposite directions. They always argue on every little thing and not for once will they agree on one issue, the only thing they both have in common is their love for drinking. Unlike them, Maraya don’t drink any alcohol, for one reason her parents never allows it even with her brothers when she was back home and the other reason is the fact that she had to be the one to drop her friends in their house after getting drunk every time they went clubbing. Betty and Akin like most of her friends stays in off campus near the school but Maraya chose to stay in the campus because the environment motivates her to study harder and she will be free from any distraction that may come from her friends. 

She took out her key as she approach her door and she was surprise to note that the room is not locked, she pause for some moments to recall if she had close her door before leaving the hostel in the afternoon or not and after some moment she recalled that she was too sad to remember looking the door that time. For a moment she would have thought someone breaks into her room but she remembers that her block is one of the most secured blocks in the girls’ hostel and no one dares to cross her path due to her reputation.

She pushed the door open and notice that the room light is off, she immediately knows something is wrong with the room because she doesn’t off her light and again the room is smelling strangely from what she is used to, not that she is sensing a bad odor but the odor clearly does not belong to her, she move to switch on the light and to her surprise the empty bed-space formerly occupied by her ex-room mate is now occupied by someone else. It has been some days that the hall representative informed her that she had a new roommate who may be resuming anytime but she never thought it will be this soon. Not just that, she even forgot that she will be having a new roommate until now. She always wants to have the room to herself but she was told that she can’t be alone in the room even if she had all the money to buy up the spaces so she have no choice but to share the room with someone else, she was lucky enough that medical students are usually two in the room unlike students from other faculty who may sometimes be up to five in a single room. All through her staying in campus, she had never bothered to change her room because her room had enough space and a separate bathroom. It was believed that the room was meant for the hall porter so it was a little bit spacious than other rooms.

Maraya was lucky enough that her former roommate Azizat agreed with her, for them to retain the room every year and renew their payment. Azizat has been a good roommate throughout her stays in campus until she moved out some months ago after graduating from school. Though they lived together for three years and they have few things in common, they were never close friends till their separation. Maraya likes to keep her world and affair private and she seldom share personal issues with anybody even her best friends. She believes that she is strong enough to pass all hurdles by herself and telling people about your problem or seeking peoples’ opinion is a sign of weakness.

Maraya runs her fingers through her hair to remove the hear ribbon trying to prepare for sleep, she remembered she did not pray throughout the day after the Morning Prayer so she walked lazily into the bathroom to perform ablution.

After what seems like forever, Maraya was glad to complete all her prayers and she fold up her prayer mat. She is used to praying late and it was never a problem to her, she believed that the most important thing is to say your daily prayers regardless of how and when. She dropped on her bed and fall into a deep sleep before she has the time to think about her new roommate.