Turmoils- A Muslim Love Story

Chapter 21

Un-edited.

Ayesha's PoV

People always say it'll all be okay. In Urdu, we have a proverb that states,

"Time is the medicine to every wound."

But if you ask me, I don't think the wound caused by the death of a parent can ever go back to normal. It's like somebody punched a permanent hole inside your heart and you just need to live with the pain.

That's how I felt when I saw my mother lying dead. Most children forget, but I have never forgotten that picture of her lying with her eyes closed, her skin pale and her body wrapped up in white sheets.

As I stood in the hall, staring at Aunty Shaila's lifeless form, I felt as if I was the same little girl again. The one who lost her life, her mother. Around me, people were gathering, sobbing and muttering prayers under their breaths.

A scream in particular snapped me out of the trance I'd entered. When I looked up, I saw Humeyra going crazy with grief. She was sitting down and hugging one of her aunts, crying and crying.

At a distance, sat Fatima, her eyes swollen and face extremely sad. I watched as every woman in the lounge cried and cried.

Of course. Aunty Shaila had been a wonderful friend, mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, niece and cousin. Everybody who loved her had come here to mourn her death and pray for her journey to the Hereafter.

I felt cold.

She had so many people to mourn her. And her children had people to love them.

But I had been all alone. Till the time my mother was laid to rest, I'd stood in the cold, hugging myself and crying. Yet no one had extended even a word of sympathy to me.

Humeyra looked at me and motioned me to come to her. As my feet carried me to where she was, I was determined to not do the same. I'll support these wonderful siblings as much as I could, till my last breath.

I hugged her and let her sob into my shoulder. She deserved to a little bit of her grief go.

The men walked in a bit later and it was time to take Aunty's body away. I held Humeyra back as Fatima rubbed Ayan's shoulder in compassion.

My eyes met Farhan's and he looked absolutely lifeless. As if somebody had knocked the happiness and joy right out of them. As I watched him, I wondered, for the slightest second, what would happen to us now that the glue that kept us together, Aunty Shaila, was gone.

The men took the body away for burial. Humeyra's condition deteriorated so Fatima took her inside to force her to either eat something or sleep.

She kept mumbling about how her mother went away without seeing her baby.

It was beyond midnight outside already. I'd watched the clock tick 12 am in the morning.

Then 1.

Then 2.

Then 2:24.

Still, my husband had not come back. I was beginning to feel haunted, being alone inside this room. It was becoming stuffy. I got up and pulled open the door, wondering where he was and what was he doing.