His Hafizah and her Hafiz

Going Home!

Safoora POV:

With hope and excitement slowly killing me in the process, I leaned my head against the window as the plane descended slowly like it was inclining down a ramp. The city below was cloaked with the afternoon's golden haze, the dotted towering building slowly churning bigger and bigger as the plane narrowed down. I couldn't wait to see dad's sweet grin and get protected under mom's warm hugs. I couldn't wait to go home and enter my cozy pink room that I hed left isolated under the course of months journey. Each minute was a blessing, a moment to be cherished.

"Safoora, are you okay?" Aisha asked with concern, snapping me out of my daze. She was seated beside me, her nose dug deep inside a fantasy book called the 'Hallucinating Dragon'. It had a golden tattoo silhouette of a dragon swirling in a blue and white background. 

"Yeah, just can't wait to see mom and dad." I answered with a tired smile. 

"Me too but ... I'll miss you a lot though." 

"Agreed. We're like a family." I sighed. That was true! We all lived in one big hostel sharing the dream of becoming Hafizah while we underwent the hardship, sacrificing our nights, and every precious minute to reach our goals. 

"True." Aisha muttered. "Maybe, you could come over sometimes at my house or I could come over at yours?"

"Well..." I trailed off, not knowing how to answer the depth of her question. I couldn't say yes because of the stupid rule my parents made of 'keeping your brother a secret' law. "Yeah, I'll talk to my parents about it." I grinned convincingly.  

She grinned back before digging her nose back in her fantastical book. 

"We have landed, please unbuckle your seatbelt and make your way out slowly." The intercom blared loudly, the female voice wafting thinly through our eardrums for the sake of our awareness. 

Well all instantly scampered up from our seats, getting our bags ready before catching the narrow hall between the seats that segregated the aisle and rows apart and made a pathway towards the aircraft's gate. 

"I guess this is a bye then, huh?" Aisha side-hugged me. 

"Yup, I guess this is it. Hope to see you soon." I hugged her back with a glint of smile. 

 As we tumbled outside and merged ourself with the crowd of students that were crawling like a colony of ants, I noticed Hawa with her friend Anabia submerged in a deep conversation. Her blue eyes instantly fell on me, and I blew out some air kisses as a message of a final goodbye until next time. She smiled and waved back in acknowledgement. 

I turned around and walked hopelessly around the huge parking lot filled with a pack of colourful cars arranged neatly row by row.  I had no clue where dad was. I observed as parents waited for their kids with anticipation in front their cars waving for their attention, and kids rushed to greet them with pleasantries. Students started filling the parking lot crowding around their cars with their families, the air seemed to fill with laughter, hugs, joy and happiness. 

How was I going to find my dad in this throng? 

My eyes suddenly fell on my brother who was wearing his orange sweatshirts like an alerting flag and walking around with his friend Adam submerged in a deep friendly conversation.

I sneeked behind him and pulled down his hood, catching him off guard. "What the--?" He cried turning around abruptly. 

"Scared you, didn't I?" I giggled, skipping ahead of him. 

"Very funny." He rolled his eyes, pulling my cheek from the top of my niqab.

"My cheeks are probably red now." I muttered, rubbing my cheeks as if the pain will go away magically.