Mehr-o-Mah (مہر و ماہ) -
The sun and the moon
A collection of short stories filled with love, spice, drama and a roller coaster of emotions and of course, a huge part of my imagination.
(The second generation of Ahd-e-Vafa)...
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Zaahira groaned in frustration when even after many hours she wasn't able to sight someone from the group. Her legs ached, her stomach growled, while her eyes stung with upcoming tears. Gritting her teeth, she removed another one of the large twigs from her way but yelped when her foot slipped on the ground.
Before she could fall face first on the muddy surface, she instantly brought her hands forward to gain the support of the relatively strong twig dipped in the same mud. Huffing and puffing a few times, she finally got back safely on her feet.
Her face resembled the rage in her as she kept walking mindlessly in the vast land of trees. Sensing something itchy on her cheek, she raised her hand to wipe it off but instead she cursed when the mud from her hands got stuck to her skin instead.
"Allah, yeh kya musibat hai?"
She cried amongst the silence. She had dug into her bag to find her phone and behold! It was clear that the day was against her since she remembered then that her phone was thrown leisurely on her bed back in the hotel room.
As she kept walking, tears of joy almost fell from her eyes when she heard the sounds of chatter and goats. Following the small sounds that little by little grew in octave as she neared them, Zaahira squealed in delight when she found the main road.
"Alhumduillah! Mujhe toh laga aaj yaha se bahar nikal hi nahi paungi."
Her words dripped with gratitude and she rubbed her palms together. Her whole body ached like nothing after venturing in the woods for more than 2 and a half hours and all she needed now was a good sleep and food.
She looked to her side in order to find some help but bit back a scream of surprise when she found a man standing in all his glory in front of her. Taking a few steps back, she took in deep breaths to calm her racing heart and narrowed her eyes at the man who looked somewhat... amused?
Zaahira snapped rudely at the stranger who blinked twice. The flowers in his hands were what caught her attention next and she was about to reprimand him for that too but gulped down her words when she saw that they were uprooted along with their roots.
"Ladkiya toh dekhi hai lekin shaam ke waqt aisi halat mein kabhi nahi."
The sass that coated his words generously made Zaahira blush in mortification. Even though she knew that she wasn't looking least bit presentable, the audacity of the man had her fuming.
"Oh janab, zyada hoshyar banne ki zarurat nahi hai. Ladki hu, thodi toh tameez se baat karo."
She knew that was a low blow- an extremely low blow but she had nothing else to say. The man in question raised an eyebrow in return. His eyes gleamed with mischief as he hummed at her words.
