part 50: (nicholas)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Its been a boring holiday for nick. Nothing much to do at his aunt roxys house..

She’s abit of a pain compared to his mother. Aunt roxy is a little OCD…

She wants everything in a certain manner and screams at the top of her voice about any and everything.

Nick is used to doing whatever he feels like, whenever he feels like and however he feels like. No-one ever scolds at him for leaving the towel on the floor after he baths or for sitting on the bed once its made or for dropping breadcrumbs on the floor whilst having breakfast in the morning.

He’s used to eating whatever he wants to for breakfast, lunch, supper and snacking inbetween.. Unfortunately things in roxys house is very different. She’s a health freak.

You won’t easily find chocolates or junk food in her house and breakfast needs to be wholesome. Snacks inbetween should strictly be dried fruit and nuts or fresh fruit.

Nick sitting with his i-pad or phone was driving her crazy…

“Don’t you ever read in your life? Your mother really spoilt you rotten.. And in all the wrong ways.. These things are so detrimental to your life.. We have a whole library of books.. Go and pick something or do something constructive with your life..” She screamed at nick for the millionth time.

“No wonder she has no kids. She would probably drive them bananas” nick muttered to himself..

“What was that?” She asked since she was half deaf.

“Nothing.. I was just saying that I need to snack on a banana…” Nick smiled broadly..

“Sure.. Sure.. That’s a good start.. I’m glad you’re learning. Maybe you can teach your mother a few things when she returns.” Roxy said and walked away.

Nick rolled his eyes…

He took out his phone and sent his mother a message..
“If you don’t return soon, I’m afraid I’m going to turn into a raging teenager…. And then you’re going to regret not coming home sooner.”

Tasha replied about 6 hours later..
“It can’t be that bad nicko… Aunt roxy is just like that.. Just ignore her and do your own thing.”

“Its not that easy when you have her hounding you down every second of the day..” Nick replied instantly..

But tasha didn’t reply…

Tasha was having a ball of a time on honeymoon… Tom was just the perfect husband and spoiling her rotten. She didn’t regret leaving nick behind one bit.

They made the most of every second of their honeymoon.

They’ve been to different beaches, the shopping was to die for, the variety of cuisines were divine and all in all, she was finally happy.

after years of being used and dumped by men of different ages and races, she had finally found someone who treats her like a queen.

Tom was a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He was mature and wise but the kid in him came out when it needed to aswel…

It was the perfect time to unwind and let loose. Because as soon as they got back, life began….

Tasha started work at the new job… Well it wasn’t entirely new.. She was still at a bank doing the same work, only in a new town and with entirely new people.

Tashas an extrovert and makes friends easily.

But nick on the other hand…. Wasn’t doing so well making friends at his new school.

He was forced to stick around with john and kevin who seemed to be the main guys of the school. they were the famous lot. He didn’t know anyone else and they dragged him along with them during lunch time.

“Who’s the new geek?” One of kevins friends asked as he approached their usual spot near the cafeteria…

“Aah.. Just some familys friends step kid… Don’t be too harsh for now.. His new… We’ll make him one of us soon… He is abit of a loser. But I’m hoping he’ll come around. If not, we’ll ditch him” kevin replied.
“His step dads loaded so I suggest we keep him for now…”

Nick didn’t hear any of it because he was too busy taking in his surroundings and feeling awkward. If only he knew what kind of crowd he was getting involved with..

After they ate half of their lunch and threw the rest of it in the waste bin, the crowd strolled to the back of the school to hit a smoke.

Something nick definitely wasn’t familiar with.

Posted by silent living…

part 49: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

“Sabreen! Sweety… Do you have any idea how worried I was about you… Are you alright? Look at you… You’re soaking wet…” And hilda continued to fuss in her hysteric yet relieved state..

Sabreen was distraught.. She didn’t want to be found. She didn’t care that hilda was worried and she didn’t care that she was wet. Infact, she was angry that hilda had found her.

She didn’t say a word as they drove home.

Once they got home, hilda got her changed into dry clothes and dried her wet hair too.

She got her a warm mug of hot chocolate and brought it up to her room.

“Why’d you just run off like that sweety? What’s the matter? Do you not like it here?” Hilda asked sabreen after she had taken her first sip of hot chocolate.

Sabreen just looked into her cup without saying anything.

If only hilda knew. Its not that she didn’t like it here. She loved it here. And she didn’t want to go back home. But she didn’t have the courage to answer.

Hilda sighed and got up to leave the room.

She hesitated for a while and stood at the door before saying..
“If you’re not happy here my darling… We’ll take you home. Just please don’t run away. Your mum and dad want you back so uncle mike and I will take you home tomorrow morning after breakfast…”

Sabreen began feeling anxious as soon as hilda closed the door. Her chest tightened and she could feel her heartbeat increasing. She was stressing out. Couldn’t hilda just know that she didn’t want to go back. She didn’t have enough courage to say what she needed to. especially after she had run away. And now that her stress levels were at its peak, it seemed to have caught her vocal cords too. She couldn’t talk.

She needed to think of a way. What could she do to escape going back home?

Sabreen placed her empty mug on the side pedestal of her bed and had an urge to use the bathroom all the while trying to solve this puzzle. Alice had told her once while teaching her to build a 4 piece puzzle that every puzzle could be solved. Puzzles were made to be solved. But she just couldn’t solve this puzzle of her life. She didn’t know the solution. Was a piece to this complicated puzzle missing?

As she sat on the toilet pan, her eyes fell on the cabinet beneath the sink that lay slightly ajar.

She caught a glimpse of a bottle of aspirin.

As soon as she jumped off the toilet, she opened the cabinet and discovered that this was where hilda and mike kept all their medication.

She had an idea..

Sabreen double checked that the bathroom door was locked and returned to the cabinet to inspect the different kinds of medication.

She couldn’t read so it was hard to tell what was what. She only knew the aspirin bottle because she was used to it from home. she was often told to take an aspirin when she was ill.

There were pills of different sizes and colours and there were some syrups too.

Sabreen wasn’t particularly fond of putting nasty tasting things in her mouth so she filled the gargling tumbler with water from the basin and sat down with a couple of pills..

This was her solution. Putting an end to her clueless, useless life.

Once all these pills were taken, she was sure that she would be dead and never have to feel another day of sadness or pain again.

Today was her final day. She drank as many as her tummy could handle and left the bathroom once she’d disposed of the empty boxes, bottles and medicine packets in the dustbin.

She lay on the bed waiting for the final moments when she would eventually not feel anything anymore.

She waited and waited and everytime she felt like nothing was happening, she went back to the bathroom for more.

Until finally, she dosed off into an extremely deep, almost comatose state.

******
Authors note:
Jazakallaah soooo much to everyone for their heartfelt duas and understanding.. Continue with those duas though and keep the comments coming too…

Posted by silent living…

part 48: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

The rain was beginning to come down much harder now and then a loud thunder burst got sabreen abit panicked.

She held onto her knees tighter and thought hard about what her next move should be.

Should she just sit here in the rain until it eventually stops?

She glared up at the sky through the hard drops that were falling on her face.

The last time she felt the rain fall down on her, it was an exhilarating feeling. She enjoyed every drop and felt free and happy.

Today was the total opposite. She panicked more and more with every drop that fell down. She was afraid. Afraid of so many things. Afraid of getting wet. Afraid of getting sick. Afraid of what her outcome was going to be. Afraid of hilda finding her. Afraid of being sent back home. Afraid of being tortured any more.

She wasn’t free and happy this time round. This time she was trapped and very very unhappy. Sad infact.

And by the looks of it, this rain wasn’t going to subside any time soon.

And just when she thought it wouldn’t get any worse, tiny little ice cubes began falling. First slowly and then the speed gradually picked up. It started to come down much harder. It was hailing now.

Sabreen instinctively picked up her plastic bag of belongings and rushed for shelter. She went around to the front of the building where the changing rooms were and ran into the bathroom.

She felt a little safe for a while. It was dry but the loud roars of thunder could still be heard from inside and the banging of what sounded like much larger hail stones too.

Atleast she was much safer inside she thought.

But then a few other people started to take shelter in the bathrooms too.

Sabreen felt very conscious of herself suddenly. She felt uneasy and shifted around abit. She kept her gaze lowered so not to make any eye contact with anyone.

Maybe no-one was even looking at her, but she just felt that way. That everyones eyes were on her.

She heard some peoples muffled voices and imagined that they were gossiping about her. About the. Useless little ugly girl with the cleft that ran away and tried to hide in the bathrooms of the public football grounds.

Ofcourse no-one was talking about her. But sabreen had very little left of her self esteem. Actually she had no self esteem at all. She thought herself to be useless and ugly when she actually wasn’t. She was beautiful in a very special kind of way.

She couldn’t hear the people around her talking because the loud noise of the hail stones against the zink roof of the building made it rather difficult to hear anything.

But as the time passed, the hail seemed to have calmed down and the rain too.

It was then that sabreen heard a young boys voice saying: “hey! Aren’t you the little girl who’s lost? You’re wearing a pink t-shirt with a denim shorts. Your hair is light blonde like she explained and yes.. Its you… You have a cleft on the one side of your face.. I hope she’s still around here.. Your mums looking for you all over. Come on!”

He took hold of her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom.

Sabreen was too shocked to first of all process what was going on.

“There she is…” He shouted as he pointed towards his left..

Sabreen looked up and noticed hildas car in a distance. She wanted to run again. She couldn’t go back… She had come this far.

But it was too late. The boy was waving frantically and screaming, trying to get hildas attention.

Hilda was gone hysterical when she came out of the shower and noticed sabreen missing.

She drove around all stressed out and thinking the worst.

She stopped at almost every passer by to ask if they’d seen the little girl in pink and a denim shorts with light blonde hair and bronze streaks who had a cleft on one side of her face.

She had almost lost all hope when it began thundering and pouring but now spotted a young teenage boy holding sabreen and frantically trying to get her attention.

*******
Authors note:
Please make me maaf for late post. The reason I took a sudden break last week was because my husband got suddenly ill and its been quite hectic. Unfortunately he has once again been admitted to hospital so I can’t promise a proper time for posts until he has recovered completely. I will however try my best inbetween hospital, a dead battery and poor network. So please bare with me and remember us in your duas..

part 47: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

“Its just procedure naseema dear… Its just to make sure everythings alright.” Doctor yasmin reassured.

That eased naseema for a while. She waited in the line at room 2 while hanzalah and habeeba again waited in the waiting area.

Once the ECG was done, they proceeded back to the doctors rooms.

“The ECG shows that there’s a slight prolonging…well basically its called a prolonged QT interval..” Dr yasmeen showed naseema on the printed graph from the ECG.

This made naseema start panicking again… She was worried that she was going to die.

“Listen… It may be nothing to stress about. I suggest we just get a cardiologist to check it out. Our machines here are very basic and the readings aren’t very accurate. We’re just GP’s.. We don’t specialise in these things. But just so we know that everythings okay,” dr called her receptionist to make an appointment with the cardiologist at the nearest hospital…

“Has your ummi been stressing a lot lately?” She asked hanzalah concerned whilst they waited for the receptionist to call back.

“She has.. She panics a lot lately. Everything seems to get her panicked. Even habeeba falling or crying gets her panicked..” Hanzalah replied.

Doctor looked at naseema sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on hers. “You have to take it easy my dear. Really. Your family is there for you. You have a loving husband and a mature young man here to look after you. Its bad enough that the cancer has reached this far, we don’t want any extra complications now.”

The receptionist called back to say that the next available appointment would only be sometime in the middle of next month.

“Let’s just kEep the appointment. If we get another appointment with another doctor sooner, then we’ll just cancel that one…” Naseema suggested.

Doctor nodded in agreement.. “But in the meantime, I need you to have complete rest. I’m prescribing some strong sleeping pills. You need it. Just take it easy okay and don’t hesitate to call me if anything happens.”

“You see ummi… I told you that I needed to learn how to drive…” Hanzalah started again as soon as they’d jumped into the car to go home..

Naseema laughed..

They returned home and hanzalah immediately gave his mum some of the medication they’d gotten from the pharmacy…

He made sure she was in bed and didn’t get up for anything.

She had already cooked for supper so there was no need to worry about that.

a worried abdullah returned home in the evening only to find naseema fast asleep in bed.

Hanzalah explained everything to his father who agreed that it was best for naseema to just take things easy.

In the meantime, abdullah tried getting numbers of cardiologists in the area so that they could get naseema seen to sooner. He didn’t want to wait until halfway next month. He loved his wife dearly and didn’t want anything to happen to her. He couldn’t imagine life without her. She was his pillar, his strength, his only love. The only woman his ever known and been so attached to and losing her would be like losing his whole life.

As much as he knew that whatever happened in life was Allahs will, the thought of losing naseema was something he just wasn’t ready for. He silently prayed that Allah granted her a speedy recovery and a long beneficial life.

He googled a few doctors in the area and spoke to some of the brothers at the masjid after esha salaah and by the next morning had a list of cardiologists in and around the area.

He left his shop work aside and immediately began calling for appointments.

After 3 calls and still no sooner appointment, the shop phone rang…

“Abba… Its ummi… She’s not feeling too well abba… She can’t breathe and she says she feels like fainting…” Hanzalahs stressed voice was heard through the phone.

“Calm down hanzalah.. What happened? Just get ummi a glass of water, I’m locking up here and will be home as soon as I can…” Abdullah said.

When abdullah reached home, naseema was laying down on the sofa in the lounge.

She was shivering when it was almost 30 degrees outside.

Hanzalah had wrapped a light blanket around her and was sitting beside her trying to comfort her.

“What happened my love?” Abdullah rushed towards naseema…

“I don’t know.. I’m cold and I’m feeling terribly light headed. Maybe my blood pressure again… I think I need to go to the hospital.” Naseema said.

Naseema hated the hospital. And the fact that she’d asked to be taken, was a sign that this was serious.

*********
Authors note:
Thanks to everyone for understanding about my last minute break and jazakallah to everyone for being concerned and their heartfelt duas..
Inshallah the blog will continue from today as normal.

Posted by silent living…

apology

Assalaamu alaykum to all…

I would like to sincerely apologise but unfortunately this blog will have to take a little unplanned break due to unforeseen circumstances.

Please remember this hopeless servant in ur duas..

Juma mubarak…

Posted by silent living…

part 46: (hanzalah)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Naseema had been feeling a little better lately. She definitely still had her off days. Days where she couldn’t see to her daily chores. Days where she couldn’t continue schooling habeeba and days where she was unable to help hanazalah with his work.

But she had an understanding, supportive and loving family who stood by her throughout her off days.

Abdullah would close the shop just to take hanzalah for his extra curricular activities such as football and horse riding. Fortunately he was his own boss and was able to do such.

Hanzalah would try to figure his way through his work by himself. And luckily he was home schooled so he could always skip a section to come back to it when naseema was able to assist him.

The days naseema could cope, she would prepare extra food and chapatis so that it could help her on the days she wasn’t feeling too good.

It was mostly the days after her treatments that she would feel weak and extra sick. It was normal. Just the side effects of the treatments.

she had an appointment with her GP this afternoon as she was starting to feel terribly weak and light headed. She was feeling a little more nauseous than usual and breathing was a little bit more difficult.

Abdullah insisted on taking her to the doctor but she refused…

“No my love.. I’ll be fine.. Hanzalah will come with me. He’ll watch over me. If I don’t feel well enough, I’ll give you a call and you can come…” Naseema tried to convince abdullah over the phone.

Abdullah sighed and gave in. He knew how stubborn his wife could be about these things and there was no point in arguing. But naseema knew that it was purely out of concern that her husband reacted this way and this made her love him even more.

She always heard her friends complaining about their husbands and how they got fed-up when their wives were ill. But not abdullah. He was a true gem.. Well ofcourse he was. He tried his very best to follow our beloved nabi muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) in every regard. And nabi (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said that the best from amongst you are those who are best to his wives…

And this abdullah was.. He was the best.

As soon as they’d eaten lunch, hanzalah shooed his mother to lie down while he cleared up the table for her and then got ready to leave.

“I’m sure its just your blood pressure ummi.. It must be very low again. But if you’re not feeling too well, I don’t mind driving for you…” Hanzalah smirked and tried to butter his mother up to let him drive.

“Nice try young man… But we wouldn’t want to kill me before my time now would we? And besides, we have habeeba with us aswel.. Why torture your innocent little sister?” Naseema joked..

Hanzalah laughed. He knew his mother would never go against any rules in her life. But he really wanted to learn how to drive. Abdullah promised to teach hanzalah when the time was right and when he was of the right age. For now though, there was no reason for them to go breaking the laws of the country.

Upon reaching the doctors surgery, naseema was asked to have her urine tested aswel as her blood pressure.

She continued to the relevant areas while hanzalah kept habeeba occupied in the waiting area.

“Mrs gujiwala?” The assistant called when it was finally their turn to be seen by the doctor.

“How are you feeling my dear? ” Dr yasmin asked naseema.

“Well.. Not too well today. But I’m not so sure that this has anything to do with the cancer. I’m just feeling terribly weak…”

Naseema listed her ailments for today as the doctor listened attentively and took down notes on her computer.

“Aha…” The doctor nodded.. ” I see that your blood pressures quite high today..”

“You mean low?” Naseema corrected.

“No dear.. High… Its 185 over 85…” The doctor raised her concerns

“But that’s strange.. Ummis blood pressure is always extra low..” Hanzalah said with a shocked expression on his face.

“Hmm.. I know.. That’s why I’m a little worried…” The doctor said writing something down on a piece of paper.. “Have you been very stressed out lately?

“No… Not really.. Just the normal…” Naseema replied.

“Ummi is a natural stress pot. Everything stresses her out..” Hanzalah replied fondly with a smile on his face and shaking his head.

Doctor yasmin laughed lightly and then handed naseema a piece of paper.. “I would like to proceed to room 2 for an ECG… When you’re done, you can come back here and I’ll examine you and take it from there..”

An ECG? Why? Was something now wrong with naseemas heart? What was going on?

Posted by silent living…

part 45: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

“Sabreen. ” Hilda called as she entered sabreens room.

Sabreen was sitting on the edge of the bed thinking hard about what to do when hilda walked in. She hoped that hilda didn’t know that she was eavesdropping again. And she hoped even more that hilda wouldn’t be here to tell her that she was taking her back to her parents… She also hoped that hilda didn’t notice her streSsed out face. But thanks to her cleft that always gave her face the same look, hilda didn’t notice a thing.

“Oh… You’ve fitted it on… Looks good on you sweety.. Glad it fits..” Hilda said noticing that sabreen had been trying on some of her new clothes.

sabreen looked lovely in a clean set of clothes that were her size instead of the overly large t-shirt and jeans of alices that she had on previously.

“I’m just jumping in for a quick shower. I won’t be too long. Will you be alright? Should I switch on the television for you?” Hilda asked.

Sabreen shook her head.

She had trust issues. She couldn’t trust her parents and She couldn’t trust hilda now either. Hilda wasn’t saying anything about her call to sam and beth. And that made sabreen more scared. Were they all conspiring against her?

“Ok then… See you in a bit…” Hilda said as she closed sabreens room door and headed towards her en suite..

Sabreen sat thinking… Its either she runs away now or she won’t get an opportunity again. And then they would drop her off back home and that would just be a nightmare.

But where would she run to? Alice and tony were in the next town and she didn’t know her way around at all. She has never been in the outside world before, let alone all by herself.

What if someone kidnapped her? Or hurt her?

Well either way she was still going to be hurt and right now running away was her only option. She’ll figure out where to once she’s out.

She opened her room door and walked towards hildas room. She placed her ear against the door and listened for the shower. Just at that moment she heard the shower door close and knew that hilda was definitely in. She would have to be very quick.

She ran back to her room and threw whatever hilda had bought for her (which was basically all that she posseSsed) into the shopping bags. She grabbed the bags and tiptoed swiftly down the stairs and out the back door.

The front would be too obvious and she didn’t know how to open or close the main gate and she did notice a side gate where the domestic entered and exited from.

She prayed with everything she had that the gate was left unlocked. Or else therE would be no other way out.

As she neared the gate, she noticed the lock on the gate was open.

She carefully opened the gate and rushed out…

She was out… And free… For now.. In this HUGE world…

Where to now?

Sabreen didn’t think, she didn’t care… She didn’t even look back. She was too afraid that someone was behind her and hilda had noticed that she was missing.

So she ran and ran and turned into the next street… She remembered coming this way. It looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place where she was.

It was still broad daylight and there were cars passing by but she was too afraid to look so she kept her gaze down.

There were many people walking, either to and from school and to the shops perhaps and back home. So she didn’t look that suspicious to anyone.

That’s it! That’s why this road looked so familiar.. It was the road that lead to the park they’d visited the last time with mike and hilda.

That would be a good place to hide for a while. No one would notice her there..

She picked up her pace and rushed eagerly to reach the park a little sooner. She needed to get off any familiar roads or areas because hilda was sure to look for her.

After some time, much effort and continuous huffing, sabreen had reached the park. Only, she wasn’t interested in its beauty today. She needed to find a quiet spot where she could hide and nobody would find her.

There were tennis courts and a football ground part of the park which sabreen had paSsed.

She found a face brick building which was possibly the bathrooms and changing rooms. she went to the back of the building. It was quiet and there was a brick wall behind. This would be her hiding spot for a while, until she thought of a plan…

She was exhausted. Her feet ached and her chest too. All that walking had been too much for her little body, so when she sat down on the gravel, she felt so relieved even though it was hard and stoney.

She leaned against the wall with her knees drawn to her chest and placed her head to rest. With all the exhaustion she had drifted off into a deep slumber.

She awoke to a loud thundering sound above her and trickles of raindrops falling onto her bare arms and head.

Posted by silent living…

part 44: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

Beth rushed to answer the phone hoping that it was hilda calling her back…

“Beth ” Hilda said as beth answered.

“Hilda? I’ve been trying to call you for the past hour…” Beth complained hoping that hilda would disclose where she was all along and what she was up to.

“Sorry, I missed your call. That’s why I’m calling back now. Have you and sam decided what you want to do?” Hilda got straight to the point. She knew beth better than anyone else and she also knew that it was eating her up that sabreen had been out and about. She decided not to give her an explanation as to where they were. Frankly, it wasn’t her business right now anyway. They needed to get to the point and sort the main problem out.

“Hilda… Please… I want my daughter back.. I need her here… What kind of mother would just give her child up like that? I can’t.. I just can’t…” Beth began to cry into the telephone.

Hilda definitely didn’t expect this. She expected beth to readily give up on sabreen. She thought that sabreen was a burden to them and having her away would ease their stress. She didn’t know what to Make of this performance. A thought crossed her mind that beth could be pretending…. But beth continued to sob more and more.. Pleading with hilda to bring sabreen back.

“Somethings not right beth. This child seems.. I don’t know.. Disturbed if I may put it that way… I don’t know why I get the feeling that you and sam are not treating her well.” Hilda said trying to figure beth out.

“What do you mean? What kind of a mother do you think I am? Ill treat my own child that I’ve carried for 9 months, struggled to bring into this world and sacrificed everything that I had all these years for her and you’re telling me that I ill-treat her? What right do you have to judge me like that? I love my child and I only want what’s best for her. But how would you know what its like bringing up a child, you don’t have any… “Beth spat out angrily..

Hilda was hurt at that remark. But maybe beth was right. Maybe she was reading too much into things. Maybe she was just assuming that sabreen was being abused and maybe sabreen was just a much more reserved child. Maybe the whole sam story was a little dramatised by alice. How would anyone know? They weren’t there to witness the whole thing. But why would tony make up such a thing?

All these thoughts were running through hildas mind as beth pleaded and sobbed over the phone.

“Please hilda… Please bring my child back or else.. Or else I’ll do something really bad…” Beth cried even harder and then the phone was snatched from her hand..

“Hilda, I know you and I don’t get along that well.. But if you really care about your sister, you’ll bring that child back. She’s going into a depression and if sabreen doesn’t come home soon, I’m afraid beth might just kill herself. She’s already threatened a few times…. So please…” Sam demanded

“But what about what you did? Sam! What’s the truth about what happened that night?” Hilda was so confused. Her heart was melting for her sister but she was so afraid of doing thE wrong thing.

“I don’t remember much that happened. All I remember was that sabreen was angry that we got home late that night and we sat down to have supper. Beth started going a little crazy and eventually went to sleep … Everything else is very hazy. I don’t remember anything much until beth woke me up the next morning. She was hysterical that sabreen was missing. We drove around for hours that day looking all over for her. The worst thoughts were going through our mind. We didn’t know what to expect or what had happened to our little baby.. We miss her hilda. Please.. Bring her back home.”

“I don’t know… I’ll speak to mike when he gets home and we’ll see what we’re going to do. If we do decide to bring her back, it will only be tomorrow morning. The drive is long and mike gets home rather late in the evening.” Hilda felt defeated.

“Thank you so much. You have no idea how you’re relieving us from our stress. As long as we know that our baby is safe with you for now. But please bring her back….” Sam pleaded again.

“Okay sam… Okay… We’ll bring her back tomorrow…” Hilda said before putting the phone down.

Sabreens world was spinning. She wished that it was another nightmare that she was having. She had tried on the first set of clothes and was on her way to hildas room to show her when she heard hilda on the phone. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop again but she heard hilda saying beths name and stood there listening. Why was hilda taking her back? She couldn’t go back. They’ll kill her, that’s for sure. She just can’t go back. She ran back to her room and started panicking. She needed to do something quick. She needed to run away….

*******
Authors note:
Please excuse any errors, I’m always rushing to type. Will edit as soon as I get a chance inshallah..

Posted by silent living…

part 43: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

The cordless phone wasn’t on its base and before hilda could even find the phone, the call had ended. So she didn’t bother looking for it and went back to the entrance to collect her parcels, some of which sabreen had already brought inside.

“Thanks sweety. You’re such a help” hilda said.

Hilda had no idea how those simple words made such a difference to sabreen and she let out a genuine smile.

She’s never heard her parents ever tell her that she was a help. Even though she did all the cleaning and cooking and washing and everything else in the house. She always helped to unpack the shopping bags when beth returned from shopping but beth never ever said thank you… And here, all she did was carry 2 plastic bags with her own things in and she was thanked.

Gratitude is something so marvellous. We never realise the impact it may have on the person that we are appreciating. Gratitude is the best gift anyone can receive.

“Why don’t you try on some of those clothes and see if they fit. If they don’t, I’ll just take them back to change them.” Hilda suggested once they’d reached sabreens room.

Fit on clothes? Sabreen thought. And why would aunt hilda want to give them back? She was used to just wearing whatever second hand clothes she was given, whether they fitted or not. Why would she have a problem with brand new clothes which were her size? But she complied anyway just after hilda had closed the door and walked away.

Hilda spotted the phone on her bed as she entered her bedroom and remembered about the phone ringing when she got home.

She took off her shoes as her feet were killing her from all the walking at the mall and untied her hair as it was too tight and giving her a headache.

She then reached for the phone to check the caller ID.

It showed that the missed call was from beth. And she had tried 3 times before that aswel.

Why didn’t she just try on my cellphone? Hilda thought. But then again, beth was stingy and wouldn’t call on her cellphone as the charges are much more. Calling on a landline was free from her landline.

She decided to check her cellphone for any messages and pulled it out from her handbag and then only did she realise that her battery was dead.

She put the phone on to charge and took a deep breath before she dialled beths number.

Beth was annoyed at the fact that she had tried calling hilda more than 3 times and there was no answer.

“Where could she be? That means she’s taking that child with her everywhere….spoilt brat” Beth said to sam annoyed.

Sam was afraid. He had these crazy thoughts running through his head… “Do you think that they’ve gone to the police? To you know…. Lay a charge like she said she would?”

“Why sam? We’ve done nothing wrong. That little tramp threw herself all over you after she drugged me to sleep that night. They can’t do anything to us. We’ll tell them the truth about her. Beth tried to convince her husband.

That morning after the incident, beth woke up feeling totally hung over. She had a splitting headache and didn’t find sam in the bed next to her.

She threw her legs off the bed and went looking for sam everywhere.

The clock in the passage showed that it was 11am already. Why was the house so quiet? Where was sabreen? Why was there no sound of her making breakfast or cleaning up. The house was in such a terrible state. She was fuming and was going to give sabreen a solid hiding for sleeping late and not doing any of her chores.

But to her amazement, when she went to sabreens room, she found sam lying on the floor with his trouser half off.

“Sam! What in the world?” She shook him awake…

She looked around the room and didn’t find sabreen anywhere…

“Sam! Wake up? Sam!”. Beth tried even harder

She got up from the floor and went out to get a cup of water. She filled the gargling cup in the bathroom with cold water and went back to the room. Her mind was racing. What had happened and where in the world was sabreen?

But sabreen was the least of her worries right now. She needed to wake her husband up. Something was terribly wrong.

Sam woke up with a shock after beth threw the water on his face.

He got up and took in his surroundings and then held the back of his head..

“Ow… My head hurts…” Sam said in a very groggy tone

“What’s going on sam? Why are you laying here with your trousers half off? Its 11am already. Where is this child? I’m so going to kill her!” Beth screamed for some answers.

Sam looked down at his trousers… “Little tramp!”

“Who? ” Betb asked confused..

“That rubbish child of yours… She put something in. The food last night when we got back. You started acting all weird and then went straight to sleep. And then… Gosh.. She did the most unbelievable thing…. Once you were asleep, she dragged me to her room and started taking off all her clothes. Then she started taking off my trousers… And after that I… I can’t remember… I don’t remember what happened.. It all went blank!” Sam scratched his head trying to recall what had happened and said convincingly.

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Authors note:
This is your cover up post for yesterday….

Posted by silent living…

part 42: (sabreen)

**”Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem”
-in the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful-**

The following day hilda and sabreen went on a little shopping spree. Hilda went all out and spent on sabreen like crazy.

She bought a whole lot of pretty dresses, jeans, t-shirts, skirts and shoes. She even bought her some paint and canvas and a few toys to keep her entertained.

Sabreen was thrilled although she was not used to showing any emotion outwardly. She felt so happy but didn’t know how to express it to hilda.

She wanted to tell her how grateful she was for everything that she was doing to patch up her broken life. But she was too shy and reserved and wasn’t used to expressing her feelings to anyone.

Before they left the mall, they stopped for lunch at a burger place.

“What would you like to order breeni?* hilda asked while studying the menu.

Sabreeen just shrugged. It was her way of saying anything would be enough. She had never eaten out before.

Hilda realised this and opened up the menu infront of sabreen.

“You could order anything that you like. Don’t be shy sweety. Look! They’ve got burgers, chips, sandwiches, wraps, pastas, pizzas..” Hilda pointed to a few pictures on the menu.

Sabreens tummy started to grumble seeing all these mouth watering foods that she’s never seen in her life.

But she wasn’t used to making decisions either so again she just shrugged…

Hilda smiled. “Ok, I’m going to order a hamburger for you then okay?”

SabrEen nodded.

“And what will you have to drink?” Hilda asked?

again sabreen just shrugged…

Hilda giggled… “Would you like a soda? Or a milkshake?”

Gosh! So many decisions to make. This was all so new to sabreen. She usually just had to eat whatever was on the table. And cold drinks were a luxury. Only sam and beth were allowed cold drink in the house. She was never allowed to touch it. She always thought that it was harmful for her and that’s why they’d stopped her. Well atleast that’s what they told her. That it would make her really ill. But aunt hilda would never offer her cold drink if it was going to be harmful to her.

And milkshake? Hmm.. She wondered what that tasted like…

“Ok sweety.. Don’t worry! I’ll just order something for you…. How about a bubblegum milkshake?” Hilda offered. “Would that be alright?”

Sabreen just nodded.

After giving the waitress their order, sabreen looked around and watched as families sat to eat. There were kids jumping around at some tables and there were some couples too who sat enjoying their meals.

Everyone looked so happy and content. Laughing and giggling and some having deep conversations.

There was a young lady shooing her baby lovingly in a pram.

The time seem to have flown by and sooner than sabreen expected, their food was placed on the table.

Sabreen stared at this huge burger with fries in her plate and an even larger glass of blue milkshake with cream and sprinkles ontop.

“Enjoy!” The waitress said smiling at sabreen.. And off she went.

Sabreen watched hilda begin eating. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to finish all this food in her plate. She watched hilda sprinkle some salt and pepper on her chips and then squeeze some ketchup over it.

It looked yummy and so she decided to follow and do the same thing. She picked up the salt and shook the bottle a little too hard causing a little too much of salt to come out.

“Here you go sweety. That amount of salt is sure to give you high blood pressure…” Hilda giggled and dusted some of the salt off the chips and move it to the side of the plate. She then helped sabreen by sprinkling some pepper and ketchup on her chips for her.

Sabreen didn’t realise how hungry she was until she put the first chip in her mouth. She picked up the burger and savoured every bite of it. She has never eaten such a delicious burger before.

And when she took a sip of her milkshake, the cold, sweet and thick taste on her tongue felt so refreshing and tantalising.

Hilda and sabreen left the mall feeling absolutely stuffed.

As they entered the house, hilda heard the house phone ringing. She dropped the shopping bags at the entrance and ran to answer the phone.

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Authors note:
This post is dedicated to ‘pink cake’ for being so eager and visiting the blog so many times yesterday eagerly awaiting a new post.
Sorry for no post yesterday. I was extremely busy.
And then we were experiencing load shedding the whole morning so was unable to post earlier.
Will make it up to you guys as soon as I can inshallah. Have a lovely weekend.

Posted by silent living…