Part 2
Sumera Parveen
The sky was clear and the mourning sun after intently scrutinizing Anaya’s catastrophe was going down behind the dark hills. Either for being oblivious to her sufferings for a while or taking a break for reappearing again tomorrow with a renewed courage to bear the spectacle of misery.
Anaya whilst sitting in the middle of the chaos prevailing across the room, was lost in deep thoughts of Ahmed who had promised her loyalty throughout his life. Anaya’s ivory face in her black dress that was resonating the creeping darkness outside in the small courtyard of her dilapidated house after the sunset, was reflecting extreme agony and pain hidden deep inside her broken heart.
She was gazing the pale colored hem of her dress which had lost its vigor after getting old. The remembrance of the happy days was sometimes bringing a mild smile on her parched lips whilst sometimes tears in her wide brown eyes like a deep turbulent ocean. “Black was Ahmed’s favorite color”, she mumbled to herself. The pungent smell of burnt potato curry compelled her to come out of Ahmed’s fancied world and face the bitter realities of her life. She stood up and went straight into the kitchen to bake some bread. She took off the curry pot from the fire and started baking bread after placing a round iron griddle on the stove.
As she was baking small round chapattis for her mother and younger brother Ibrahim, a river of tears started flowing down her cheeks which she was unable to hide from her mother. An elderly woman with a bunch of grey hair on her head and a thin wrinkled face. She was enthusiastic to announce her sister’s arrival from Sukkur for asking the hand of Anaya for her son Ali who had recently joined the army after completing his graduation. Anaya covered her face with her plain black chiffon scarf which she had worn earlier in the morning with great excitement to see Ahmed who was coming back to the village after a long time.
She was hiding her face so that her mother could not see the tears in her deep eyes which were dazzling like white pearls and containing the images of Ahmed’s insidious way of holding the hands of his newlywed wife while entering their house that was attached to Anaya’s small house and was a symbol of enduring allegiance between Anaya and Ahmed. Her mother broke the news in great euphoria and went out of the kitchen to buy some chicken in the honor of her distinguished guests and without noticing the weird gestures of her daughter of hiding her face inside the black chiffon like a full moon being wailed behind the dark sinister clouds which were ruthless enough to depart the rest of the universe from its radiant glow. With the exiting steps of her mother, Anaya unveiled her numbed face and came closer to the small window of her small kitchen. She looked outside far away towards the north on the clear sky, filled with stars forming constellations that were narrating the tales of love and betrayal from thousands of years.
