Our land

Our Land Chapter 3

The second Nusayba stepped foot in the sitting room she knew I wasn't going to make it.

 Another definition would be that she knew I was going to break down. Something that I rarely did and, didn't like to do in front of people. She was a very close friend of mine and one of the few people who knew me too well. 

She along with Umar and Layla took me to my room which I shared with Aisha.  

When we entered the room, Aisha my older sister who was fifteen years old was sitting on her stool playing her piano. This was something she did usually to express her feelings when she couldn't physically express them. 

She was playing a melody that upon hearing it made me feel something within me. It felt like all the pain that she was feeling was slowly weighing its way into the listener's heart. 

It hurt so damn much.

 It felt like all the agony, discomfort, suffering, and hurt were pricking my throat and dumping a heavy sensation in my heart and stomach.

From outside the window, we could hear large crowds shouting things like "teer teer yal Bashir", or most commonly, "Huriya, Salam, wa adala,
Althowra keyar, Al shab"

"Freedom, Peace, and justice. Protesting is the civilian's choice"

Nusayba handed me a tissue and patted me while I cried, whilst Layla reassured me and was telling me how it was ok to cry. 

''Everyone does it'', she said. ''It just shows others that you are human. Some prefer to do it alone and silently while others don't mind crying at all''. 

'' So please Farah don't force yourself to cry alone anymore. All your friends in this room want the best for you and to make sure that you are in the best condition you could be in. Be that emotionally or physically.''

I managed a slight smile at her after I eased down.

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After a while Layla and Nusayba sat on either side beside me on the bed and, Umar switched to sitting on the piano stool. Aisha had already left the room when she noticed our presence.

He started playing.

Umar's fingers are said to hold miracles. Our piano teacher always praised him for it. He doesn't know what he's capable of but, Umar is what I call a somewhat elite young piano player. His choice of melody can capture the heart so easily.

Before piano classes stopped due to the protest two weeks ago, I would often daydream and stop playing midway just to hear him play.

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"Umar what do you like watching?" I asked him once.
"Anime and Sudanese drama", he replied.

I asked him that about six months ago because my plan was to make him a poster for his birthday that was coming up. 

I changed the plan with Layla when we both decided to make him a "Magi" and "erased" anime-themed blanket last month. We have been stitching and sewing it every day since then.

Layla and I are best friends. We met in a sports competition a while back. Her school and my school decided to do a collab for sports day.
Students from both schools were told to team up with someone from the opposite school and so we miraculously ended up together.

We started talking and found we had similar interests and so like any other normal students at our time, We exchanged phone numbers.

We have been friends ever since then and just recently found out that both our parents were good, close friends from college and High-school.

Our parents were so happy to have met each other again, and so our story of making good memories together began.