Dear Friend

2

"The 8 looks like a snowman."

Lyrah dropped the pencil and started laughing instead. "Let me finish or else I'll forget."

Mahtab giggled. "Okay, do it quickly."

Lyrah put her attention back to the small slip of paper, carefully writing down the rest of her mother's contact number. She read it twice, and then twice more, to make sure it was exactly what she'd memorised. "There," she said, satisfied with her scrutiny. She folded the tiny note into a perfect square and handed it to her best friend. "Keep it safe."

The teacher had stepped out of the classroom for a moment and the girls had seized the chance to communicate across their seats, which wasn't that far anyway. It has become an unspoken rule among them to save the adjacent for the other friend whenever one reaches school earlier. And so they'd become seat neighbours. Barely two feet separated their seats but then being in that phase of friendship where every inch and every inch feels eternal, the girls refused to let a moment pass when they weren't in each other's presence. Their bond was that of soul sisters, although neither realised it yet.

Mahtab opened the tiny compartment of her fancy pencil box and placed the note inside. She closed the lid and touched it, as if caressing a tiny treasure box full of chocolate coins. "I will call you in the evening from Papa's phone," she declared proudly.

"Then we'll talk for hours!" Lyrah exclaimed. They would talk at school and also at home? How awesome! "We'll make our Mummies best friends and our Papas best friends!"

"Yes! And we'll be together forever!" Mahtab held Lyrah's hands across the seat dividing them.

The matter of their best friendship settled for life, Lyrah asked curiously, "Do you have games in your phone?"

Mahtab's eyes lit up. "I play the snake one. I make him eat all the food until he gets so big he ends up eating his own tail."

"That's so funny! I'll try it too." Lyrah noticed their teacher approaching and the two friends quickly leaned away from each other and settled back in their seats, but not before sharing secret smiles between them.

That evening, when Lyrah's mother's phone lit up with an unknown number, the little girl launched herself across the room and ran all the way to the kitchen to convey the mobile phone to her mother, whose dirty hands prevented her from answering right away.

"Ammi jaldi!" Lyrah jumped up and down on the spot. What if the call disconnects and Mahtab never calls her again? Oh ammi why did you have to get your hands dirty? "Ammi jaldi!"

Her mother pressed the green button and placed the phone to her ear. Meanwhile Lyrah looked up at her with open mouth, straining her ears to hear what was being said on the other side, which proved to be quite different given the fact that she barely reached her mother's waist.

"Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu," her mother replied sweetly. "Yes, I'm Lyrah's mother." She nodded to Lyrah, letting her know that her hard work and patience had paid off.

Lyrah's face lit up with a smile and she stuck by her mother's side, hanging onto every word of the exchange. She started dancing on the spot when it took a particular turn.

"Ji, we would love to visit you ... This Sunday? ... I'll ask Lyrah's father and let you know, inshaAllah ..."

Lyrah barely paid attention to anything said after that. She twirled from room to room, already thinking about which frock she'd be wearing on her first visit to her best friend's home.

Her mother only smiled at her excitement. When her father finally arrived from the office, he'd barely taken off his shoes when Lyrah was onto her case, chanting "Abbu please abbu please" nonstop.

"Lyrah," her mother reprimanded softly, "what have I taught you about not jumping on someone when they come back from outside? Give abbu some time to freshen up and then tell him what you want."

Chastised, Lyrah pouted. She just wanted everything to be sorted quickly, that was all. The sooner she got a yes the sooner she could tell Mahtab, right? But she waited patiently, for she was trying to be a good girl. Ammi said Allah paak gives good girls what they want. Ya Allah please let us go and have fun and be the best of friends forever.

Some miles away, Mahtab made a similar prayer as she waited for the phone to ring with happy news.

As it turns out, both of their wishes would come true. Partially, at least.