Light Upon Light

#17 The Weird Day

Assalamualaikum dear readers.

This chapter did not go the way it was meant to but it turned out really nice! Have fun reading.

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#17 The Weird Day

A week had passed since my family came to Ashiana. For the most part Mom was at Dar-e-Rahma, helping out with Sara Di's wedding preparations. I was kind of glad that I didn't have to interact much with her. It's not that I didn't want to talk to her or spend time with her. Every time we do talk we end up arguing over something or the other. She felt like I was excluding her from my life while I thought her continuos questioning was nosey and bothersome.

It was exhausting.

Dad was out a lot too. He had to visit all his old friends, step into the office for a bit and also pay his respects to all our relatives. He made sure to come back home by the time I returned from school. He kept dragging me to visit our relatives when he was told that I didn't see any of them, and I've been here for nearly two months. I barely knew anyone and I forgot the names of those whom I did recognize by their face.

Samir had great fun teasing me every time one of our old khalas or chachis asked Dad when he was getting me married. Each time Dad explained that I was only sixteen I cringed while Samir laughed and, much to my embarrassment recorded my reactions and posted them in the cousins group. Shoaib bhai started asking me what kind of guy I would like and Samar said I had to wait in line because his it was his Di's turn. And Di, she who normally supported me said she didn't mind if I wanted to get married first.

Everyone's teasing and mocking became unbearable and me being the kid that I was went and complained to Dadi.

"It's okay beta… let them talk. Just give them a deaf ear. Your reactions are amusing that's why they keep teasing. You know very well how to be an ice princess," Dadi said with amusement evident in my eyes.

At least she didn't mock me outright.

And so that's what I did.

School was slowly starting to get hectic. Assignments and projects started pouring in. Teachers started keeping class tests and the like. While studying was a welcome distraction, it was hard to focus with all the fun going on at Ashiana. I was secretly glad that Samar had to work just as hard as me. His monthly tests have already begun.

I felt a little bad for Safwan at first. The kid had nobody to hang out with and even his tab and PSP began losing their appeal. He tried to spend time with the older boys but they kept shooing him away. His loneliness did not last long though.

I thought Dad was joking when he said we can get Raziya Phuppi to come down too. But he was not. And Safwan got his pranking partner Marwan to wreck all kinds of havoc. I'm not even exaggerating. The very next day after Phuppi and her kids arrived, I woke up to a bucketful of water being splashed on me. As if that wasn't cruel enough they had drawn all sorts of stuff on my face. Thankfully they had used kajal and not permanent marker.

Dadi's attention was soon wrapped by our youngest cousin Jaad who was only two years old. He was so chubby and cute and adorable!

In short, Ashiana was teeming with people and Samar and I faced the brunt of it.

I was still groggy with sleep as I sat down for breakfast and so was Samar. The monsters had gotten hold of old alarm clocks and set them at so many different times for the night I barely slept. Their giggling faces as I kept nodding off was starting to annoy me. Samar was actually sleeping with his spoon held mid air. It was both funny and irritating.

"Samar! I told you not to stay up late with Samir and Shoaib" Phuppi scolded him causing him to jerk awake.

For once I defended him.