Raastein

3. Forced to Leave

The lights flickered and then went off. They flickered again, and then went off, again. This was what it was like in the Singh family. The family's life was also like these lights–on and off, not permanent; it was a metaphor for life. Meaning that whenever the Singh family moved, it wasn't permanent.

For the fifth time in three years, the Singh family had to movie country, the reason being, like every other, safety. There had been multiple reports of attacks in Istanbul, making it an unsafe place to live. The family would have to escape, they just didn't know how.

Dinner sounded at last–at eight o'clock. The Singh family made their way downstairs. Going down the long and dark corridors of the house, the family made their way to their respective seats at the diner table.

Mr. and Mrs. Singh sat opposite each other at the ends of the table. The eldest; Dharam sat on the left of his father, and Alia next to him. Shyra was seated on the left of her mother. It was a true family dinner, which meant that a serious matter was about to be discussed. The matter being; leaving their home, their country.

"Hello children, I hope you are all well," boomed Mrs. Singh's voice across the entire room. The youngsters nodded, knowing that they shouldn't utter a single word.

"You all would've heard the news reports about the recent attacks at our airport. Well, your father and I wanted to talk to you about leaving," Mrs. Singh said, creating more silence amongst the family.

"Your mother and I don't think it is safe for us to stay here anymore. We've looked into a few options in terms of moving away. As of right now, India seems like the best option for us." Mr. Singh's voice was very flat; it didn't go up or down. It was emotionless, and so, the youngsters didn't know how to react.

The more silence there was, the more intense the atmosphere became. The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"Children, we would like you to start packing your things, we are leaving this place very soon, so you must be prepared. We will must likely leave via a ship," stated Mr. Singh. "You should know that not all of us are going to be leaving together. You mother and I will be going on a different ship." It was a statement which meant that the conversation was over, but that didn't stop Alia from saying something.

"But papa, we can't leave. Didi hasn't even finished her teaching course and I just found a really good job at a high school, we can't just–"

"We can't just nothing, it is final. We are moving," Mr. Singh said, cutting Alia off at mid sentence. A sign that there would be no further discussion on this subject. Only Alia couldn't resist.

"But papa w–"

"Keh diya na! Bas, keh diya!" (I said it, means I said it.) Came the pounding voice of Mr. Singh, making Alia shut up and the rest of the family relieved of the ongoing tension.

✿✿✿

Jasmeet Sahaani, better known as Jazz, at dinner with her family as the T.V blared. The attacks were becoming more and more serious, and more people were trying to escape via the ship that Jazz's father worked on. If things got serious the Sahaani's would have to leave the country and go to India. But once they would reach India, Jazz would have to get married.

Jazz just found out yesterday that she would have to get married to the son of her father's best friend. She hadn't even seen met the guy, yet she was getting married to him. Who knew what he was like?

Her parents didn't even ask her what she wanted. They didn't ask her what she wanted in life, if she even wanted to get married. Her parents didn't even ask her where her singing career was headed. Speaking of which, it was going somewhere, her career. She had recently gotten a contract from India. It was going to be her big break. But now with this marriage, there wasn't any hope of a career.

Her parents didn't really know about the contract, but she couldn't do anything about it now. By telling them it would only make matters worse; Jazz's parents were always fond of her choice in career. But she couldn't deny her parents. They had let her do whatever she wanted. She had to listen to this one thing they were asking her to do–even if it was something that would change her life forever.