[previously titled 'Aurelian']
Am I even real?
Chest weighing heavy,
Limbs going numb
There's a pressure in my head
I wonder if I even exist.
Tears push against my eyes.
Heart empty.
Ringing in my ears.
I'm flesh and bone.
So far removed,
The trag...
Everyone, please read the first part of the author's note.
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The house is silent with Umar and the kids off to work or school. Saudah sits at the kitchen table, ticking off a list with all the things she's already got for the braai later this week.
With a quick glance at the clock, she notes that Khadijah should be home from school any minute now.
Just as she dismisses that thought, the sound of an engine can be heard pulling up outside the house.
There goes the peace and quiet.
"As-Salamu-Alaikum!" Khadijah screams a moment later, slamming the front door open.
"Don't bang the door," Saudah scolds, after replying to her greeting.
Khadijah steps into the kitchen, dropping her bag at the table with a dull thud.
"Sorry," she says- ripping off her scarf.
The damn thing kept slipping today and she just about had it trying to keep it in place.
Saudah hums in reply, distracted by the paper in front of her.
Khadijah rummages through the cabinets for something to eat.
"There's leftovers in the fridge," Saudah tells her without looking up.
"Really? And I didn't even need to hide a tupperware away," she asks surprised, already krapping through the fridge.
Saudah rolls her eyes.
In a family this big with such ferocious appetites, the food is gone almost as soon as it comes and on the very rare occasion that there's any leftovers, it doesn't usually make it to the next morning.
"It's in the red ice-cream container," Saudah says- halting her from mixing up the neatly packed fridge.
"Oh," she mouths, grabbing the Ole tub in front of her.
Khadijah scrolls through her phone as she waits for her food to heat up.
"Hey, ma," she calls out, "you're gonna have to call off the braai."
Saudah looks up, "why?"
"It's forecasted to storm from this evening right through until Monday," she says, waving her phone.
