Written In The Scars

Chapter 28

Three days had passed since the death of their father. For the sisters, their days of mourning were over. Whilst it was permissible for their mother to continue mourning for seventeen more weeks, Yumna continued to cook and clean just like any other day, as if she had never witnessed her husband's burial.

It worried Haifa. She knew that her mother was holding it in for their sake, especially for Diya's, and she hated it. She wanted her mother to express her grief and sorrow instead of bottling it in. Haifa had even tried to subtly suggest it, yet her mother would reply with a sorrowful smile.

As for Diya, her appetite was slowly reviving but she remained silent most of the time, often sitting on her own in their father's study. Apart from the times she joined them for meals, she would spend the whole day there sitting in solitude and Haifa would find her asleep by nightfall. Her and her mother had left Diya to it, giving her the space she wanted.

Their relatives had dropped by every afternoon to give them food and groceries, even though Meena was available to do so. They would stay for tea, but never too long which Haifa was grateful for.

Nightfall would blanket the house in gloom. Their mother would return to her room to rest, the sound of her recitation and Dua sailing out of the slightly ajar door, echoing throughout the house. It became a lullaby to Haifa, shooing away the insomnia, as she drifted off to sleep. Then the nightmares would haul her out of slumber, scenes of the day she got her scar except this time, her father would be the one injured. No matter how many times she tried to save him, she couldn't, and Haifa would awake with her cheeks wet. It was at this time of the night, she felt the loneliest, wishing for him the most. Unable to sleep and wishing not to disturb Meena, she would force herself up and out of the room, discovering her mother was awake most of the time by the glow of orange that shone out like a beam of hope from the bedroom door. They would sit together for the rest of the night, Haifa resting her head on her mother's lap as she continued to recite.

This morning was a replay of yesterday's. Haifa awoke to an empty room with a blanket hugging her shoulders and her mother nowhere to be seen. After shaking off the sleepiness, Haifa lifted herself off the cushions and walked over to her parent's cot, a simple bed made of linen stuffed with dried palm leaves. Neatly folded to one side was a cotton blanket designed with the finest colours of thread, the most luxurious item in the room and a wedding gift her father had given to her mother. Haifa sat down on the left side of the cot, the side her father used to sleep on, and stroked the blanket tears swelling in her eyes. The blanket had always been present from her earliest memories till now, yet the Gifter no longer was.

The cluttering of dishes greeted her as she headed to the living room. Haifa headed to the outdoor kitchen where she found her mother and Meena supervising the stove. Heading back inside, Haifa found Diya seated on the Majlis cushions. With Meena around, the girls had not needed to do much, the handmaiden filling in both their positions by their mother.

As Haifa stared at her plate of breakfast, her eyes drooping close, her mother's voice snapped her out of her fatigue.

"Diya, you should return to the Academy,"

Yumna waited for her daughter to answer and when none came, she lifted her gaze to her. "You shouldn't postpone it any longer, especially when you're so close to finishing,"

Still, no response.

Haifa turned to Diya, watching as she took a small bite of her food.

"Mama's right, three days have passed,"

Diya gulped down the lump in her throat. "I c-can't,"

"Why not?"

"I d-don't want to leave the house,"