A Whole New World: A Desi Disney Anthology

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till destiny brings us together

The girl's name was Laleh.

When she had first opened her eyes twenty springs ago in a dingy flat to a pair of brown fatherly eyes staring down at her, that was the name given to her. At that time, it had less to do with her nonexistent Persian descent and more with her father's obsession with the tongue.

She didn't like the name particularly – having never heard anyone pronounce it correctly – but when her father had passed away a few summers ago, it was the only thing of his she was left with. Her given name and a handful of lessons.

One of the lessons she vividly remembered, amongst quite a few, was to never, ever, press your soles on the ground when running.

And that is what she had in mind while dashing across the uneven terrace of a building, life on the line – quite literally.

"Stop right there!" She heard a rough shout from behind, making her head turn around momentarily to gauge the distance she had been putting between them.

It looked handsome.

"No, thank you!" She shouted back, brown eyes alight with mirth and excitement, while clutching the bag to her torso and sharply turning around the corner.

Stopping abruptly, Laleh cast another glance over her shoulders and with one tug, strapped her bag to the back while picking the wooden plank from the floor. For a second, she just stood there. Waiting. Observing. Collecting her breath. And only when the sound of approaching footsteps sounded nearby, the night winds witnessed a woman running towards the edge of the terrace.

Without stopping to look down at the narrow street, she jumped.

And threw the wood to the side building.

Her fall on the terrace of the neighbouring building was cushioned by abrupt front rolls, quick in hiding behind the cemented wall. The sound of the wooden plank falling down on the other building and curses rising from behind had her clamping down on the lips to stifle a laugh, pressing further back into the wall.

"Did you see the long jump, Baba?" Laleh grinned up at the sky, already crawling her way to the wooden door with agility of a cat. "If that jump alone doesn't get you in heaven, I don't know what will."

Still half lying on the floor, she extended her arm above the head and tested for the knob.

It was closed.

Shaking the head, she uprighted herself and made a run for the next building, jumping over the ledges. This time, she didn't stop to check the knobs and continued the run, only halting when she had jumped over a few buildings and was a good few buildings down the road.

When she checked the knob this time, it was open. Sighing heavily in relief while pushing back the lock pin in the hair, she turned it around before hurrying inside. Turning her head around only when the door was almost closed, she witnessed the silhouette of three men still looking around the building she had thrown the wood on.

Idiots.

Scoffing, she softly shut the door behind her and made to adjust her pupils to the darkness. Standing at the top step of the staircase, Laleh narrowed her eyes in focus while checking the bag strapped around her lean frame and beginning the descent.

The room she stepped in was a lounge and pulled in absolute darkness, only light filtering from under a door at the opposite end throwing shadows across the furniture. Eyes wide, she stepped further into the room, arms splayed in front.