There are some trial moments, emotional breakdowns, confrontations, realisations that we all suffer everyday but they're underrated. No one knows them except you and your tears. People would tell philosophies, mind therapies, peace discoveries and...
"God, who placed rose above thorns, knew what He was doing"
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A phrase that had never left her since that day. The day that took a few of her precious treasures forever. Her mother, her smile, and her hair. While combing her blonde streaks, she was pulled into a flashback where she had been an eight-year-old kid.
Her mother was braiding her knee-length blonde hair. She was called Goldilocks due to her golden-amber locks in sunlight. Her mother made a bow band of white silk scarf on her head. It was their tradition of festivals to dress in their cultural attires. Despite the past week, shelling by armed forces and dusty ruins of broken homes, the morning of Eid in Kashmir had brought a little shine of hope and fervor for oppressed people. She was ready, dressed up as same as her mother, looking like her mini version. Her father and elder brother would be coming back from Eid prayer in no time. The old wooden house had the aroma of sweet smoke with a chilled breeze ventilating around.
"How am I looking, mommy?"
She twirled zealously.
"My Goldilocks!"
She loved her nickname. Her mother gave a peck on her forehead when a knock grabbed their attention. She ran excitedly to open the door expecting her father and brother while her mother went to the kitchen, smiling at her. Who knew that it was the last time she had seen her smiling. A knock burned their homes and scarred them for the rest of its life. The Indian armed forces threw fire logs at its roof and walls caught fire in the blink of an eye. Armed forces tortured Muslims in Indian occupied Kashmir like a routine chore and today it was their turn, unfortunately. Before she could gather up her senses, her surroundings were blazing up with fire, leaving a strong smell of kerosene and smoke behind. She turned to save her mother when faint screams shook her mind but witnessed the fire transformed into an inferno. She stood still at the door, frozen despite being melted hot around. She tried to escape the blazes. She wasn't able to hear her mother’s scream anymore. In the next moment, she was grabbed out by her father who came rushing towards their home.
"Riyah, Stay here. Where is your mom?"
She was blank. All blacked out. Her brother held her little hands tightly when her father jumped inside the fire to save her mother, somehow. Their neighbors living nearby ran with buckets of water and mud. The armed force was nowhere to be seen by then. The fire turned into embers when her wounded father brought her mother outside. Her mother's hands were ice cold, despite being trapped in combustion. She was lying lifeless.
"Riyah?" Her brother jumped on the mattress, jolting her out of reminiscent of a painful past.
