Blossom

01

- Z A R A H P O V - 

The Natural looks charming, and there are many different kinds of beautiful flowers blooming during this season. The lovely roses win our hearts. As we walk into a garden, we are enchanted by the flowers’ dazzling colors—the season Spring. The season of beautiful flowers makes our planet look gorgeous.

Bees are buzzing during the season, Spring, moving from flowers to flowers, searching for honey. We watch the beautiful butterflies flying through the air—the birds chirping in the nest.

In this beautiful neighborhood, there was a simple small house, lived two women and me. The sun shined between the two curtains to my room. My name is Zara Khan.

I rolled around on my bed, trying to go back to sleep. Realizing that I could not go back to sleep, I sat up on my bed and stretched my muscles. I removed the blanket that was on top of me, then got out of my bed.

I am a 19yrs old girl who is a sophomore at Broksen University. Weird name, huh? I know. I live with my mom and my twin sister, Mariam.

Even though we are twins, we don’t look anything alike. I am kind of a religious person, whereas my sister Mariam, who is not so religious at all. The difference between us is that I like to wear a hijab and she doesn’t. I pray five times a day, and she doesn’t pray that often.

But that doesn’t make us look at each other differently. We love each other and always have each other back when there is trouble. If one of us is not being treated right by our classmate, then the other stand up. We always promise each other Nothing can come between us or destroy our sister bond.

We both love our mother, who is a hard-working woman. Employ a small company and also a housewife. My father was killed in a car accident when I was just six years old. I saw my father’s death with my very own two eyes, on my lap too. This incident has been hunting me down, the event of seeing my father’s death on my own two hands.

After my father passed away, life wasn’t the same as olden days-happy, fun, loving, and joyful. No tears. No judgment. No hatred. It was hard to believe what my uncle did to us. He took over all our property and company that my father works so hard for, by threatening my mother to kill one of us sisters.

Mom was not going to lose anyone in her life again. Therefore without having any other choice, she signed the property papers. Taking all the property from my mother, her brother-in-law kicked us out of our house, leaving the three women without anything in our hand. Mariam and I were tiny at that time. Not a place to stay, Nothing to eat. Months passed by. Mom wouldn’t eat anything; she would always give her food to us.

One day a very nice old lady helped us. She was giving us a place to stay. As soon as my mother got a job, she started to live in another house. We take the old lady as their grandmother. We would go and visit her every week. I always thought about how strong my mother was and still is. I always thought, how can one single woman take care of two girls on her own for years.

As I grew up, I learned one thing. And that is never to trust anyone; they will only backstab you and walk away at the end. They will never turn back to look at you ever again.

Scratching my head, I walked up to my calendar to cross another day out of my life. Rubbing my eyes over and over again, I adjusted my eyes sight.

Grabbing my pen from my desk, I was ready to cross the day. Before I can cross it out, something caught my eyes. There was a big red circle on today’s date that was marked by a red Sharpie pen. On today’s date, it is written “mom B-day.” Gasping, I facepalm my forehead.

“How could you be so stupid, Zara? Today is mom’s birthday, and you forgot about it. What kind of daughter are you?” I muttered.

I quickly freshened up. I slowly opened the door, tiptoeing to my sister’s room, not wanting to wake my mother up. Knocking on the door, Mariam opened it. Mariam rubbed her eyes and groaned in annoyance.

“What do you want? This better is something good that you are making me wake up this early in the morning,” Mariam grumbled, widening the door for me to enter. 

“It’s mom’s birthday,” I whispered, yelled, getting inside the room.

“Oh, crap! I forgot about it,” Mariam gasped, slapping her forehead.

“Come on! Let’s go and make mom a breakfast surprised,” I suggested.

“Wait in my room. I am just going to brush my teeth,” Mariam said.

“Okay.”

After Mariam came out of the bathroom, we started to head out for the kitchen. We were about to walk in, but we stopped, seeing mother behind the kitchen stove, cooking breakfast already. We both looked at each other with the expression ‘really bruh.’

“MOM! We were going to make breakfast today,” we whined at the same time.

Mom turned around and raised her eyebrow, “any occasion?”

“No! Not at all. Just felt like doing it,” I answered quickly, walking in.

“Yeah! We just thought doing it because you work so hard; we want to give you a break,” Mariam walked in, joining me on the table.

“Then you girls can make dinner tonight,” she said, putting the plate in front of them.

“Yeah! That’s fine with me,” I assured.

Mom looked at Mariam for an answer. She chuckled at Mariam’s behavior of eating. Mariam was so hungry that she could eat a pot full of anything. She kept shoving food into her mouth and moaned on how delicious mom’s cooking is. Mom makes the best food in this world. When you look at the food, your mouth gets watery 

She stopped chewing when it was quiet all of a sudden in the kitchen. She looked at mom, who was waiting patiently for her answer.

“What?” She asked, looking at us. 

“You will cook for dinner. Right?” Mom asked once again.

“Yes. Of course. But just to let you know that my cooking won’t be that good as your mother,” She warned.

“I don’t care how good it is. As long as you know how to cook,” mom sigh wiping the kitchen top.

“Okay. Well, then it’s fine by me,” Mariam shrugged her shoulder. 

“Girl’s don’t forget to grab your keys on the way out because I am going to work late today,” She remained us. 

“But you said you didn’t have work today, mom. You promised that you would take the day off,” I exclaimed.

“Sorry, girls, I know I promised, but my boss called me yesterday night saying that one of the workers is sick, so I need to cover for her,” She answered with an apologetic smile. 

“When will you come back?” Mariam asked.

“I don’t know. I might come in late. So don’t stay up too late,” she warned, knowing we will stay up late. 

“But mom! You need to rest. If you work too much, it could lead to a disastrous destination,” I explained.

“What is this ‘disastrous destination,’” Marian quoted with a mock expression on her face. 

“It means when you can’t sleep and are eating poorly,” I explained.

“Okay? I am confused about what you just said, but mom, you promise me that you will try to come home quickly every day. And we talked about it too,” Mariam exclaimed. 

“I can’t promise, but I can try; I am sure I won’t make it on time,” Mom doubted.

“Mom-”

“No more, Mom. You girls are getting late for your University. Hurry up and finish. Chop! Chop! You’re going to miss the bus,” She remained.

“Yes, Mom,” we both said.

We quickly finished our food. Kissing mom on each cheek, we said goodbye. Walking out of the house, someone caught my eye site. It was a cop leaning against the police car looking their way. He was indeed a very handsome looking man, I have never seen such a handsome young man before.

His cheeks are chiseled like a finely-carved Michelangelo statue. His nose is perfectly symmetrical. His lips are full: the kind that ends in a cute little smirk at the corners. Knowing that it is haram (forbidden in Islam) to look at other men besides my husband and family members, I quickly turned my head away, saying astaghfirullah (I seek forgiveness from Allah). Mariam nudges me on the side to get my attention.

“What?”

“That guy is like totally into you. He is eye r****g you,” Mariam pointed to the same cop, I just saw. 

Slapping her hand down, I hissed, “don’t you know it is rude to point at people. And so what he is looking at me. I don’t care. It’s creepy.”

“Whatever helps you to sleep, Honey,” she sang, shaking her head lightly. 

Mariam grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers together. It’s like our thing, whenever we go to places. Crossing the street, we sat on the bus bench. Taking my history book out, I started to review for my quiz while Mariam just scrolled through i********:. 

Today there is a significant history test for me. If I fail this test, I will fail the whole semester. There is no way I can fail this test. I have worked so hard for this class. Failing is not an option. 

“Stop stressing. You will do fine, InshAllah,” Mariam spoke, seeing me play with my fingers. It’s a habit whenever I get nervous.

“I can’t stop worrying about it. I need to pass this test,” I cried out. 

“You will be fine,” Mariam assured once again. 

I put back my history book and took out my notebook that I took notes on. Before reviewing, I read a dua (supplicating); I heard a car pull in front of us, but I didn’t bother to look who it was. Mariam started to poke me. Slapping her hand away, I went back to studying.

Having enough with her poking, I answered: “What?”

Mariam didn’t say a word, but there was a big smile on her face. I looked at her, confused. Mariam pointed in front of me. I turned back and looked at what she was pointing to. In front of me stood the same cop that I saw in my neighborhood.

Why in the world is the cop here? We didn’t do anything.

“Yes? How may we help you?” I asked politely. 

“Nothing. I just saw you lovely ladies walking here. I just wanted to ask if you need a lift,” He said. 

“Thank you, but we are good,” I assure him.

“Oh! I-”

“Oh, look at that our bus is here. Thank you, though,” I cut him off. 

Quickly grabbing Mariam’s hand, I dragged her to the bus. I promptly paid and sat on the window side, which I love the most. 

The cop’s car was next to the window. It was making me angry, seeing this cop not leave me alone. Why is he following me?

Mr.Stalker here looked at me, sending me a smile and a winked. I turned around quickly, blushing, and started to reread my book.

We soon arrived at the University. Walking out of the bus, we headed to the cafe. Soon it was time for my class. I hugged Mariam and said goodbye.

I reminded her to meet me in front of the University. I walked to my classroom and took a seat next to the window. Like I said before, I love to sit next to the window a lot for some reason.

“Good morning everyone,” The Professor walked in with a brown bag on his hand. 

“Good morning Professor,” Everyone greeted.

“I hope that you guys are ready for the quiz. Please clear your desk and prepare to take the test; remember, this test is a massive one. It can hurt your grade. So please take your time, but don’t waste your time on one question. Skip that question if you don’t know then come back to the question.” He remained passing out the quiz.

Walking back to the front table, he said, “good luck, everyone. I hope you do well.”

I said Bismillah (In the name of Allah) then I started to answer the questions. Time passed by, and I am almost finished with my quiz. Five more questions left for me to answer. I felt people get up to turn in their tests and leaving the classroom. For some odd reason, that made me nervous. Soon after I finished, I checked my answers a couple of times and then turned in the test.

I exited the room and walked to my next class. This is how my day past by. Finally, the University ended; I walked out of the school and waited for Mariam to come out from her class.

Knowing that she will take forever, I took out the book that I was reading earlier. The book’s name is “I am Malala.” This book is famous. I had read the children’s version, but I wanted to read the Adult version too. The adult version had an excellent, deep description and detail.

This book inspired me a lot; I had done so many researches about Malala. I learned a lot of things. I discovered that When Malala was 14, Malala and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat. Though Malala was frightened for her father’s safety, an anti-Taliban activist-she and her family initially felt that the fundamentalist group would not harm a child.

My heart broke, reading this. How can people be so cruel these days? Why can’t every live peacefully live on this earth, and why are there so many killings of people? Why is there so much blood shade all over the planet?

I couldn’t understand why women are being mistreated. Women have every right, just like men do on this earth. They shouldn’t be treated differently. Men should respect women. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), addressing the Muslims on the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage, warned them against the values he feared would be neglected after him, and referred to the woman as one of the important issues about whom he said:

“Observe your duty to Allah with respect to the women, and treat them well.”

The Holy Qur’an speaks of the equality of the two sexes in various verses. In one place it says:

“...and women have rights similar to those against them in a just manner...” (Holy Qur’an, 2:228).

Elsewhere, the Holy Qur’an says:

“O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most righteous. Surely Allah Knowing, Aware.” (Holy Qur’an, 49:13).

About work and doing good deeds, again, the Holy Qur’an reveals the beauty of Islam and its equal treatment of workers. This is something the West still has not been able to accomplish! The Holy Qur’an says:

“And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, and he/she is a believer - they will enter the Garden, and not the least injustice will be done to them(Holy Qur’an, 4:124)...Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall certainly make him live a good life, and We shall certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did (Holy Qur’an, 16:97).”

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the World’s

This shows it has no difference between men and women. Both should be treated equally. Allah, Most High Mighty even revealed a Surah about Men and Women in the Quran.

The problem is that people only read the Quran, but they don’t know what the Quran says. That’s why people should read the translation of the Quran with the English or other language version. That will help people better understand Islam and what Allah (SWT) is saying.

Looking at my watch, I saw that Mariam was 15 minutes late again, what is up with Mariam being so late now these days. I turned around to see Mariam run to me.

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“Sorry. I have to talk to one of my professors who held me back,” she breathes in annoyance.

“You mean your best friend,” I teased her. 

“Please. He is anything but my best friend. He is so aggg. No wonder I call him Mr.Bold Head,” She made a disgusting face. 

“Okay. What did you do this time?” I asked, walking next to my sister, knowing she probably did something. She always causes trouble. 

“I didn’t do anything. The only thing I did was threaten a guy who wouldn’t stop looking at me,” She replied. 

“Let me guess who that guy is. Ayan Amish?” I assumed. 

“Yep! Your guess was right. Someday he will die in my hand, I swear,” Mariam mumbled, rolling her eyes. 

“Don’t swear. Just ignore Ayan. Once he sees that you’re not interested in him, Ayan will leave you alone,” I explained.

“Are you okay? I mean, we are talking about Ayan Amish. Once he sets a target on a girl, he will have her no matter what,” Mariam reminded me. 

“Oh, right. So, what are you gonna do?” 

“What you mean?” Mariam looked at me

“I mean, since he has been bothering you, it means that he has set his target on you. What’s your plan?” I asked curiously. 

“Kick his butt out of this school, what else,” Mariam answered simply, waiting for the bus.

“You seriously mean that,” I gasped, hearing what this woman is saying. 

“Relax. I was just joking. I don’t have any plan yet, but I will,” Mariam smirked, rubbing her palms together.

“Alright. Let’s get all the supplies for the surprise party we talked about,” I reminded Mariam. 

“Okay. If you say so, I just want the cake,” Mariam joked.

“Of course you do, you fatty,” I laughed, smacking her head. 

“Ohh! That is so mean,” she faked cried.

“Cry all you want, cry baby,” I stick her tongues out

As we kept walking, the same police car stopped in front of us and walked out no other than Mr. Stalker. I was losing my patience with this guy. He was following me for no reason.

“What does he want now?” I grumbled, pulling Mariam closer to me. 

“Hello, ladies. May I do the honor of dropping you beautiful ladies to your home?” he smiled.

“As I said before, we don’t need you to ride,” I snapped, regrating after seeing the reject face of his.

Mariam grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me to the corner.

“Look at the poor guy. He followed us all the way here just give you a lift. He is so totally into you. Just let him drive us. I always wanted to get in a police car. Please! Please!” Mariam pouted, giving her best puppy eyes.

“Oh, Lord! Not that look again-” I groaned “-fine, but if we get in trouble because of this, then it’s all your fault.”

“Fine. It’s all on me. Come on now, Sis. Your future husband is waiting for you,” Mariam sang.

“Be quiet. He is not my future husband,” I scolded her.

“Why are you getting so hyped up?” Mariam asked.

“Nothing. Let’s just get this over with,” I sigh.

We walked back to the cop, who stood up straight because he was leaning on the car. Mariam smiled at him. She nudges me, telling me to talk.

“Yes, you can drop us off. But not at our house but the Party Shop,” I informed him.

“Okay,” he said, opening the back door.

I still think that this was a bad idea. I looked at the men one more time and got in. Mariam sat on the other side. I watched Mr. Stalker get on the driver’s side and started to drive. As we drove, he kept taking a glance at me through the mirror. It is going to be a long drive.