Nayika Writes

Please note I retain sole ownership of all these works of fiction on this blog so please do not reproduce or alter my work and claim it as your own.   Read P art 1 HERE.

Part 5 18.15 to 23.50  

31.50 to 35.30 Part 4 Asher drew the curtains and then tucked the blanket around Khirad. He wanted her to be as comfortable as she could be on the thin hospital mattress. She needed to rest. He knew she hadn't slept last night and they had spent the whole day pacing the hospital corridor waiting for the results of Hareem's operation. The surgery had been successful, Hareem would recover and Asher knew he should be elated and he was. But the thought that Khirad no longer needed him, that she would leave him again and take Hareem with her this time pressed on his mind, not allowing him to even breathe a sigh of relief that his daughter's life was no longer in danger. He sat on the chair beside the bed, the one reserved for family members visiting their ill relatives and that's all he was to Hareem and Khirad. He was a visitor into the small world they had made for themselves when he had refused to acknowledge them four years ago. He had abandoned them...

27.05 to 29.30 Part 3 Khirad was determined that she wouldn't fall asleep again; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction but Khirad was so tired. She was tired of putting on a happy face for Hareem, tired of ignoring Asher's mother's underhanded jibes and tired of Asher's accusing glares. If it hadn't been Hareem's last night at home before she had to be admitted to the Hospital for her treatment Khirad would have refused. She would have asked Asher to put Hareem to sleep on his own and gone to her own bed to cry in peace. She wanted to cry for the injustice of Hareem, only four years old and having to have surgery on her barely formed heart. Why couldn't she have been the one with congenital heart disease instead of her daughter? Khirad's heart was strong and it was strengthened even further every day by the accusations she could see in Asher's eyes. When she was certain Hareem wouldn't awake again Khirad kissed her on the ...

16.40 to 19.00 Part 2 ‘Hareem you listen to your story and then I’ll come and take you to sleep.’ It was the first time Khirad had come into their old room, into Asher’s room and she wanted to leave as soon as possible. She wanted to stop her eyes darting to the side-table where she used to keep her jewellery at night, or to the wall that now hung bare no evidence that it once held up a picture of a happily married couple, or the dresser that was no longer adorned with bangle stands and ornate perfume bottles. ‘Mamma you lie down and listen to the story with me as well.’ How easily that request fell from Hareem’s lips. How casually she sat on the very same bed where her existence had begun nearly 5 years ago, where Khirad had given her existence to Asher. ‘I’ll stand here and listen, okay.’ She had never wanted Hareem to hate her father; his offences against her were hers alone to bear. So she had always spoken highly of Asher when Hareem enquired about ...