The Black Bridal Dress. Chapter 1 and 2

These are my first 2 chapters of my recent novel. Bear in mind that the first chapter is based in England in the future tense and the next chapter is based in Afghanistan in the past tense. I'd appreciate any feedback/comments. =)

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As the sun hid behind the cityscapes, it left a trace of red sky. It was as if the light of the day had disappeared leaving the sky bleeding with loneliness. Anika had always looked forward to witnessing such a scene but it had come once in a while. Today she sat on the windowsill bench and opened her diary- a book that absorbed all the pain that the young girl had experienced in her life. As she lifted her pen, she heard the door open behind her and with fear she hid the diary under the cushions. Her husband was watching with doubt.

“What are you hiding?” He stepped closer. She wasn't scared of showing her diary, she was scared he will only ridicule her feelings written in the book. He gripped her arm with anger and pulled her so hard that she landed on the floor. “I asked you what you are hiding.”

Anika didn’t answer. She hated him and his anger. He sat down to her level and squeezed her face tightly. “So you are hiding something, do you think I am stupid I won’t know what you are up to?” He snickered and got up again. He threw the cushions until the diary was exposed. His smile grew bigger as he flipped through it.

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Number of children played with marbles under the shade, and every time someone won they would shriek with jealousy. Veiled women walked out of their homes to make their daily visit to the rivers, they would gasp each time they heard a shocking gossip about the people of the village. This is where the rumours would start and spread like wildfires. And like wildfires, even rumours were uncontrollable. The summer in Afghanistan was agonizing, children could get away with wearing nothing but small shorts-, but the elder generation would suffer in the amount of layers they had to wear.

An elderly woman shared her news about the young man who came from England. She told the ladies how he wore the finest leather shoes, and how beautiful his ironed clothes looked on him. She informed the ladies that this was the golden chance to lure the young man to marry one of the village girls. As the elderly woman continued to mutter, more ladies started to get interested.

“The young man should marry Abdul’s daughter, she is beautiful and well nurtured” Suggested a lady in Pushtu. Undoubtedly the women would now suggest the girls that they were the most close to, as marrying a girl off to foreign man was certainly promising and rewarding. Most of the girls in the village were married off to the men within the village and therefore, their lives would be somewhat similar to their mothers. But those girls who got the opportunity to live overseas seemed to be more free and happier, and nobody would want to let go off freedom when it is nearly reachable.

Instantly the ladies quietened as the young man walked past the river. He was followed by a group of both young and older men who were trying to impress him in order to get their own means. Many of them requested the young man to take them with him to England that seemed to be described as the ‘country of luxuries’. But for this young man, all the attention he got was satisfying, so being followed by group of men did not trouble him at all.

“Ahmed, I do not like your company with these men” the young man’s aunt said as she poured chai in small tea cups. She handed him one and sat next to him. Ahmed’s parents had been killed when he was only 2 years old, ever since he was raised up by his mother’s sister. “You do know the whole village is just speaking off you. Their greedy eyes have set upon you and your smallest actions are being reported to one person and to another. I cannot risk you getting in trouble my dear”

“Khaleh, I am not a small child that would be enticed into doing something that would risk my life. I am from England, everyone fears me here” Ahmed grinned. “And besides, if I am a hot topic in this village it only means they want to know more about me”

His aunt did not like the sound of this. She got up and walked to the window of their small hut. She turned around and gulped painfully, her eyes set on her only nephew. “You know very well, that rumours can lead to death” Ahmed did not want to know about this particular topic in detail and stood up and left the hut.

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