The Light Of Enlightenment

Chapter 4

This chapter is dedicated to Missiepie, my first virtual big sis:) Her constant support  means A Lot to me and I'm very glad I got to meet such a caring person like her through wattpad, our sisterhood is forever^_^ Varah loabi vey Nassu:)

Katherine was quite astounded by Wasifa's words. Many conflicting emotions were simultaneously rampaging through her mind and she was having a hard time grasping onto a particular. She was having difficulty accepting the fact that the belief she clung to for majority of her life might just be a lie, Daniel's untimely death might be a total waste of a precious life. And it was too much for her to handle in such a short period of time. So she decided to call quits on the conversation.

Wasifa could understand her distress so she left Katherine to ponder over her own discoveries and prayed to the All-Knowing that He provided her with the proper direction.

The sun was already up although the forest remained quite dark still. The remnants of darkness mixed with the specks of sunlight that filtered through the tree leaves produced a kaleidoscope of black and white all around. Wasifa was mortified when she realized that she had forgotten her Fajr prayer in middle of all the chaos. She hurriedly prepared herself for saying her prayer and began praying seated on the rock.

When Katherine returned her gaze to Wasifa a few minutes later to inquire after her sudden silence, she found her engaged in deep concentration in saying prayer. Katherine watched her with unveiled interest. It must be liberating to be able to pour the hearts content, she wondered.  In her thirty years of life, she never felt the necessity to believe in a greater power. Who could understand her sufferings or relieve her miseries. Not even when Daniel died.

Suddenly her eyes caught the sight of a photograph sticking out of Wasifa's back-pack. She bent down and retrieved it from the bag. It was the picture of a man in his early thirties. Black curly hair and fair complexion with a fairly long beard. The man was holding a giggling baby boy in his arms and the baby was one of the cutest ones Katherine had ever seen. He had the same thick mass of curly hair like the man. Who, Katherine decided, must be his father. Both of the baby's arms were out-stretched toward the photographer. The picture brought an automatic smile to her face.

Wasifa finished her prayer and glancing side-ways noticed Katherine assessing the photograph.

"Is this your family?" Katherine asked. She noticed that a sad aura had settled over Wasifa at the mention of her family. She must miss them, Katherine thought.

Wasifa gave a slight nod, "That's my husband and my little angel"

"Where do they live? You must miss them while travelling around so much?"

Wasifa's heart constricted. With a slight upturn of the corner of her lips to hide the crushing pain she felt inside, she replied, ''I always miss them"

"Am I missing something here, Wasifa? I don't get why you're so sad"

"Uh, they died, my husband and baby. It'll be six years this year.' Wasifa clarified. Every word uttered felt like a stab to her heart but she held onto her composure. It still hurt even thinking about them.

Katherine remained stunned in silence, words failed her. She couldn't comprehend Wasifa's pain. She lost a brother but losing a sibling was a very different phenomenon than losing both one's husband and child. She was even more surprised by Wasifa's inner-strength. How could she keep it together and not break down at the mere mention of them? Like she still did, even after three years of Daniel's death.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say-"

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," Wasifa replied with a polite smile. "Let's not get more depressed than we already are here".