The Imperials

Rise and shine

With his eyes half closed, Harun nodded and tripped down his window totally fooled by my play. I glanced down at him with a smirk, Harun had managed to land straight down on the trampoline located right under his window. The mighty jump had woken him up, and he glared at me fiercely. "Where is the train?"

"Gone." I laughed at my ten-year-old twin brother, showing him my device in my hand and replaying the blaring sound again and again.

"Musa, what the hell did you do?" Harun groaned wide awake, laying there on the trampoline and rubbing his eyes with his blanket half on. "I freaking thought I was strapped to the railway tracks."

I crackled, pointing down the window at him evilly. "You shall never escape my hands."

Harun rolled his eyes from down there. "I know. That's really a bummer."

Umme Qulsum POV:

For the hundredth time, my phone rang, and for the hundredth I pressed snooze. I was annoyed and tired of it, and so was my phone. My phone rang one last time, and this time I stabbed it only to answer dad's call by mistake.

"Assalamu alaikum, Umme Qulsum. Are you up?" Dad asked cheerfully, followed by the street's background noises that was worse than my alarm ringtone, stabbing me awake.

"Mhmm..." I answered with my eyes still closed shut, embracing my pillow.

"No, you're not. Up now!" He ordered. "You've got school in twenty minutes. You hear me, twenty minutes!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up!" I groaned, sitting groggily up on my bed and dowsing off, my hair a complete bird's nest.

"Umme Qulsum, you are never home, young lady. Why darling? This is a bad trait. You can't always stay with your brothers and sisters, they need privacy--"

"No, they don't. Not when I live with the twins. Huzaifah and Hawa clearly said they are grateful for my presence, even Saff and Cat said that."

Dad groaned. "Sweetie, why don't you ever get the hint that your mommy and daddy miss you a lot since you're never home? Never!"

I chuckled guiltily, gettiny up with a stretch and making my bed before I headed off for school. "But, I love Huzaifah. Why did you have to get him married off then? It's your fault, dad."

"He's a big boy. He needed it. Are you ready for school dear? I'm on my way to pick you up and the twins, and drop you people off to school. Ready?"

"No, just give me a minute." I shut my phone off and screamed on top of my lungs when I glanced up at the clock bolted to my pink wall.

Huzaifah, my thirty two year older brother, who was forever married even before I was born peeked into my room raising his eyebrows. "What's wrong? Not ready for school yet?"

"No, no, no, no, no..." I cried breathlessly, pacing randomly in the room before bolting to the restroom in panic. "I'm late!"

"Typical Saff." Huzaifah grumbled under his breath, shaking his head with a faint smile. 'Saff' also known as Safoora, my only twenty eight year old sister, who was a brilliant surgeon was the most amazing sister I could ever ask for. I often ended up bunking at her house when Huzaifah was angry with me, and same went for Safoora. "Saff did the same thing when she was a little girl just like you. When will you girls ever learn?"

"Whaaa..." I cried in the washroom, hurriedly getting dressed, brushing my hair as I struggled to brush my teeth all at the same time. Not late to school again!

Finally, when I was ready with my black abaya and baby pink scarf pinned securely, I hastily tumbled down the stairs to the kitchen where my cousin, hashtag my sister-in-law who married my brother, was making breakfast and packing our lunches. Hawa, my cousin, was more like my mother, and she never ever got irritated with me whatsoever. She loved me from the depth and breadth of her heart and treated me just like how she treated her twins.