Glory of the Midnight Sun √

One

After all this time, the Sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." And look what happens with a love like that; it lights the whole sky. - Rumi

Fariya

She looked up at the midnight sky with all her love and affection. The sky gazed down at her with all its beauty and perfection. Walking beneath the full moon, a smile was etched upon her face. Midnight has always been her favourite part of the night. She always loved to look up at the sky, a mysterious sky which held so many secrets, and the moon, the beautiful moon which witnessed everything.

But tonight was a different night. The sky and the moon and the clouds frowned for they know that they were not the reason for the woman's smile tonight. The woman was smiling for different reasons.

Moments ago, Fariya was on a call with her friend, Sana, who was all mouth and she was all ears. Sana was complaining about the hardships of life while Fariya was listening to all of it with a heavy heart. Sana was her best friend. A friend who has been with her through her thick and thin, a friend who trusted her when the world refused to believe her, a friend so dear to her heart. To think that there were so my many problems surrounding her friend had left her quite disheartened.

She was on call for about an hour, listening to her worries, when Sana finally decided to end the call. As soon as the call ended, she started thinking about her life instead. And the thought was enough to bring a smile on her face and ease the pain in her heart. Life has been fairly good to her. Fairly. Yes, she had her problems and her heartaches but over all, life has been generous. Allah has been generous.

After putting down her cell phone, Fariya sat up and went to stand in front of the wall of her room. This wall which was right in front of her bed was beautiful in every way. From the floral designs at its edges to the butterfly pattern at its centre, from the black colour at the boundary to the royal blue colour inside, it was indeed beautiful.

While gazing at the wall she was thinking. Her mind has become a rest house for all sorts of thoughts. She was thinking about her life, how it was perfect in every way possible, how she was showered with blessings from everywhere. Strangely, her friend's pain had reminded her of her own happiness. Her friend's problems had reminded her of her own peace.

With a smile on her face, she walked out of her room towards the balcony. The cold wind of Islamabad embraced the breathtakingly beautiful lady with such softness that the sky gazed with awe, the moon peered down with a smile and the clouds looked with amazement.

She had only just started walking, her steps soft and feather-like, when all of a sudden the door of her room opened with a loud sound. Fariya stopped dead in her tracks. Nobody in her house has ever opened the door of her room with such force, nobody has ever been so violent.

Thoughts of all sort started crossing her mind but she shook them away and hurriedly went inside the room only to look at her younger sister, Maida. It wasn't the fact that her 19 year old sister has opened the door with so much force which caused her worry to intensify. It was the look on her face which caused her breath to catch. Never in her life had she seen Maida like that. Her eyes were red, as if she's been crying, her lips trembling and her face contained an expression.

Fear? No. No. Maida was the brave one. How can there be fear on her face? What has happened? She didn't take long to put her thoughts in words.

"What happened? Is everything okay? Is everyone okay?"

Fariya asked with a slight terror in her voice. Her sister merely shook her head and motioned her to follow her outside the room. With a fast beating heart, worried mind, wide eyes and shaking legs, Fariya followed her sister out of the room.

Omer

He woke up with a sound of something ringing nearby. Alarm, he deduced. His eyes fluttered open as he placed a pillow on his face, a feeble attempt to block out the noise. Unfortunately, it didn't. It kept ringing. He was beginning to turn on his side, his eyes slightly opened, to turn off the alarm when suddenly the sound stopped. Letting out a long breath, he fell on the bed and closed his eyes.

Few minutes might have passed when it again started ringing. Cursing under his breath, he stretched his hand to pick up the alarm clock and turn it off when reality came crashing to him. It wasn't the sound of alarm. It was his phone which was ringing.

He lazily picked up his phone only to look at 13 missed calls from his father. His eyes slightly widened as he looked at the time. It was 3 in the morning.

It took him less than a second to get up from the bed and call his father. Luckily, he didn't have to wait much longer. His call was answered on the first bell. He didn't say the greetings neither did he expect them from his father. As soon as the call was answered, he put forward a question.

"What happened?"

He expected an answer which never came because his father went silent. After few seconds, it was the voice of his father which tore the uneasy silence like a bullet and made its way to his heart.

"I need you."

That's all he said but the way in which he said it left Omer hanging there for a while. His voice was wavering, as if he's been crying. He started to get worried. Is he okay? However he didn't ask him that. All he asked was,

"Where are you?"

And he caught his breath when he heard the answer. Hospital. What was he doing there? Was he injured? And most important, was he okay?

He didn't ask him any of that and after telling him that he'll be there in fifteen minutes and cutting the call, he went inside the washroom. It took him less than two minutes to get dressed. He wore a black pant, white shirt and black leather jacket. Having no time to comb his hair, he just ran a hand through his black, silky hair and rushed outside towards the garage.

He was met with cold night of Islamabad when he stepped outside but the wind didn't have a affect on his higness. He just got in his car and pushed the accelerator as soon as he was on the road. Luckily for him it was night so there was no traffic. It took him less than fifteen minutes to reach the hospital. He parked hurriedly and ran inside towards the reception.

But to his surprise, his father was standing at the entrance of the building, looking perfectly fine except for his red eyes and worried expression. Omer started walking towards his father, slowly but gracefully, and stopped at some distance. He looked at his father in the eye, worry written all over his face. His father just gave him a smile, a slight yet so beautiful smile. A smile which assured Omer that he was fine. Omer let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You came."

His father whispered. He merely shook his head and looked down. His father than asked him to follow him. Omer shot his head up and looked at him with puzzled expression, his jet black eyes filled with confusion, when his father gave him a nod as if asking him to trust him. His father turned around and soon after, he was following him to God knows where.

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Alright, so this is my first try to write a story. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes. Do read, vote and comment. Your kind words will be appreciated. Salam!