Sorrowful Souls

1: Steepening Journeys to an End

Chapter 1: Steepening Journeys to an End

At this moment - at this exact second - the azaan is recited into a newborn baby's ear, inviting a new soul into a world that was made to be a prisoner for the believer. This innocent soul grows up in a world full of trials and temptations until it reaches its ultimate test, the one test that is a culmination of all the tests before it, the one test to define its future in an eternal world - death.

Death was the only promise we were made in this world; the only promise that could be kept.

Every soul is at a different stage of their journey. Some are walking steadily on the straight path for many years, some have just found themselves treading on the straight path after many years wandering lost and some, like Radhiya Anwar, have completed their journey and have returned to their Lord. For indeed, "We belong to Allah, and to him we shall return"

As for Zakkariya, his journey was about to get a lot steeper.

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On a normal day, Zakkariya would set his alarm for 7:25 AM and would beat the snooze button on his alarm until it could no longer function. Then he would wake up at 8:00 AM, take an excruciatingly long shower and fix his hair in the bathroom until his little sister Saffiya would come banging on the bathroom door ordering him to get out as she needed to pee. He would then put on his usual tee, jeans, and hoodie and make his way downstairs to find his mother had made him his favourite pancakes and cut out assorted fruits on a platter before she had left for work. Then the TV would be set on channel 105 and the TV show 'Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom' would come on at precisely 8:45 AM signaling that it was time for him and his sister to get a move on, so they would then grab their bags and race to the car. First, he would drop his sister off to her primary school and then make a quick stop to a local cafe to grab a cup of coffee. Then at 9:10 AM he would walk to his lecture hall for his 9 AM lecture while updating his Instagram story. Every day was the same routine.

But today wasn't a normal day.

Today, he did not need to set an alarm for the demons of the night kept him agitated and restless throughout his sleep so he just lied awake at night, bloodshot eyes as his silent tears wet his pillow. He got up from the bed as the cold air sent a chill up his spine and slowly numbed his fragile heart. As he was about to leave to go to the bathroom he looked at his little sister Saffiya sleeping tightly in her small bed, her small hand clutching her mother's lilac dress and her face etched in a look of pain - a pain he prayed he could wipe away for watching the pain he felt being felt by his little kid sister was something his heart could not take. He grabbed the blanket that was slipping off his sister's small body and pulled it to cover her so she wouldn't feel cold; he then pushed a strand of her wavy dark hair from her face and kissed her forehead.

"Zaki..." She mumbled softly in her sleep

"Go to sleep Saf it's not time to wake up yet."

"Is Ummi in Jannah now?" She asked innocently, her sleepy wide eyes looked at her brother as if he held all the answers. Although she knew her mother was never coming back, she never understood how long 'never' was exactly, and where her mother has gone, or why her mother looked like she was sleeping forever and ever.

"Yes of course she is. And one day in'shaa'allah we'll see her there too," Zakkariya animatedly explained, his mouth hurting from the smile that just wanted to fall but every time he looked at his sister's small hand clutching the lilac dress he told himself he needed to stay strong. "And when we see her in Jannah there will be rainbows and unicorns and chocolate houses and everything you have ever dreamed of."

Her once sleepy eyes now sparkled with delight and excitement. "AH REALLY! But unicorns don't exist Zaki."

"Shhhh...They do in Jannah." He laughed wistfully, "Now go to sleep."