Written In The Scars

Chapter 13

Everyone had joined together in the garden, to enjoy the grilled foods and tea served with the special biscuits Haifa had made.

Khalid smiled to himself. He glanced over to where his sister sat chatting away in the corner with the rest of the girls. To think his immature and loud baby sister was really getting married, made him laugh. That fact that she was getting married before him didn't bother Khalid at all, as he knew she seemed more ready for the life-changing process than he ever was. The girl only ever talked about finding the one since her friend Mariam got married two summers ago. He thanked Allah that someone closer than he thought would be willing to handle his crazy sister and that was none other than Amr, his best friend.

Khalid couldn't help but glance at the person besides his sister too. He was relieved to see that Diya seemed to be in a better mood, seeing how she was laughing with their other cousins. Kawthar must have also resolved the issue as she too showed no awkwardness towards Diya. However, the same could not be said about them two.

3 summers prior

"Mariam, this isn't a good idea..." Diya hesitated.

The girls had made their way out of the city and were following Mariam as she led them to the creak.

"We won't stay out for long, don't worry, our parents won't even know we were gone!" Mariam replied with a confident smile. She grabbed Diya's hand and gently pulled her forward. "If you're moving at this rate, we'll definitely not make it home in time!"

At that thought, Diya quickened her footsteps and eventually the three girls were skipping to the creak. The loud gushing of the river greeted them and Mariam ran straight for the water, Kawthar excitedly following behind.

"The water is warm!" Kawthar squealed, gathering a handful, and gulping some down. Diya let her sandals touch the water, but didn't go in. She watched with a smile as Mariam splashed Kawthar gently, not long before the two were fully engaged in a water fight.

"Diya, come on in!" Mariam called, but Diya shook her head.

"I don't want to get wet, so I'm staying here!"

As the girls continued to play, Diya found a dry rock to sit on, and peered up at the cloudy sky. Slowly, it got darker until the sky became a hue of sand and dust. Diya jumped up, remembering the reason why they had been let out of school early.

The sandstorm.

"Kawthar, Mariam, come back! We need to go now!" Diya screamed and the girls stopped.

A distant whistling sound could be heard far off in the distance, Making Diya's heart race with fear. She ran towards the girls and quickly pulled them out of the water when the sound could be heard louder than before.

"The sandstorm!" Kawther exclaimed, and she grabbed for Diya's hand, but slipped on a pebble beneath her. She screamed and fell onto the shallow water with a loud thump.

Both Diya and Mariam ran to her side, hauling her up.

"My ankle, it hurts!" Kawthar whimpered, tears forming in her eyes.

Diya put an arm around Kawthar and they walked out, with Kawthar's limping getting worse and worse.

"Mariam, which way back to the city?" Diya exclaimed frantically, and Mariam pointed the way. With Kawthar's injured ankle, the girls could not move as fast and just as they made it out of the creak, Diya felt the pin drops of sand on her skin.

"We're not going to make it back on time," She heaved, glancing back only to see a wall of dust moving closer and closer to them.

"I'm so sorry, this is my fault!" Kawthar cried.