Dear Diary

The Date I

Aliyah took a glance at the mirror one more time, she adjusted her viel to fully cover up her exposed hair and then, she adjusted the pin that held together the viel around her head.
She stared more closely at her face in the mirror because it has been ages since she last wore a make up, even this particular one was done by her mother.
It was a light make up, her eye brows were perfectly lined and intensified by the eyeliner adding an extra contrast to both the black and white colouration of her eyes. The mild powder melted and became one with her skin giving her face the glow of a morning sun before it begins to shine. Even her lips wore an extra cloth of a rosy red lipstick, a color that matched the red petals design on her long white dress.

Something is missing" she tought.

"Oh, its you" She said to the transparent eye glasses seated on her mirror. Adjusting it on her face, she gave herself a smile and then picked up her handbag to leave.

She descended down the stairs slowly as if she was a bride walking down the isle.

"Hold on little one" Tariq said to her when there was only three steps left.

"What? Why?" She asked halting her steps.

"Just a minute, you will see" He said, rushing to his room not far from the stairs.

A moment later Tariq came back with a camera. Yes you heard right, a camera. At that time cameras still reigned as the kings and queens of pictures, no one knew anything like a selfie yet and people still enjoyed their life happily and peacefully without having to post selfies on social media. They just keep the memories trapped in an album.

Sadly, with time phones replaced cameras and social media became the standard upon which we judge ourselves, we compare our lives with that of others and often lie just to fit into a world we don't belong.
We tend to sacrifice our modesty, honesty, intergrity and privacy all in the name of LIKES and retweet. Before you decide to ruin yourself, ask yourself if its really worth it?

So dearest reader, flow not with the flow, resist the urge to pretend. You do not have the money, you don't have to lie, you do not need to change your looks or sacrifice your morality just to gain people's adoration and attention. Remember that You are beautiful the way you are and your life is perfect the way God intends it to be. So do not destroy yourself for their judgement, because in the end, only God's judgement matters.

"Smile for the camera" Tariq said as he clicked a series of pictures.

Aliyah smiled such a smile that exposed her set of white teeth twinkling like the stars.
She changed her pose from standing to sitting, to leaning on the stairs as she made diffrent sets of funny, gorgeous and beautiful faces.

"Can i finally join in?" Her mother who watched them all this while asked.

"Yes" He said. He clicked a multiple times before placing the camera on a timer and joined them.

The sound of a horn just outside the house ended their little family photoshoot.

"Bye bye" Aliyah waved as she neared the door.

"Be safe and don't stay late" Her mother reminded.

"I won't" came Aliyah's fading voice.

With Aliyah gone, Tariq was left to the love of his life.

"Smile" He said to her and she smiled almost instantly.

"Your smile is as beautiful as a lone full moon in a dark night, the sensation it gives me is almost magical. Thank God that he made a cage of bones for my heart, it would have been jumping around the house like a baby kangaroo by now"