*Unedited*

It is raining heavily, and I am wet from head to toe, actually not head cause there's a helmet protecting it. Thanks to Allah I am just 10 blocks away from my house. I parked my bike near the doorway and as I was running towards the door, I tripped over the pot plant and fell to the ground. This made the wet soil stick to my face. I hurried in and tiptoed towards the room, if ammi sees me making the floor dirty she would bring thunder to this thunderless rain. She is obsessed with cleanliness, especially when it comes to our home.

"Eww..... you look like a zombie dipped in water," said Aisha giving me a strange look.

"Very funny" I scoffed, cleaning the dirt from my face.

"What happened to you? I have told you, kids, many times not to make the floor dirty" ammi said in an annoyed tone. Told you that this was going to come.

"Ammi, didi was playing 'plant vs zombies' and she lost" Sarim teased me.

"Stop it guys," I said and went upstairs, hearing Aisha and Sarim's laughter.

The first thing I need now is a nice bath, which I took immediately. The hot water made me feel better. Next, I did wudhu and read my maghrib salah.

I came down yelling "Ammi, tea!" I am addicted to tea and never leave it in any account.

"You can make that yourself" gritted Aisha. She hates when I ask ammi for every single thing. Well a good cook like her will surely say that.

"Please..." I said making a puppy dog face.

"Ugh!" She groaned getting up. In the meantime, I switched on the TV. I have nothing in particular to watch so I ended up switching between the channels.

"Here," Aisha came up with the tea.

"Hey, where's ammi?" I asked.

"Reading Quran," She said. It's a habit of ammi to read Quran after Maghrib Salah.

I went to her room and ammi's melodic voice echoed in my ear soothing my heart. I gave her a side hug. She smiled and closed the Quran. She took my hand and kissed it.

"Did you pray maghrib?" she asked.

"Yup," I said popping over p.

"What's this Aimen?" Ammi asked looking at my hand. There was a red mark on my wrist and with that, the whole of today's event came before me.

"Ammi, Imran came to the college today," I said with an anger-filled voice.

"What?" Her eyes widened. "That's the reason why I asked you not to go to college". She started.

"I won't stop going to college just because of that idiot," I said in a firm tone. This won't be happening at any chance. Not now, not ever.

"But beta" Ammi started but I interrupted her "Please don't tell me anything about him".

I went to my room. Imran never fails to ruin my mood. If not by presence, then by his name. It was almost time for Isha salah. So I redid my wudhu and took Quran and started reciting Surah-e-Yaseen and ended up praying Isha Salah. This brought a pleasant calmness inside me.

I went to the window and sat next to it. The weather was so pleasant. The only thing I was missing now was my dad. Abba died two years back in a road accident. He left behind much for our survival, but his absence is always there. No power and no other love can replace him. Aisha got married three years, and abba was present in her marriage, but he will not be there in mine. Everyone was affected by this, but especially me. I was attached to him the most. He was my knight in shining armor.

I could remember how he would bring ice creams only for me to enjoy the rain and would end up listening to ammi's scoldings.

I sat there thinking of all the moments I shared with him in 16 years. When he was there no struggle would dare to enter my life. But now I have to struggle for pursuing my higher studies. I have to struggle to stop marriage proposals. I have to struggle for everything.

These things were roaming in my mind when sleep engulfed me in dreamland.