Chapter 1

There was a beautiful scene in the sky. An enchanting view of colors can be seen as the sun was setting down and the darkness was taking its place in the beautiful pink, orange, purple and blue sky. Anyone can see this view and say Subhan-Allah but that was not the case with one small girl in Shah Villa. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and red long stylish frock with matching dark blue hijab. You can tell by the beautiful face of the girl that she is only 16 or 17 years old. She had a frown on her forehead and her hazel brown eyes looked stressed and bothered. She was pacing here and there in front of her window.

“Please Allah-Mia (God)! Please let me pass my FSc exams or else you know na that Dadi is going to eat me alive! You know na how much of a dangerous person she is! She is ancient but dangerous like a dinosaur! She is surely gonna eat me without any salt or pepper and I don’t want to die yet so please help me just this once! I promise that I will stop stealing sugar from the kitchen! Please Allah-Mia! You know na I love you so please help me just this once!” The girl muttered in a desperate way.

The name of this girl who is bribing her Allah is Hana Asfand. She is the youngest child of the Shah villa. She is a very innocent and childish girl but only for her parents and friends. No-one in her home likes to talk to her so she usually remains in her room. She only went down when the food is served and they eat together but even at the dining table, no-one talks to her. She just silently eats her food and returns back to her room. She is mostly seen with her phone or a romantic book. She is always reading novel either on her phone or in the book form or she is sleeping in her room. But today, it seems like she can’t even read because tomorrow is her result day and she is fretting over her results. She knows that even during her exams she was reading novels and not her course books. But then again, it happens with every student.

This pacing continued for the next hour or so. Now it was the time of her papa and two tayas (father’s older brothers) to come home from office. She heard the horns of the cars and within seconds the main door of the villa was opened and she heard the voices of her papa and both tayas from downstairs. She stopped her pacing and started to walk downstairs.

“Hana! Hanaaa! Come down right now!” It was Asfand’s voice. He was shouting for his daughter to come downstairs.

On the other hand, Hana hurried her steps and went down. She greeted everyone with Salam and said;

“Gee Baba (Yes Father)?” She asked confusedly.

“ye tum nay kiya kiya h apnay papers me (What have you done in your papers)? Huh? Tell me what have you written in your papers?” Asfand asked seriously to his daughter.

‘Ab tou me pakka gayi. Lagta h k baba ko pata chal gaya h k me novels parhti rahi thi eaxams me b! ye sari in romance writers ki ghalti h. kyun likhtay hain ye log itni achi books k me chhorh nhi sakti. Why Allah-Mia? Why! (Now I’m definitely a goner! It looks like father has got to know that I was reading novels during exams too! It’s all due to remonace writers! Why do they have to write this much of good books that I can’t leave them! Why God!? Why!?)’ Hana thought with sweat-drop on her forehead.

“Kiya hua Baba? Ap ko kisi nay kuch kaha h kiya? (What happened father? Did someone said something to you?!)” Hana asked nervously.

“Mujhay HEC ki taraf say abhi call ayi h (I just got a call from HEC!). They told me what we should be expecting from your exams.” Asfand said to Hana in a scolding way.

“W-W-What d-did they said?” Hana asked in a scared voice. After hearing this, Asfand started to smile very brightly. Hana became more confused and scare and she thought;

‘Lagta h baba pagal ho gaye hain! Kayi gir tou nhi gaye phir say bathroom me? Pr chalo! At least main to dant nhi sunu gi na! (Looks like father had gone senile! Has he again slipped in the bathroom?! But then again! At least I won’t be getting the scoldings from him!)’ Hana thought in a relieved tone to herself.

“They said that MY DAUGHTER IS ONE OF THE POSITION HOLDERS.” Asfand announced in a very proud voice. Upon hearing it everyone was astonished. None of their family members had ever gotten positions in board ever before. It was the first time. Every child had passed with good marks in their family but not a position. It was the first time that this happened.

Everyone started to congratulate Hana’s parents and then one by one everyone hugged Hana. Even her Dadi, who is a very strict and stern woman of 84 years old, put her hand on Hana’s head and smiled at her genuinely. Her dadi never talked to Hana before as she always ignores her or she is scolding Hana on everything. First Hana was confused but when everyone congratulated her, she became happy and excited.

‘I think that the exam-checker was blind because I know that I have not studied this well to get a position but I am thankful to Allah-Mia (God) that he passed me and that too with flying colors. Thank you Allah-Mia (God)! Me kisi ko wesay batanay nhi wali k marks ghalat lagay hain warna mamma or baba meray say pakka phone lay lain gay. Or agar unho nay phone lay liya to me zinda kesay rahon gi? Is liye me kabhi nhi bataon gi! Or aj to saray meray say baat kr rahay hain! (But I’m definitely not going to tell anyone that the marks are not correct or else Mother and Father are definitely gonna take my phone away! and if they took my phone away then how am I gonna live without it! That’s why I’m never going to tell anyone! And today, everyone is talking to me!) Wao! Allah-Mia (God) Thant you so so so much! I love you!’ Hana thought with giddiness.

Everyone was happy that their family had earned respect in one more way. They had their dinner and the next day Hana went with her parents to the ceremony hall that was also in Islamabad, the same city where she is living in, currently. At the ceremony, the positions were announced and Hana got the First position in all over the board (Federal Board).

Hana stood up from her seat and headed to the stage. Her parents were supporting very large smiles and her mother was even crying. Hana took her medal with all the other prizes and went down the stage. When she was walking down, she fell from the last step and once again embarrassed herself. Her father chuckled and came to Hana’s rescue.

“Can you ever walk without falling or embarrassing yourself Hana?” Her mother scolded Hana but she held worry in her eyes. Hana’s mother, Hiba Asfand racked her eyes on Hana to look for injuries but thanks to Allah (God), she was free from wounds or any other injury.

After the ceremony ended, they went back home and they told the family about Hana’s 1st position. The whole villa started to move here and there and within an hour, there were many types of sweets and delicious dishes, placed in the kitchen. Sweets were distributed to all of their relatives, friends, and some poor people.