Thank you so much for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you learned at least one thing from it. Thanks again.
*The drive to the beach took longer than any of them had anticipated. The weather was dry, with the heat rising to a dangerous level. Twice, they had to stop to fix a punctured tyre. "Are we there yet?" "Just a little further," he replied, wading through the traffic. "It won't be long now."They had left his uncle's house early that morning, with a picnic basket which they filled along the way. They had hoped to beat the traffic by leaving early, but even so they only managed to cover eighteen miles in an hour. By the time they finally reached the beach, it was a few minutes past noon. The sun was high up in the sky, and their shadows had disappeared underneath them. There was a small crowd gathered on the sand, which surprised him as it was a weekday. "Come," he said to her, offering his right hand while he took the basket in the other. "I know the perfect spot for us."He led her away from the crowd, keeping his hold on her tightly. He recognized the group as students from the
*"Afrah, dear?" His voice came from the stairs."Yes?" Afrah dropped the remote she had been holding and hurried in the direction of his voice.
*Afrah always liked the feel of the wind in her hair. It made her feel lighter, as though she didn't have any care in the world. There were times when she imagined a powerful gust of wind blowing through the earth and lifting her off her feet, into the oblivion which lay just beyond her reach.It was a typi
*Barely a few minutes after joining her mother in the kitchen, Afrah began to smell like the spices and seasonings she was using in the food. For this precise reason, she had chosen to leave the veil in her room, having wrapped her favorite and very casual-looking black scarf around her hair instead.
*It was a Saturday just like any other, and an ordinary man in his ordinary car had just dropped off his extraordinary daughter at the gates of his brother's house, on a very ordinary afternoon."Remember to behave yourself, Afrah," he had said to her as she looked up at the house. "Remember your manners, and don't do anything that would make me or Umma angry. Do you understand?" 
*Amina stepped into the room silently, pausing when she saw Afrah blinking at the ceiling. The latter briefly glanced at her before she resumed her pointless stare."How are you feeling?" Amina asked, moving towards her.
*"So," Fahad said the moment he shut the door behind him, "apparently you're my cousin."Afrah didn't reply as she walked towards the car, her heart threatening to burst from her chest.
*There was something about Kano that always made Afrah smile. For the better part of her life, she'd tried to figure out why she always felt giddy and excited whenever she found herself drawing closer and closer to the city. Alas, the mystery remained to be unravelled.Perhaps it was the simplicity in