SEVEN SOULS, ONE ROOM

CHAPTER ONESEVEN SOULS, ONE ROOM

The room was small, but it carried the dreams of an entire family.

Seven people shared the same space. There was hardly any privacy, and everyone had to learn how to adjust to one another. Their lives were simple, their resources limited, but their home was filled with different personalities, arguments, laughter and dreams.

Their father worked as a driver for a wealthy foreign man. Every morning, he left home for work, never knowing exactly when he would return.

Their mother stayed behind, managing the home and doing everything she could to make sure her children never went completely without.

MOTHER: Zara, please help me arrange those plates.

ZARA: Okay, Mummy. Should I bring the water too?

MOTHER: Yes, my daughter. Thank you.

MARYAM: Mummy, what are we eating today?

MOTHER: Whatever Allah has provided for us.

IDRIS: I hope there’s enough food. I’m hungry.

ZARA: Idris, must you always announce your hunger?

IDRIS: So I should keep quiet and allow hunger to finish me?

SAFIYA: (Laughing) Leave him. That’s the only thing he knows how to do.

AYISHA: Mummy, when are we going to move into a bigger house?

MOTHER: (Smiling) Why are you asking?

AYISHA: Because everybody deserves their own room. Imagine having a room where nobody disturbs you!

MARYAM: Even me, I want my own room.

ZARA: When we become rich, everybody will have their own house.

IDRIS: And who will pay for everything?

ZARA: You, of course!

(Everybody bursts into laughter.)

Their laughter filled the little room.

Later that evening, their father returned from work.

FATHER: Assalamu alaikum! Is anybody home?

CHILDREN: Wa alaikum salam, Daddy!

FATHER: How is everybody?

MOTHER: Alhamdulillah. How was work today?

FATHER: It was fine. The traffic was terrible.

ZARA: Daddy, did you bring anything for us?

FATHER: (Laughing) So that’s why you people are welcoming me like this?

IDRIS: Daddy, we missed you!

FATHER: Come here, my boy.

For a moment, everything seemed perfect.

Nobody knew what tomorrow would bring. Nobody knew the challenges waiting for each of them.

They were simply a family trying to make life work with what they had.

But beneath the ordinary moments, five young lives were quietly taking different directions.

And one day, they would discover that growing up together did not mean life would be kind to all of them.

END OF CHAPTER ONE.