Morning, My Moon, and the Start of the Day

The dawn call to prayer was given and our heroine awoke from her sleep to get up and perform ablution and pray her obligatory prayer, then she sat on her prayer rug to supplicate her Lord and read her daily devotional recitation and glorify God for a while, then she did the housework in the house where she lived with her grandmother until the clock struck eight, when she went to her grandmother to give her her medicine.

Zaina knocked on her grandmother's bedroom door and the reply came at once.

Zaina: "Good morning, my moon, to the most beautiful Teta on the whole planet."

Grandmother: "Good morning, my Zaina."

Zaina: "Come on, Teta, so you can eat and take your medicine."

Grandmother: "Every day you tire yourself out like this, my daughter, you tidy the house and make the food — isn't your work and your college enough for you, my daughter?"

Zaina: "Teta, by God you'll make me upset with you, this is nothing compared to what you have done and still do for me. It's enough that you are the one who raised me after Mama and Baba died in an accident and left me when I was still a little child. How much you toiled and worked to provide for me. Now I have grown up, so now you should sit and I will do everything for you, anything you want. And besides, you don't tire me at all, and please, if you would, don't say that to me again because you truly upset me."

Grandmother: "Alright, my love, I won't say it again. We have no one but each other, my daughter."

Zaina: "May God keep you for me, Teta. Come on now so you can eat and take the medicine."

Grandmother: "Alright, any other orders, Miss Zaina?"

Zaina: "No, beautiful Teta, may it bring you healing, O Lord. Come on, I'm going to get dressed now to go to college and after that I'll go to work."

Grandmother: "Alright, my love, may God help you."

Zaina: "Amen, Lord."

Zaina went to her room and put on her clothes, which consisted of a dress and a khimar.

_______

And on the other side, in a huge villa resembling a palace, a young man in his thirties awoke from his sleep to the sound of his phone ringing.

Hamza: "Hello, yes, Ziad, why won't you stop pestering me so early in the morning?"

Ziad: "What's up, man, did you wake up to pick a fight this morning or what?"

Hamza: "Get to the point, Ziad, and say what you want."

Ziad: "It's a matter concerning work."

Hamza: "Then say it, man."

We'll leave Ziad and Hamza for now and go back to Zaina.

_______

Zaina: "I'm leaving, Teta, do you need anything from me?"

Grandmother: "No, take care of yourself, my love."

Zaina: "Take care of yourself and don't open the door if anyone rings the bell, lest he flirt with you or something, since you're such a moon like that."

Grandmother, laughing: "Enough, you flatterer, and you take care of yourself."

Zaina: "Alright."

_______

As Zaina was leaving through the door of the house, she met her neighbor Sara.

Sara: "Good morning, Zaina."

Zaina: "Good morning, Sara."

Sara: "Zaina, where are you going?"

Zaina: "I'm going to college, is there something or what?"

Sara: "Honestly, Zaina, I'm in a problem right now."

Zaina: "What is it, my girl, what's wrong?"

To be continued....