~°°~At the end of every tunnel~°°~

Eight (8) months later

Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria. 21st November, 2022. 3:18pm ~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~ The sun was radiant with the cold and heat of early winter, its rays splashed to every part of the region providing warmth to the surface. He took silent but authorative steps out of the arrival section of the airport while wheeling his luggage with him.

Unaware of the person running towards his side, he bumped into her and she fell with a thud causing attention towards her. She groaned in pain and also embarrassment from the many eyes that were on her.

Even so, she knew it was her fault for running in the crowd which guaranteed that she was the one who bumped into him and not the other way round. But he didn't know that because he was also absent-minded so, was not sure who bumped into who.

"You okay?" He asked in a rather concerned tone, her eyes were still closed though as she kept feeling embarrassed.

"Yes I am" She said before opening her eyes to meet his. "I am sorry I bumped into you, I wasn't being careful enough because I am excited to be finally home. Don't comment on my apology though, it would make it less embarrassing for me and as you might have noticed, I'm not someone who usually gets embarrassed and....." She kept ranting until he cut her off with his sentence.

"You, might want to get off the floor first, that way it will be less embarrassing for the both of us" He voiced. "Oh yes" She said before standing up on her feet while she dragged her suitcase close to her standing figure.

"Sorry once again. I go by the name Jasmin, what do they call you mister?" She introduced and asked simultaneously. "It's Sh....."

"Maheen, right here" A lady called her from afar making her plan to flop. She intended to know his name without him knowing hers. In a way, she wanted to remember him but she didn't want him to remember her.

"I have to go" She quickly said without making eye contact as she dragged her suitcase away from him to the direction of the lady that called her earlier. She knew she had embarrassed herself more than required in just mere minutes.

But even as she left him standing there while she ran to hug her sister who came to welcome her, she wondered what his name could be. "Sheriff? Shamsu? Shamil? Shaban? Shuaibu? Shurayh? Shameem? He wouldn't be Sheikh right? Since he looked nothing like an Arab" That was how Maheen's mind kept traveling back to what his name would be.

"Shafiq is what they call me" Meanwhile, he was whispering to himself with a smile as he watched her walk away with the other girl. He sighed before walking away with his suitcase too.

He was finally back, after nine(9) months, not to visit but to find a new reason to live.

Running was all he did in his life so he thought it was finally time for him to make something out of his life. His parents though returned back to Nigeria a month after they went to Italy and because Shafiq was not ready to face the truth about his life, he decided not to follow them back.

So there he was, ready to face and embrace his life no matter how bad it would be, it was all about courage after all.

And luck seemed to be on his side because the first person he got into a conversation with didn't leave a bad impression. In fact, she gave him hope, that there is light at the end of every tunnel and so he wouldn't back out.

Ever.

So Shafiq, with a hopeful heart, took a step further into a new life.

~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~

"Amani, Layla, get out of my room" That was Mami (Ruha) showing the direction of the door to her children. "Ah Mami what did we do?" Layla asked even though it was obvious they were disturbing her peace. "Do I have to tell you what you did before you get out?" Mami asked back.

"Okay, but why is Adda an exception? We came together" Amani said turning to Tauhida who was smiling mischievously. "It's obvious I'm a good child" Tauhida replied instead of Mami. "That you are" Mami said.

"Let's leave Amani" Layla said "Are we even here" Amani said as she got off from the bed and together, they head for the door making Mami and Tauhida to laugh.

It had became a routine for Mami and Tauhida to tease the two. It all started when Sayf left home 7 months back, he was unfortunately transferred to Borno, Maiduguri which made it impossible for him to visit often.

Mami knew Tauhida would become extremely sad that he left so she decided to draw her closer to her. And in her, Tauhida found a mother and a friend whom she didn't hesitate to be close with anymore.

"Girls, come back" Mami chuckled while passing a victory thumb up to Tauhida.

"No way, you people are teamed up" Layla shook her head. "We have been for while now, it's nothing you haven't experienced" Tauhida said and they had to agree.

"We'll find a way to change this" Amani said as they came back and sat on the bed. "Your only solution is to get married, otherwise baku ga komai ba ma" Momma (Malika) said coming into the room with Abdul behind her.

"Ah Momma, what's the hurry?" Amani asked. "You'll know by the time we give you out for charity in the mosque" Momma said making Tauhida to chuckle.

"You wouldn't" Layla said with widened eyes while Amani joined Tauhida in chuckling, she knew that sentence applied to only Layla because she was rather settled with Hafeez. "If you like keep playing around" Momma said again.

"Welcome back Momma" Tauhida and Amani greeted. Malika was just returning back from the market with Abdul and one of her maids as her escort. "Thank you, you people seemed to be having fun" Momma said.

"Yes we are, join us" Amani replied. "I will like to rest a bit, I see your cousins are not here yet?" Momma declined and asked. "Yes, don't know what's taking them long" Layla replied that time around. "Okay then, call me when they arrive" Momma said before leaving the room.

"Speaking of them, you should call them and check" Mami said. "Okay sure" Amani replied as she dialled Najma's digits.

As you saw earlier, everything changed. The relation and friendship between Tauhida and her sister in laws had grown to be beautiful. Sayf became a memory Tauhida would remember everyday, someone she longed for.

Imran got married 7 months back, to Husnerh of course, Mus'ab too got married to Aleema. Marwan was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment after two sittings in the courtroom, even though Sayf did not wish for his punishment to be that much. We plan and Allah plans, and He is the best planner.

There were a million times when Tauhida would doubt her life, everything seemed so unreal to her.

She sometimes tend to forget how devastated she was for some weeks, it was like she never lost anything. And being mute, she had forgotten ever experiencing something like that. But then, she had become happy in a way it would be hard to believe. Her life wasn't like the daily series anymore, it was all she'd ever want, even more.

"They're at the gate already" Amani announced after disconnecting the call. "Masha Allah, let's go downstairs then" Layla said and Tauhida nodded before the four of them, Abdul included, headed for the stairs.

Just on time, they heard a knock on the door to Mami's apartment. Abdul swiftly took his hand and opened the door and there stood Najma, Aleema, Zakiyya, Khairi; Ya meen's wife, Fahim in her hands, Suhail, Suhaila and Jiddarh.

"Welcome" Everyone shouted and they all burst into laughter.

They had agreed to have the visit with only girls and children, no men. "Come on in" Amani ushered them in and they did. "I'll take Fahim with me" Tauhida said quickly collecting him from Aleema. "Oya naa" Aleema said.

"Kids, follow your leader and go play in the playground okay?" Amani said and they all shouted in excitement. "But first Abdul, go greet Mami and Momma together. We'll also be there in a minute, now run along" Amani said on a second thought and the kids ran upstairs towards Mami's room.

"I will call Momma first, she said to call her when you arrive" Layla said. "No don't bother, why don't we just go and meet her?" Zakiyya suggested and they all agreed, Zakiyya was the eldest so she knew what was right more than any of them.

"We should do that first then" Najma said.

The seven of them headed out of Mami's apartment to that of Momma. They found her in the living room and each one of them hugged her while saying their greetings. After that, the girls headed for Mami's room and also did the same with her.

"I think the terrace will be best" Khairi suggested when they came out of Mami's room and were thinking of a place to spend their time together.

"Of course that's what you'll say Umm Suhail" Amani said, everyone knew how much Khairi loved heights which was weird of her. "I've got a thing for heights Amani, you can't blame me" Khairi shrugged.

"Incase you don't know, that thing you've got for heights is weird" Najma was the one to comment that time around. "Say I'm crazy or whatever, I don't care. I love heights and that is that" Khairi shrugged again.

"Okay girls, you people are just criticising her love for heights but who have a better venue for our talk, my legs are hurting already" Aleema voiced. "I agree" Tauhida said nodding her head, she was also honestly tired of standing there.

"We don't have any other option really, let's get going shall we?" Najma said and they all nodded before moving out of Mami's apartment to Alhaji Hakeem's apartment. His apartment was the only one among the four that had a terrace on the top.

The girls spent time having fun, mostly discussing about things they knew all of them could relate. They didn't want any of them to feel left out. Their relationship had grown to be more strong ever since Tauhida got her voice back, they became best of friends.

It was the first time for Tauhida to have a different circle of friends, it had always been her loud house, her girls squad. But then it felt great to expand the circle, she knew every single one of them wished her nothing but happiness.

It was really surprising how her life took a drastic turn at one point and a beautiful turn at the other. It gave her the opportunity to express who she really was, to be the Tauhida she wanted to be.

~°°~At the end of every tunnel~°°~