“Hamza chachuuuu!”

Rayyan ran down the stairs and straight into the arms of his favourite uncle. A shriek of excitement escaped him when he was lifted in strong arms and spun around in circles. He landed on the ground only for his uncle to start a round of tickles.

It was a few minutes after which Hamza pulled back his fingers and ruffled Rayyan’s hair and said, “Hey, Rayyan. What’s up?”

Another laugh bubbled out of the kid as he replied, “Ceiling.”

Hamza shook his head at his nephew’s humour before walking towards Rayyan’s mother who had been watching this interaction with amusement. They exchanged a few words in hushed tone, before Hamza returned and they both moved to his car.

Hamza helped Rayyan into the front seat of the car then pulled the seat belt into its position easily, before making his way to the driver’s seat. Rayyan wave goodbye to his mother enthusiastically and they finally started their ride.

Today, Hamza chachu had arranged for a special trip for his only nephew. They were each other’s favourite people and couldn’t stand too long apart from each other.

Hamza lived a few blocks away from his brother, with his mother and sister. It was Sunday morning, so it wasn’t surprising that the traffic was very light. Rayyan looked out of the car window to see another man in a car only inches away from theirs, chewing paan outrageously all the while bobbing his head to some taciturn music. Disgusted, he turned away from the paan-chewing man and began swinging his legs in the wide space in front of him.

Bored out of his wits, he finally spoke, “Hamza chachu? Where are we going?”

Without turning his head away from the road, Hamza replied with a chuckle, “To see angels.”

“To see angels!” he exclaimed, “But mama told me that angels are with Allah and they worship him. They also have huge wings.”

“Then I must say your mama didn’t tell you about all the angels.”

He waited for his chachu to continue but Chachu merely returned his attention to the road. As the silence in the car stretched, the suspense of the upcoming visit stretched along with it. He soon forgot about it and nodded off …

“Chachu, when are we going to reach the place? You have been driving for an hour now!” the kid exclaimed as he threw his hands up in frustration then folded them over his chest in a tantrum.

“It’s only been 15 minutes, Rayyan. Stop overreacting!”

“But ....”

“We are here.” And that was that.

Hamza had hardly stopped the car when Rayyan ran out of it and in front of the huge iron gates. He looked up at the board which read; ‘Zindagi Shelter Home’

‘Is this where angels live?’ he thought.

As his chachu came to stand beside him, only a small door in the giant one opened and three people stepped out.

The first and only lady wore a cream-coloured shalwar-kameez and she greeted both of the visitors with a smile. The two men behind her, in similar-coloured uniforms, shook hands with chachu and took his car keys before sauntering off to park it. Straightening their shirts, the duo entered the shelter home, hand in hand.

The shelter had a massive courtyard with multiple rooms around it. There was a huge water fountain in the middle while few trees scattered around the fountain, provided shade from the scorching heat of the sun. But the child’s attention was fixed on the people, lots of people.

It was easy to figure out that they weren’t just ordinary folks going about their ordinary lives. No, most of them were injured in one way or another, and if there was anyone without any injury, they were too old to be just ordinary.

Suddenly, he didn’t feel too well. Rayyan’s grip on Hamza’s hand tightened as he realised that he didn’t even know these people and they already scared him. Whoever looked his way, had an angry expression on his face. Unsure of what to make of this place, Rayyan took a step back and, out of the blue, Hamza hunched his knees to look him in the eyes, “You alright?”

Rayyan shook his head, “These people are creepy. They look bad.”

Hamza’s face turned serious as he said, “No, they aren’t.” Then his face softened and his lips parted in soft smile, “In fact they are the angels I wanted you to meet.”

“I know that they don’t have wings,” Hamza cut in amusingly, “however, they have helped people when they needed help. Most of them were born with these injuries that you see and they just couldn’t get proper help. Some of them got hurt,” he put a finger above his heart and continued, “here!”

“So they are ... good?”

He nodded, “Yes, they are all very good and I brought you here so you could meet these angels.” He pushed Rayyan lightly, “Now go make friends.”

Rayyan started walking, unsure of where to go since everyone was focused on the main door where boxes were being brought in by Hamza and a few other people.

That’s when Rayyan noticed the man.

Altaf Khan was a man in his sixties who had shaggy grey hair and was sitting under the smallest tree. As Rayyan walked towards him, he noticed that the man’s clothes were rugged, but relatively neat. “Hello, can I be your friend?”

Altaf’s gaze sauntered to the kid’s outstretched and moved up to meet his eyes. Silently, he moved himself and upon taking place beside him, Rayyan noticed his left arm which was connected to a plastic hand. The little one’s eyes instantly lit up as he poked the plastic hand, “Cool hand! Where did you get it? I have always wanted one of these!”

Altaf looked at the kid in disbelief, “You think this is cool?”

“Oh yeah!” Rayyan replied gleefully, “All my action figures have these hands. Iron Man, Batman … and oh Cyborg too! But you should have gone for a leg too.”

Suddenly, Altaf burst out laughing like he hadn’t in years. The laughter that bubbled out of him just wouldn’t stop. A few metres away, Hamza couldn’t help the wide grin that stretched across his face as he thought, ‘Mission accomplished’.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 6th, 2019