It was raining hard and Huda sat on the windowsill, wondering. She again asked her granny the same question, “Granny, why my parents died so early? All my classmates have parents, but I don’t. Why did this happen to me? I am an orphan, right?” Tears were rolling down her eyes.

Her grandmother’s wrinkled old hands rested on her shoulders as she said, “See, orphans are those who have no parents or family, but you have me.” She then gave her a cookie and said, “It is ten already, time to go to bed.”

Before falling asleep, Huda took the picture of her parents from her side table, kissed them goodnight and closed her eyes. Huda’s parents died in a car accident when she was only five years old, miraculously Huda remained safe in that fatal crash. Despite having a loving grandmother, she could not forget her parents and desperately wished them to be with her.

The next morning in the school, one of her friends said, “Our annual function is due next week, if your parents intend to attend it, here is a slip, have them sign it and give it to me tomorrow.”

Huda took the slip from her hand and took a deep breath. What could she even say? Sometimes her other friends would ask her: “Why don’t your parents pick you up?”

Huda was tired of hearing these types of difficult questions, she didn’t want to answer to each one, so she simply ignored it or just smiled. Every night she would wonder why were her parents taken from her at such a young age? She would spend all her time complaining about her life which made her more lonely. She even began to hate school, because it was the place where she had to face such questions. Her grandmother also began to feel concerned about Huda’s confusion and resolved to make her content and confident with what she had.

One day, coming back from school, she saw her grandma getting ready to go somewhere.

“What are you ready for?” asked Huda.

“Come with me and you will find out, but first change your uniform, get fresh and have lunch quickly,” said grandmother and served her lunch.

Huda was excited, but confused at the same time. She quickly changed, had her lunch and went off with grandma in the car. Soon the car stopped before a building. Grandma got off from the car and asked Huda to come out as well. Huda was a bit nervous, but came out as her grandma had reached the gate of the building.

Just then she read a board in front of the gate that had ‘Orphanage’ written on it. Her grandma brought her to a hall where beds were setup in a row, with each having a child sitting, playing or lying in some way. Some were crying, while others were sleeping.

There was a warden of the orphanage who welcomed them and introduced them to the children. Huda and her grandmother spent some time talking and playing with them. The kids were very happy to have visitors.

When it was time to leave, grandma turned to Huda and said, “Do you see dear, they are orphans, they have no one, no parent, no guardian and no close family. But they are not complaining about their life. They are accepting and enjoying the circumstances they are living in.”

Huda felt uneasy and guilty about her habit of being thankless. Huda turned to her grandma and hugged her tight, and promised never to complain again. She thanked God that she had a loving grandma who was there to love and take care of her.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 22nd, 2019