It wasn’t all bad though, there were moments of peace, and that's where the beauty was. 


The days grew long in between her mornings and evenings with her husband, there was little to no interaction with anyone else. There weren’t a lot of Fiji-Indian families in this village, with Farida's generally shy personality, Aleems unpredictable outbursts and her inability to learn the native Fijian language she didn’t have much adult interaction. The only family member close by was her husband's aunt Nisha, she was her Mother in laws younger sister. Nisha was very superstitious and direct and had no problem dictating to her or her husband on everything from parenting to how to clean the house correctly. She would make it a point to come by a few times a week, to sit with her niece, help her feel comfortable away from home, and of course levy frequent criticism throughout their exchanges. 


Farida learned how to take her criticism in stride and made sure to only see her in low doses. Her only redeeming characteristic in Farida's mind was her ability to tell these fascinating and scary stories about black magic and possession. She may have presented a meek demeanor but she absolutely loved these scary ghost stories. Whenever these conversations came about she would sit on the floor in front of Aunty Nisha as she rocked back and forth telling tales of dreams manifesting real life nightmares. 


She would stare at her aunt entranced by the stories of demons called Djinn possessing humans and ruining their lives. Their only hope would be belief in Allah and a holy person that could save their soul.


Chills ran up her arm when her aunt would talk about Jin, and even though Aleem should’ve been too young to understand, she always felt like he would actively listen in silence to their conversations about the supernatural. One evening her aunt was telling her “the more you fear the world of black magic and demons the more you’ll attract them into your home. You have to have strong faith in your heart to protect you from those evils.” Farida was strong in her belief but she wasn’t a woman that prayed 5 times a day. She believed she was strong and brave if something ever happened but you never really know how brave you are until something actually happens. As she was having this thought there was a knock on the door and both ladies jumped as they were startled by the interruption. 


Realizing how caught up they were, they both giggled, and Farida walked to the door to see who was there. On the island the sun would set by 6pm and with little to no light pollution in the villages the only light were the moon and the stars. So by this time the world outside her home was completely black except for the reflection of the moon on the ocean. She walked up to the door, waited for another knock before opening, all of a sudden there was loud banging on the door, she jumped back at how loud it was, her aunt rushed to her side out of fear grabbed onto her arm and they slowly reached for the door to open it and to their shock there was no one there. 


They stared at each other confused, arm in arm they slowly walked out the door together and looked around for anyone that may have been close, but there was no one, not in any direction, no one at all. With a collective breath, they continued holding each other and went back in the home and shut the door behind them. 


As they walked back in the home, Farida noticed Aleems eyes fixated on the door, she was going to go and pick him up to comfort him but as she watched him, he stared eyes wide, and his head slowly turned as if he was watching someone walk past, his eyes stopped at the window like someone was standing there staring at him. She rushed over to him and when she went to pick him up she jolted him which brought his eyes back to her, they made eye contact and he burst out crying. 


She almost let out a laugh at his crying since the last few moments were so intense. She hugged him tight, covered in kisses and held him close. Nisha came up to her side, they both gushed over the big baby and her aunt said, “ok that's enough excitement for the evening, time for me to go home.”


The moment she finished her sentence, there was another knock at the door, both women jumped out of their skin, and out of fear just stood there and stared at the door. A few moments had passed until a voice from outside said, “Jhaan?” She let out an exasperated breath, said “thank god” and went to open the door, as her husband entered, her aunt said “Salaam,” and scurried out the door with a quickness, Sameer didn’t even have a chance to reply. 


“What happened to Aunty?” he asked.

“We had quite the entertaining evening,” she replied. 

“What does that mean?”

Farida went on to explain what had happened, how they were sharing scary stories, and then the loud banging on the door and then no one being there. Sameer didn’t really have any belief in supernatural things. He felt it was all in peoples' heads and their fear brought these things into people's lives. He believed Allah would never create something that would harm his most important creations. He looked at his wife with skepticism. It was obvious she was serious and as much as he didn’t want to believe it, her belief was weighing on him.


Sameer leaned in, scooped the baby out of her arms, placed him on the floor with his blanket and returned to his wife. He put his arms around her, and said “I’ll never let anything hurt you, here or in the spirit world”. He kissed her on the cheek and squeezed her really tight. A wave of comfort smothered her as she melted into the hug. 


The beauty of the moment was all temporary. Within seconds, without missing a beat, the center of the family reminded them who’s boss with a loud cry. The moment of comfort ended and the familiarity of the chaos brought Farida a much needed peace from a very intense evening. She picked up the baby, bounced him, coddled him, let her husband know she would be right back and they would have dinner. She regularly waited for him till he was off work so they could eat together.