She exited the room and Sameer began to remove the weight of the day. He took off his work boots, placed his bag on the floor next to the door and walked over the sethi (couch) to have a seat. The silence of the evenings allowed the villagers to hear all of the ambient noises of the island. From the waves washing up on the beach to the tropical birds flying into tree branches and finding their respite. The most glaring sound though was the sound of the gravel being stepped on as neighbors walked back and forth to their homes. He sat silently for a moment. He leaned over to his right where the radio sat on a corner table, turned it on and listened to the soft sounds of bollywood music coming through the radio station. As he sat there, winding down, and appreciating the peace of the moment, he heard the crunching of gravel outside, paying it no mind, until it sounded like it was getting closer and closer to his door. He remained still and unphased as these sounds just blended into the background of life in the village. As he drifted off, the sounds of his surroundings began to fade away, the crying baby, the bollywood songs, even the gravel footpaths all began to disintegrate as he faded into sleep. 


Just as he was about to find his sweet spot, he was jolted back into reality by a thunderous banging on the door. He jumped right out of his chair. Looked around the home as if someone was inside and ran to the door, Farida hearing this ran into the room behind him, and in the other room their baby went completely silent. Sameer reached out to the door handle but first yelled out, “why are you banging on the door at this time of night!”


He twisted the door knob and whipped the door open and stood there looking at an empty doorway with no one in sight. He reacted confused and immediately stepped outside and ran to the end of the gravel driveway to get a look to see if anyone was lingering on the premises. He got to the end of the drive, looked back at the door where his wife was standing and shrugged his shoulders as if to say “I don’t know?”


He did a quick look around the perimeter of the house, there was no one to be found. Walking back to the front door where his wife was waiting, he said “I don’t know jhaan, there's no one here, maybe it’s that chutiya that's always throwing rocks”

“That didn’t sound like rocks,” said his wife. 

He looked at her concerned, “there’s no one here, or anywhere around,” Sameer replied. 

“I told you, ever since your aunt came, there’s been something around us, in the air, like someone is watching us, I’m scared Sameer!” She hid herself behind the door as she spoke to him. 


He walked in, took one last look behind him before removing her hands from the doorknob and shutting the door behind them. The look he gave his wife was one of love and concern. He was concerned that she was going to drive herself into a frenzy trying to come up with a conclusion. He was also determined to ensure that she wouldn't spend her days in fear while she was at home with their son. While holding her hands he pulled her close, looked deeply into her eyes he said with compassion “you and our son are the most important thing in the world to me, and there's nothing I wouldn't do to protect you.”

“I know that Sameer, thank you…” She fell silent for a moment and looked down at the ground as if she was searching for words. As she looked back up, she stared at the face that was so lovingly reassuring her, but she wasn’t reassured. She felt a panic rushing through her body and there were no words available that would help. She fell face first into her husband's chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She tried to shake the doubt in the comfort of his arms, the comfort was temporary, once again the peace was interrupted with a loud shriek from the chubby terrorist in the other room. With a little bit of relief she released the embrace and made her way to the baby. 


The next morning started like any other morning. Farida was the first one awake and made sure she was absolutely silent so she could prepare her husband's breakfast and have some peace and quiet with him before he left to work. It would only be a matter of time before Aleem would be up and ready to wreak havoc. 


She said goodbye to her husband and walked down the drive to catch the first glimpses of the sunrise. The beauty of the Fiji islands never stopped leaving her breathless. She stood in the warm glow of the sunrise and listened to the ocean crash against the beach. These would be the only moments of carefree solitude she would experience throughout her day and she took full advantage of it. She turned to walk back to her home and as if on command her baby reminded her that she had work to do. 


After tending to her baby, she walked towards the radio, turned it on as background noise and sat to eat her breakfast. Something was missing, she left her meal and walked to the only clock they had in their home. 


The clock was a gift that her older brother gave her, he always reminded her “time moves differently on the island, minutes can move like hours.” 


Every time she looked at the clock she was reminded by him and how true those words resonate. 


It was just about time that Bari would be walking up the drive, but there was no sounds of footsteps, there was no clinking of bottles, she double checked the clock because from the day they had moved in Bari was never late. Never even delayed, there weren’t many homes in the area so there wasn’t a lot of ground to cover, so he never missed his time. 


She had a moment of concern, but continued on with her morning. After an hour had passed she just accepted that she would have to wait for another day before she had milk in the home. Her husband would have to have his tea without milk tonight. 


Later that evening Farida and her husband were laying on the floor on their chatai while the radio played in the background. She broke the silence between them, "Sameer, Bari didn't come with the milk today."


He replied with surprise, "really? That hasn't happened before! So I guess there's no milk for my tea tonight?" 


She stared at him lovingly, and said "you're going to have to make due without it tonight."

He smiled at her and they continued to lay there as their baby slept in his cot not too far from them. Some time had passed and they were both drifting off to sleep, they watched each other as their eyes closed, both of them falling asleep with the faint sound of the radio playing behind them.