Recap:
Sarah stared at the phone in her hands. The number glowing on the screen waiting for her to press the call tab.
She dragged her thumb painfully slow and tapped it once.
Her blood rushed in her ears as the rings sounded, her face pale and fingers cold.
"Hello?" The call was answered on the first ring.
She couldn't find the strength to reply. The voice of her father came through the speaker strong and gentle, filling her with so much warmth, comfort and nostalgia, that she couldn't have even imagined. Her courage left her and she sat curled against her bed, phone pressed against her ears as saline rivulets trickled down her face.
"Hello?"
Sniffing she pulled in a shuddering breath, and croaked, "Dad..."
"Saroo.. Kya hua betey?"
The sentence made her cry harder but she covered it up by placing a hand against her mouth.
"Baat karo gurya.. Sab theek hai?"
She blinked away the wetness and cleared her throat softly, "I miss you, Dad.. Main aap ke paas ana chahti hun... I miss you so much... I'm sorry..."
🥀🥀🥀
She sat curled up on the armchair by the window. Three months and Sarah Ghani was suffering. She was homesick, she was depressed and she was lonely.
Calgary was different from Lahore would be the understatement of the year and though it was not her first time visiting a foreign country she was slowly realizing that maybe her decision to go live there was a terribly rash one.
The winters there were cold, colder than even January in Lahore and it seemed like she didn't enjoy snow as much as she thought she would. First of all soggy socks and frost bitten feet, if it went inside your shoe and stuck window panes and frosted bathrooms if you forgot and left the bathroom window open (happened twice much to her misfortune). She even missed the sound of her fan and the traffic noise from the nearby main road. It was pitiful, really. She never even realized she was so attached to the city till she left it.
Sarah also hated being stuck inside the house. She had no friends to go out with or knew any places she could visit by herself. Her dad was wonderful, not to misunderstand. Even Hina, his wife was the kindest woman she had met, surprisingly, and they both had tried their level best to make her feel at home.
Her dad took her out to his favourite spots in Calgary, and she did enjoy the food and the scenery, but most of all just the experience of having her father back in her life was healing. But he had a job and a busy life there, and slowly things started getting back into routine for all of them except her.
She was the misfit who didn't belong. It wasn't her city, it wasn't her home and it wasn't her family.
"Sammy!! Pick up your shoes! Heyy! Ally, don't leave your jacket lying there, hang it up!"
Sarah looked up from the window towards the living room where she heard the commotion but didn't move. There was the sound of keys being dropped into a glass bowl and familar footsteps coming towards the bedroom.
A tentative knock sounded on the door of her room and Hina's head peeked in. The woman wouldn't leave her alone even if she tried.
"Saru! Hey.." She smiled, walking inside and stood with her arms folded, "Did you eat already?" she asked.
