The day finally arrived,the first anniversary of the deaths of Zayan and Zahra. A day of cruel coincidence: it was also Zahra's birthday and what would have been Zayan and Anisa's wedding anniversary. A year ago, on a similar, rain-lashed day, their car had plunged off a cliff, the two found entangled in a final, fatal embrace. 💭
At Yugh's family home, his parents and brother gathered for quiet prayers and almsgiving in Zahra's memory. But Yugh, his mind perpetually replaying the damning entries from her diary, couldn't bear the solemn ritual. He slipped outside, needing air that wasn't thick with incense and unspoken grief.
Meanwhile, Anisa was also drawn into the past. The question that had haunted her for a year resurfaced with fresh intensity: Why? Why did he seek her out while he was still with me? In the late afternoon, she went to Zayan's grave. She cleaned the area around the headstone and lit candles, their flames flickering weakly in the breeze. She whispered her pain to the cold marble, a monologue of betrayal and unanswered questions. The only reply was the rustle of dead leaves and the distant, lonely cries of crows flying home to their nests. ⛰
As evening fell, Yugh returned home. He bypassed his family without a word, ignored the dinner waiting for him, and went straight to his bedroom, closing the door on the world. His family, sensing the depth of his turmoil, let him be, understanding that sometimes, the only companionship grief allows is solitude. In two separate houses, under the weight of the same date, both Anisa and Yugh retreated into the silent, hollow space where memories and unanswered questions echoed loudest. The anniversaries were observed, but they brought no closure, only a renewed, aching confrontation with loss and deception. 😥