Short Story

A Surreal Dream

After attended classes for hours, I stepped heavily to get back to my dorm. Suddenly, somebody appeared before me, blocking my way. I looked up to see his face. Then I saw him. The person I dearly missed. ‘It’s Shah!’ My eyes almost popped out of shock. He waved his hand in front of my face. Only then, I awake from the shock.

“Shah, why are you here? When did you came back?” asked me. He laughed at my confusion. “Assalamualaikum. Hey, Relax, Rose! There's nothing wrong with my presence here. I just came back from Egypt last night. I just wanna say hi to you since I’m already here,” he answered, smiling.

Then I said, “Hmm… I see. But, what are you doing here? You just went to Egypt last month. And what about your classes? Is it semester break already?”

He smiled even wider. “Here’s the thing, I came here to tell you great news. Actually, I’m back here for good. I have changed my studies here and we will study under the same kulliyyah,” he said to me.

With excitement, I said, “What??? Really??? It’s great! We can study together.” In my deep thought, ‘Yay! I can always see you, but, would you even notice my feelings? Hmm...’ (Sighing).

After a while, his facial expression suddenly changed. “Rose,” said him in a serious tone, “Since we are close now, let me be honest with you.”

“What is it?” I said.

“Actually…I have long known about your feelings for me but I’ve been pretending not to notice it because I do not want it to go wrong, and I also realize that I have the same feeling when we were away. I think it's time for us to tie our relationship. Let's get married!” confessed him.

I was surprised and could not believe what I’ve heard. It took some time for me to understand the situation and eventually realized that I was being proposed. “Huh!” I exclaimed. ‘What??? A proposal? Is this real? Shah proposed to me? How come? He never loves me. So, why is he doing this?’

Shah became increasingly anxious seeing my reaction without an answer. “Don’t you want to marry me? I know this is so sudden, but I hope you can accept me,” appealed him. His eyes shone with a great hope.

My heart beat faster and my legs became weak. I saw the chair nearby and sat there. After getting my courage, I told him, “I never knew you had feelings for me too, I'll lose my mind if I do not accept you because I have feelings for you a few years already.”

“And you know what? Whenever I miss you, I always pray to God to keep your heart for me. Now, it seems that God has answered my prayer.” I said sheepishly.

Shah smiled and said, “Yes! Great, Rose!” (Clutching his fist). He pulled out a small red box from his backpack and opened it. ‘It’s a ring! What should I do?’ I was quite hesitant to accept the box. But seeing his sincere eyes made my heart soft. I accepted the ring and slid it into my ring finger (smiling).

In the week after, Shah took me back to our hometown since we live in the same area. His intention was to meet with my parents and get their consent to conduct our wedding. On Sunday evening, my mom prepared dinner to welcome Shah and his family. Shah came with his parents. He dressed in simple, kurta shirt with pants. I was wearing a black abaya with a shawl. Coincidentally, his shirt and my shawl were of the same color, beige.

Shah’s father, Uncle Aman teased us saying, “It looks like they cannot wait to get married soon. Look at this! (pointing to our clothes), they had agreed to wear the same color,” he laughed. Those who were there were also laughing. Shah grinned, shaking his head. And I’m in the corner, can only smile in embarrassment because of shame with everyone especially Shah's parents.

After dinner and congregation Maghrib prayer, we started discussing our plans for marriage. Praise be to God, both our parents approved of our relationship and agreed to our plan to get married. Shah suggested, “Since we are studying at the same place now, I plan to do the akad nikah first,” he paused. “I know it might sounds like I’m rushing this marriage, but, I sincerely want to take care of Rose on behalf of Uncle and Auntie.” He hesitantly said, “And... right now, I do not have enough budget to make a wedding feast,” he grinned (scratching his head).

“Don’t worry about money Shah. Insha-Allah, we can help you as much as we can afford. What do you think Aman?” (Looking at Shah’s father)

His father nodded and said, “That’s right. We can assist in the preparation of the ceremony. After all, the event does not necessarily be a big one, we just have to invite family members and some close relatives.”

“I agree!” said my father. “So, when will both of you have time to hold the wedding?” he asked, looking at me and Shah.

“I’m fine at any time because I haven’t properly started in the department yet. So what about you Rose?” Shah asked me.

I was silent, thinking, ‘Am I ready to enter the marriage life with Shah? Can I carry the responsibilities?' Then, I decided to believe in him who can guide me by my side. I broke the silence by saying, “I got no problem doing it at any time. But my final exam is near, if we can do it after the exam is better.”

“Good! Then, we can do it during the semester break. After all, it will also be more convenient because at that time it is also school holidays,” said Uncle Aman.

Two months later, we got married in a small wedding ceremony attended by family members and close friends. Before the new semester begins, we live in our parents’ homes on a rotational basis since we do not have our own house yet. Since we were studying at the same university, we have decided to live together and help each other out.

Shah was so sweet and responsible in our marriage relationship. He always sent me to class and picked me up. And he insisted to fulfill his responsibilities by working part-time to accommodate our meals although both of our parents did not stop sending us allowance. He said, “Let’s use the parents’ money for the study purpose only. Insha-Allah, I will do my best to support our living.” We spent most of our time together and looked after each other well.

While enjoying the happiness and sweetness of married life with Shah, suddenly I was awakened by the noisy sound of people talking. Wondering what it was, slowly my eyes opened up and saw a bright morning atmosphere. Then, I found out that it was like the usual morning of my university life; my roommate rushed to get ready for the first class of the day while I was still in bed in my pajamas.

Momentarily, I thought, ‘what about the proposal thingy, meeting the parents, and marriage life just now?’ Then I realized that it was just a wonderful dream that did not happen in the real world. Then, I laughed nonsensically. It was only a dream. But, it was all so… so vivid! It was so real! It makes me sad that it ended just like that. With a broken heart, I was hoping that this surreal dream will become a reality. After my salah, I always prayed to God, “O my Lord, give me from your side a good man, and keep his heart for me, so that we may be united, for You are the Hearer of Prayer.”

I live my daily life as a student as usual. Until one day, I got a call from my father. “Assalamualaikum, Rose. How are you?” he greeted.

“Waalaikumussalam. Well… Alhamdulillah, I’m fine. Just a little bit busy nowadays. What’s the matter, dad? You’ve never called me at this time,” answered me.

“Hmm… Do you have time to come back home this weekend? We have something to discuss with you,” he asked?

“Hah? Something? About what?” I replied.

My father was silent for a moment and said, "Hmm ... I think it is not proper to be discussed over the phone. I need to talk face to face with you."

I thought, 'It must be something very important because dad was never being this secretive with me before.' Then I said, “Insha-Allah if there is nothing important this weekend, I'll be back. Do ask mom to cook my favorite foods, okay?” I laughed.

In laughter, he said, “Okay, okay. I’ll ask her to cook everything you like. Take care, my dear.”

“Alright, dad. Love you. Take care,” I said. Then, on the other side, he hung up the phone. And I started wondering what was the important thing to be discussed by my dad. ‘Does something bad happen to him? No, no, no. I do not think that's the problem,’ I tried to brush off these negative thoughts.

As promised, I returned to my hometown in Kelantan at the end of the week. I was surprised to see that all my siblings were also at home. ‘Is this coincidentally or dad asked them to come home too? Hmm… maybe dad just wanted to meet us all,’ speak my mind.

On that Saturday night, the whole family gathered in the living room to hear the news which Dad wanted to say. Dad started talking, “Actually, It’s about Rose.” I'm stunned. “Why with me, dad?” I asked.

Dad continued his talk, “A few days ago, I received a visit from a young man, he came in with a great wish, and he wanted to propose Rose.”

“What??? Who?” shouted me.

“You know the guy Rose, he’s your best friend, Shah. He came to see me for you. I saw him very sincerely wanting to pair with you, and he also proposed to me about marriage.” said dad, smiling.

“Hah? Shah? Why he never told me that he likes me. And now he wants to seek marriage?” I said. “Hmm ... but if mom and dad agree, I’ll just accept him, after all, as you can see, he’s the nicest guy I've ever befriend with,” suggested me, grinning shyly. All my family members nodded and smiled at me.

Finally, during my semester break, we got married. Hey! It is similar to my dream, but it happened very fast. Dreams are so quick! On the outside. They are long on the inside. But, Islam does encourage to marry early to avoid zina.