Mawra's freedom had been snatched away from her. She was forbidden from going to college or even stepping outside the house.
Furthermore, she wasn't allowed to use a mobile phone. Her life was overshadowed by a mountain of grief.
She would wake up in the morning and spend the entire day sitting in a silent daze or weeping until she eventually fell asleep.
It felt as though happiness had vanished from her life forever.
"I am looking for another boy for her," Mawra's father told her mother. "Make her understand that she must not take any wrong step this time, otherwise, the consequences will be dire."
"I wanted to ask... can't you just forget your enmity?" the mother replied. "What is the point of all this?
How will our poor daughter spend her entire life like this? Just look at her condition once; if things continue this way, she will die.
I cannot bear to see her like this."
"You have said this today, but never speak of it again," the father answered sternly. "I can never break my principles. They are our enemies.
Who knows what they were thinking when they trapped our daughter in their web? I will never hand her over to them, no matter what happens.
Do as I said—make her understand that she shouldn't do anything like that again."
"I loved him; I wasn't playing a game,"
Mawra said angrily, stepping in. "If I cannot be his, I will never belong to anyone else."
"Mawra, my daughter, let go of this stubbornness," her mother said, trying to reason with her. "Nothing will come of it except your own destruction."
"Whatever loss I had to suffer has already happened," Mawra replied.
"My freedom was taken, my education was taken, and most importantly, my life was snatched away. Now, I fear nothing—neither life nor death. You have already killed me while I'm still breathing; what worse could happen to me now?"
"Look, my child, a mother never wants to see her child in such pain," the mother said.
"I told you before to leave him and forget him, or things would turn out badly."
"So, they turned out badly. Even if things get worse than this, I am not afraid," Mawra said sharply. "But remember one thing: I will never marry anyone except Umar."
A heavy silence fell between the mother and daughter. After sitting with Mawra for a few moments, the mother got up and left.
"I'm telling you, my heart doesn't agree with this. I fear something terrible will happen," the mother whispered to the father, trying to explain. "She has become rebellious. All feelings are draining out of her heart. I don't know what she might do. Please, don't talk about her marriage for a few days."
"I know very well how to fix her," the father replied crossly. "I'll see what she tries to do."
It was 10:00 PM. Mawra was lying in her room, lost in thought, when she suddenly decided that enough was enough. No matter what happened, she was going to talk to Umar tonight.
She couldn't wait any longer.
She crept out of her room very quietly. With great caution, she opened her parents' bedroom door.
The mobile phone was lying right there on the table. She snatched it silently and hurried back to her room.
As quickly as she could, she dialed the number.
The moment the call connected, a voice answered: "Mawra!"
"I've been staring at my phone every second, waiting for your call," Umar said.
"You made me wait a long time, Mawra. A very long time."
"Umar, everything we feared from the beginning has happened to us," Mawra said, weeping. "I knew this would happen. My family will never agree. I wish I had never met you... I wish we had never spent that time together."
"No, Mawra, this isn't our fault," Umar replied. "I wish we had met under different circumstances; perhaps then things would have been easier. But no, Mawra, we cannot give up this easily."
"We can't do anything now, Umar. We did what we could once. Now, nothing is in our hands anymore," Mawra said despondently.
"Now, I am just waiting for death."
"No, Mawra, not yet. We still have to spend our lives together. we have to fulfill the dreams we dreamt together," Umar said sadly but firmly. "Mawra, no matter what happens, we will be together. Whatever I have to do, I will do it."
"I don't understand anything, Umar. I don't think we are written in each other's destiny," Mawra said.
"Don't say that, Mawra. If you talk like this, what will happen to me?" Umar replied.
"Umar, I am exhausted."
"Mawra, we have loved each other. Love is a river of fire that we must cross together. Just stay with me; we will find a solution together."
"Fine, Umar. I will contact you again. Right now, I have to go put the phone back," Mawra said.
On the other side, Umar's condition was even worse than Mawra's.
The only difference was that he had parents who tried to counsel and support him.
Umar would spend the entire day sitting in a corner of the house, lost in a labyrinth of thoughts. He stopped eating and drinking, remaining entirely silent.
The boy who used to make everyone laugh now had no trace of joy left in his life.
His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and his face marked with the toll of grief. Though they were physically miles apart, their hearts were anchored in the same place.
Umar stayed awake through the nights, desperately waiting for Mawra's call.
One night, Mawra could no longer bear the distance. Gathering her courage, she snuck into her parents' room once more, took the phone, and dialed Umar.
"Umar, I can't take this anymore," she sobbed. "They are talking about marrying me off to someone else again."
"No, Mawra," Umar said firmly. "No matter what happens, you are mine. You will only marry me."
"Umar, I have no authority here. What can I possibly do?" she asked helplessly.
"Listen, Mawra. We took a step once before; we made a decision together once. We have to make one more choice now.
Let's run away again, but this time, we will go very far. I'm thinking we should head to the mountains... to the Northern Areas. No one will follow us there, and no one will be able to find us. We can stay in a hotel for a while; I'll look into the bookings right now."
"Umar, do you remember what happened last time?" Mawra asked innocently.
"I remember. But this time we are going far away, where no one can reach us," he promised.
"Then it's settled," Mawra replied. "For the sake of my life..for myself, and for you..one more decision. I am ready, Umar."
"Then be at the bus stop at 2:00 PM the day after tomorrow. Find a way to get out of the house and come."
Mawra packed a small bag with just a few essential clothes. When the time came at 1:00 PM, she was dressed in a light pink shalwar kameez with a white scarf.
On her wrist, she wore the same bracelet she had once bought at a fair.
She waited for the right moment to slip away. Peeking out of her room, she saw her brother Ali in his room and her parents resting.
The path was clear. Her heart hammered against her chest.
Finally, she summoned her strength and bolted out of the house, leaving the front door ajar in her haste. She ran toward the bus stand.
Back at the house, her mother stepped out of her room and noticed Mawra's door open. When she saw the girl was missing, a sense of dread took hold.
She realized the front door was also open. Checking the room, she saw that some of Mawra's clothes were gone.
"Ali! Father! Mawra has run away again!" she screamed.
Ali and his father rushed out and immediately began the pursuit. The bus stop wasn't far, and Mawra was sprinting toward it when she realized someone was shouting from behind.
She looked back to see Ali, her father, and three or four men from the village chasing her.
Mawra pushed herself to run faster. Behind her, the pursuit intensified. The weather suddenly shifted; clouds gathered, and a fierce wind began to howl. All she could see in her mind's eye was Umar waiting for her. She ran with all her might, calling his name in her heart.
She soon realized her brother was closing in. Her scarf slipped and flew away into the wind. Suddenly, her foot slipped, and she crashed to the ground. "Umar!" she cried out as she fell.
Ali, her father, and the others reached her. Without a second thought, Ali and his father rained blows upon her.
They began to drag her back toward the house as she screamed, "Let me go! Let me go to Umar!"
They dragged her until they reached the front of the house.
Ali went inside and emerged with a pistol. Pointing it at Mawra, he yelled, "I am telling you, erase his name from your mind!"
"Never! Do whatever you want!" Mawra defied him instantly.
The deafening sound of a gunshot echoed through the air.
The bullet hit Mawra directly in the chest.
Within moments, she collapsed onto the earth.
Simultaneously, a heavy rain began to pour. Her blood mingled with the rainwater, staining the ground.
As she lay there taking her final breaths, she was still calling out for her beloved. Every moment she had spent with Umar flashed before her eyes. Then, she took her last breath.
The world had won. The "principles" and the enmities of men had triumphed... and Mawra had lost.
A profound silence fell over everything, broken only by the sound of the falling rain on the lifeless body on the ground.
On the other side, Umar stood at the bus stop, waiting. When he eventually heard from passersby that Aslam's daughter had died, he froze. He sat there for hours, paralyzed by the news.
He returned home late that night.
The next morning, the village learned that Umar had committed suicide by drinking poison during the night.
In the end, he kept his promise—that he would stand by her until his last breath.
Those who could not be together in this world were now together in the next.