It is said that when God created human beings, He used sand from Earth to mould our fragile body and it was then that he placed our soul into it.

It was the reason why, when a person died; he was buried deep into the Earth.

I had never seen death before, so when my brother ran into the stable, eyes wide and a look of horror plastered on his face, I thought of all the people that had lost their loved ones. I had been so naive and indifferent to their loss, but now I could understand it, because I had one of my loved ones in the brink of losing their life.

My knees buckled under my body weight, my lips went dry and my eyes forgot how to blink as I fell. A pair of strong arms caught me by my waist and steadied me to my feet. I wanted to yell at my brother to go to my father and that I would be fine. I tried moving my hands so that I could somehow send the message across but they were no more under my control.

My father needed Asad more than me.

I saw his lips move as he said my name, but I could hear nothing, was I going deaf too?

It had happened years ago, when I was fourteen, my father had gone to work and a messenger of Master Maha had appeared suddenly informing our family that my father had suffered through a heart attack.

We were panicked, we did not know what to do, and my mother was on the edge of losing her mind. We had hurried to Master Maha's mansion where a doctor was waiting for us; he had explained what had happen and had warned us – it should not happen again.

Maybe I was crying, I could not feel the tears running down my cheek, maybe I was simply think of the worst outcome. I did not know and I didn't care, I wanted my father alive.

I closed my eyes, I didn't even notice the pair of arms wrapped around me, or that I was leaning against a body.

Please, I want him alive, please help me! I prayed in my mind and I felt the strength drain out of me slowly.

Take my strength, let me heal him. I felt my mind go blank, the little control that I had on myself dissolved and I fell limp into the stranger's arms

****

"A miracle!"

My mother's cry woke me up from my deep slumber. I felt tired and I wanted to curl and go back to sleep, but something made me open my eyes.

It was mistake, as soon as I opened my eyes, I was blinded by the bright light and I had to shut it again.

"I think Ayah just opened her eyes." I could hear my brother, but it sounded like as if he was on the other end of a long tunnel. I wanted to nod my head in affirmative that I had gained my consciousness, but slight movements made my head ache.

"I will offer the poor food once I get home. I have witnessed a miracle! Now my daughter is also gaining consciousness, praise the lord!" I heard my mother continue and I wondered what she was talking about. I slowly tried to open eyes, blinking a little so that they could get adjusted to the light.

I was in one of Master Maha's guest rooms, a small chandelier hung from the ceiling and it was the reason why I was blinded when I first opened my eyes. I looked around myself and I could make out the faces of my brother and my mother. A strange man was peering at me with crooked spectacles and there was someone at the door of the room, but I could not see his face.

"Oh God! Ayah you gave us such a scare!" My brother sighed in relief and he came to hug me.

I smiled embarrassed; I did not mean to worry them.

I patted my mother's hand for her attention and when she looked at me I signed

What happened?

She looked at me a little confused, then recovering immediately, she told me about my father, the way he felt pain in his chest and lost his consciousness while working. It was Master Maha who had called for a doctor and had asked Asad to inform me. It took Asad some time but when he found me and informed, I went into a state of complete shock. It seemed as if I could not hear anything and all I did was sob, then, I simply lost consciousness. If it wasn't for the strange man, she smiled at the man at the door,  I would have hit my head, but they carefully brought me inside the mansion. I glanced at the man but he didn't seem to even be listening, so I directed my gaze to my mother.

What about father?

I interrupted her narration and asked, my hands moving so fast that she took a momentary pause to understand what I had meant.

My mother smiled broadly and relief flooded my heart as I lay my head back on the pillow.

"The doctor said it was a miracle," she said "Beizeen remembers a pain in his chest so sharp that he could not talk, he knew what was happening and couldn't help but collapse. However, by the time the doctor and I came, he was sitting with the help of a man, of course, he said that the pain had simply vanished and at the same time you came to us – unconscious."

The pain had vanished! How could that be? If it was heart attack, my father wouldn't have been in a condition to sit up or talk to people about his pain. However, my father had experienced a heart attack before, he knew what it felt like.

Maybe my mother was able to read my expression because she said –

"It was by God's grace that your father came back to us, Ayah. It was a miracle!"

A miracle, I asked and she nodded enthusiastically. The gleam of happiness so evident in her eyes that I could not help but smile; however, there was some doubt in my head. Something about this did not make sense.

"Now I must inform Beizeen about Ayah. He would be worried." My mother said and left the room hastily.

I directed my eyes away from my mother to the stranger at the door who wasn't even facing me. He stood there leaning against the door frame, his mouth curved in a frown, his unruly black curls uncombed.

I observed him in my silence and realised that he might be the same man that I had met in the stables. I bit my lip, the man looked considerable younger, now that I could see him clearly, maybe few years older than my sixteen years.

Who is he? I asked my brother pointing at the man near the door.

My brother looked towards the man and then moved towards me, whispering –

"He hasn't said his name to us. He just helped me bring you to the mansion and has stood there at the same position for more than an hour. I thought you might  know him since you both were in the stable together."

Asad glanced at the man suspiciously and then at me, and I knew that the wheels of his brain were moving, trying to connect some invisible dots so that he could get some logical explanation.

My brother had always been a logical one and my father used to say, that if we could afford enough money for schooling, Asad would have been a genius. However, that did not stop my brother from learning, at the age of seven; he would borrow books from richer kids and learnt how to read. By eleven, he was very good with numbers and handled our father's wages.

"Its Omar." The man suddenly spoke up and I gasped loudly for I had zoned away. Even Asad looked startled.

"What?" My brother narrowed his eyes at him.

"The name is Omar." He said with an amused smile, his body facing us "I come from the City of Alam."

We stared wide eyed at him and I realised why he looked slightly different than the people that I had usually seen. He wore rich clothes but there was an aura about him. He stood taller, his shoulder broader and he held his head as if he was above all of us and that is why I imagined him to be much older than me.

"Why is a person of the City in such a gathering?" My brother thought out aloud and I closed my eyes, expecting the Master Omar to snap at Asad for being so blunt. But Asad was right, village people and city people were rarely seen together. Whenever, a city person came to the village, they only came as a bearer of bad news.

They were usually a messenger from the Royal Family and the news was in relation to more taxes, or less subsidies or something worse. Recently, the messenger of the Royal Family had announced about the drought and there were still people in the village who were still recovering from that setback.

"I came here because I was invited."

Nothing more, that was all we got from Master Omar but I couldn't help getting curious about this strange stranger.

Why is he here in our room? I asked my brother and then tilted my head towards the man in the hopes that Asad would ask the question.

"She is asking why you are here." Asad asked his tone void of any emotions as he stared at the man in our room.

"I am here because I do not believe in miracles, Miss Ayah." His answer was directed towards me, his twinkling black eyes penetrating mine and suddenly I felt exposed. I felt that Master Omar had somehow found his way under my skin and could read my feelings, my every thought.

"The doctor said that medical miracles happen every day." Asad countered in an even tone.

Master Omar ignored Asad as he continued staring at me, he was reading me, and I could feel it. He was trying to find something that I didn't know and I felt uncomfortable, I felt judged.

"Indeed." He said after a while and his posture relaxed, a lazy smile appeared on his face. "But this was no medical miracle, Mister Asad."

With that, Master Omar left the room, he took long strides and didn't even glance back, but this new addition to my life had left me even more confused.

"What was that?" Asad looked puzzled.

He knows something that we don't. I replied.

A long chapter, yay ^-^ and you all get the glimpse of the strange stranger ;) More to come! So do not get disgruntled that his scene was small and that there was nothing that added value to his character because that is not my intention with this chapter :D

Lovely lovely banner by detrition She is exceptional and just knows what I want!