The sky was grumbling lightly in the morning, like Sawda when Hasan gave her cat food instead of tuna. Despite that... Sarah left her house to go to the city to get an abaya for her mother. She had noticed that her mother's favorite abaya had torn a bit on the bottom, so she wanted to get her mother another one. Ishaaq was going to tag along with her, but as usual, he was being fashionably late.

Ibrahim was also headed to the city to get Maryam's favorite boba from the mall near their old house. He also wanted to take a walk along the familiar surroundings of the city he grew up in.

Unlike Sarah, he's prepared and brings an umbrella with him. It's comically large as if it's made for two people. He can't complain though, because he doesn't want to go through the hassle of rummaging through every storage furniture and room to find a smaller umbrella when he already found one.

It's gonna be alright. It'll just shield him from the rain better if it does rain.

"Ishaaq!" Sarah called from outside the washroom. What's taking him so long? "I'm going, you take your time,"

"Ukthi! Wait, I'm almost done with the shower!" Ishaaq called out.

"I'm leaving you here," she said simply. "Come to the bus station later, okay?"

Ishaaq grumbled, probably complaining, but the shower water muffled his words. Sarah checked her Niqab in the mirror, and when it was alright, she walked away.

The walk under the light gray sky was peaceful. Icy winds swept past her, making her eyes feel frozen (it's 16℃). She reached the uncharacteristically empty bus station. She sat near the glass wall and pulled out her phone... which was on its last life... at 2%. That's alright, Ishaaq will come along, and his phone will be there. She had to put the phone back in her green purse and stared at the serene road in front of her.

The other side of the road was grassy with trees spaced out. Mist was hovering around the trees, blurring her view of whatever was beyond the line of trees. She took a deep breath in to inhale the fresh morning air. She turned to look around and see if anyone else had joined her in the bus stop waiting area – and yes, there was someone. Ibrahim. Concentrated on his phone

The thing is, he noticed her first and decided to pull out his phone and pretend to be busy. I wonder why.

Sarah glanced at him for a moment before shifting her gaze to the sky above. It was still light gray. She looked at the sky around her. She then noticed a wave of dark, dark gray clouds emerging from their right.

Darkest clouds she had ever seen.

Soon, the dark rain clouds had splashed over the entire sky. As if looking down at Sarah and Ibrahim and smirking at each other... it took a moment. A moment before the clouds let loose. Pitter-patter quickly turned into thunder rumbling. Rain crashed on the road.

Sarah didn't have an umbrella. Her phone was dead by now. The bus is definitely not coming in this weather. She won't be going to the city today.

Abu Ishaaq stayed home today for the same reason. The oncoming rainstorm. They had been advised to stay home. But she thought the rainstorm would be a drizzle like always. It wasn't.

"The bus is not coming today," Ibrahim announced, possibly to the air. Sarah turned to him. He had a phone. And an umbrella.

Ibrahim noticed her gaze and observed that she had no umbrella on her. He was also going to leave this umbrella behind but decided to be prepared.

"I need to call someone; can I have your phone?" Sarah requested, after five seconds of weighing the pros and cons. Ibrahim was surprised. "This phone is dead," she explained, showing him her dead screen.

He nods understandingly and hands her his phone, already having the call app open. She typed in her dad's number and called him. She put the phone on speaker.

"Who is this?" her father was heard on the other line. Probably drinking warm tea in this weather in the comfort of their home.

"Abbi, this is Sarah, I'm stuck at the bus stop and it's pouring," she started, her father was instantly worried. "Please pick me up,"

"We tried calling you so many times! Where is your phone?" he asked, worried and reprimanded her for being careless about her phone.

"It's dead," she said, regretting her life decisions.

"I am on my way, whose phone are you using?" he asked, trying to make sense of his daughter's situation.

"I'll hand the phone to him," Sarah decided, returning the phone to Ibrahim, who had been listening to the conversation. He introduced himself to her father and explained the situation once again.

"Okay, I'll pick the both of you up then," he informed. There was no way he'd be leaving his friend's son there. He hung up as he started driving

"Jazakallahu Khairan Katheeran," Sarah said, through the crashing sounds of rain.

"Wa iyyaki," Ibrahim replied.

They'd have to walk a bit to reach the place where her father would park the car. The bus lane was to the main city so it would take a long time to reach there and then go around a long U-turn to get home. So, they had to walk a bit.

Ibrahim was grateful that he had a comically large umbrella. He could now ensure that neither himself nor Sarah drowns in this weather. He unbuckled the umbrella fastening and let it grow and blossom into a black shield.

"Uncle will be here soon," he said, holding the umbrella, silently encouraging her to come under the safety of this umbrella. She knew she had to, or else she'd be pretty much soaked.

Or crushed under the ruthless rain pour.

She hesitantly walked beside Ibrahim, under the downpour, in silence. Oddly, a comfortable silence.

Once they reached Abu Ishaaq's car, Ibrahim held out the umbrella over Sarah until she got in. He sat down, next to the driver's seat, and greeted Abu Ishaaq. The soaked umbrella was now accompanying him in the space under the car's front glass.

"Now we know we should take the meteorology department's warnings seriously," Abu Ishaaq concluded. The rain was blurring his view, and he had to put the wipers on auto.

"I never saw this kind of rain in my entire stay here," Ibrahim commented. It did rain a few times... very few times since they are in a desert country. But it was a drizzle or a light shower... never this.

"I'll drop u home, does that sound okay?" Abu Ishaaq asked Ibrahim, as he neared the Residence Circle where their villas were located.

"I could walk home from your place, uncle," he suggested, not wanting to increase inconvenience.

"Nonsense, this weather is not for walking. You should wait for spring." Abu Ishaaq laughed as if Ibrahim had made an unbelievable statement.

From the car, Sarah watched the rain outside. The roads were filling up with water. She could see the ripples on the road and the streaks of rain on her car window. Constant drumming overhead was heard as the rain hit the car. It was beautiful. And calming.

"Subhan Allah," she mumbled to herself.

As discussed, Abu Ishaaq dropped Ibrahim home, and he walked along his stone path to reach his front door under his comically large umbrella. As the car was retreating, she saw Maryam's worried expression and then both were gone out of sight.

Ibrahim looked back at the white car until it was out of sight. Thanking Allah for sending Abu Ishaaq to their aid. Alhamdulillah.

Ishaaq ran over to Sarah to make fun of her misjudgment.

"How skill issue of you to forget the umbrella when Abbi said there was going to be a rainstorm," he commented. His hair was still soaked from the shower.

"At least I enjoyed the rain," Sarah scoffed, trying to take her mind off yet again another embarrassing event. She yelled, and now, acted careless and unprepared in front of Ibrahim. Great.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I found you under the sea yesterday," Ishaaq scoffed back, now showing concern. "There is a flash flood warning issued all across the area,"

Sarah then understood that this rain was going to continue for a longer while – which it did. During this time, Sarah called Sana and yapped at her about what happened and Sana reprimanded her for being so careless, and unprepared. All the classes over the week were canceled due to the condition the roads would be over the week. And we can't forget the possibility of it raining again.

Maryam didn't get her boba today, but she could always get it another day. Sarah was dejected that she couldn't get an abaya for her mother. That's alright. There's always next time, In Sha Allah.

Sarah's green purse has been helping a lot of people. Namely, Ishaaq. He's the one who got it for her. One day, in his past, he was lost in the crowd of Niqabis in the mall. He walked up to some hoping it was Sarah or his mother. They were all different people. He then got Sarah a green purse with her name studded on it. So, if he ever gets lost, he'll know his sister by her purse.

Now it's also helpful to Ibrahim.

At home, Maryam interrogated him about how he survived out there, how she could see her window blurring with water, and how worried she was. Ibrahim reassured his sister that he was alright. That her 'friend' Sarah is who she should worry about. She ran over to her room to call Sarah. He could hear his little sister's concerned voice as she talked to Sarah. Her voice calmed down when she knew Sarah was alright.

At that time, Ishaaq called Ibrahim to send blessings upon him for shielding his sister from the rain. He said he was just doing what everyone else would have done. Ishaaq dismissed that comment and continued to gush about how cool he was. Ibrahim listened to him and smiled.

During the rain, duas are accepted most likely.

"Two (du'as) are not rejected: du'a at the time of the call to prayer and du'a at the time of rain." – Sunan Abi Dawud 2540

Some wished for true love, some safety. Some wished for a job, and some wished for the success of their business. Some asked for good health, and some asked for healing. Hasan asked for forgiveness, and Sana asked for patience. Sarah asked for the tranquility of Iman and Ibrahim asked for staying steadfast with guidance on the Straight Path. Maryam asked for what Allah knows is best for her – and Ishaaq asked for good food, and... acceptance of his deeds.

Everyone took this time to make Dua especially. The rain continued pouring over the town, filling the streets with water, which was slowly being drained because there was too much water and too few drains.

Whether or not their Duas were answered, Allah always has the best in store for His beloved servants.

this chapter is very special to me.

firstly because it marks the end of the first two arcs and marks the start of the 3rd arc for Sarah and Ibrahim.

secondly, because I've been planning this for a long while. the rain part has been inspired by the flash floods in the Middle East back in February this year.

yup, so I focused on only Sarah and Ibrahim for this chapter. alright, see you next week ❤️✨