When Hate & Love Collide-Part 1: You and Me Series

Kashan
If only animals could speak!
I thought that after all these years, the sight of her grey headstone and the small plot of land designated to her on this earth would shatter me completely. Instead, an overwhelming sense of helplessness washed over me. I thought that after all these years, the sight of her grey headstone and the small plot of land designated to her on this earth would shatter me completely. Instead, an overwhelming sense of helplessness washed over me.
"Your body may look to be at peace in the coffin, but I know your spirit is still in torment. Don't worry my baby, I will not let your suffering go unanswered. Today I have finally found the first stone to be placed inside the grave of Daniyal’s happy family. The day he would lose his beloved son forever; I would recite Daniyal’s 'Ṣalāt al-Janāzah' on your grave. Just have trust in your brother, Daniyal’s son would pay for his father’s sins. I will breathe my last only after making Daniyal pay for his sins… I promise!!”

Daniyal
I remembered the first time he called me "Dad," his voice full of innocent affection, and how my heart had swelled with a love so fierce it was almost overwhelming. But now my son was not a child anymore... The realization hit me like a tidal wave—I had spent so much time trying to mold him into what I thought he should be, that I had forgotten to let him be who he truly was. I had forgotten that, just as he had learned to walk on his own, he needed to learn to navigate life on his own terms. But how could I let go? How could I stand by and watch him stumble, possibly fall, when every instinct in me screamed to shield him, to guide him away from pain and mistakes?
Sometimes, life throws you into the eye of a moral storm, leaving you torn between ‘Should I?’ and ‘Shouldn’t I?’ And doing the right thing hurts you the most.

Arsalan
Do this, not that!
Smoking underage (pre-14)
Drinking underage (pre=15)
Sex underage (pre-16)
Of all the things I could do, challenging my Dad's authority was the one thing that made me feel truly alive, truly in control of my own destiny. Every rule he laid down was like a red flag, daring me to cross it, and I was more than willing to take that dare. So, I did the opposite of what my Dad expected of me. Alas!! Little did I know…
'Your fate is like a blank page, and your family provides the ink.'
In my case, that ink was already drying long before I was born, as the story of my life was inscribed with the burden of an ancient promise. My pages were heavy with expectations and rituals I never agreed to, weighed down by decisions that weren’t mine to make. But here’s the thing about books written against one’s they can always be torn apart. No one ever asked what I wanted. No one cared how I felt. But I’ll write my own story, even if I have to start from a blank page. And that’s the only fair way!!

Minha
“Pretend? I don’t need to. I give a damn. My willingness to get hitched to that orphaned sparrow my family picked from some dunghill cannot even be measured on the Kelvin scale… it’s below absolute zero.”
The memory of Arsalan’s cruel words cut into me like shards of glass.