Through my bedroom window, my gaze suddenly fell upon the bright and shining moon. It was a sight for sore eyes. I whirled around and said, “Eid mubarak!” to my mum.

My mum gasped and hugged me, “Eid Mubarak to you too!” she said happily.

It was the twenty-ninth fast and my dad and my brother had gone to the mosque for Maghrib prayer. Me and my mum quickly said our prayers too and went on the rooftop. After seeing the moon, we ran downstairs, our hearts bubbling with excitement. When my dad and brother came back, I wished them too while my mum phoned our relatives to give them warm greetings of the sighting of the Eid moon. It was such a beautiful atmosphere as everyone was excited for the Eid next day.

When we were done with Isha prayers and dinner, it was now time for us to apply mehndi on our hands. So along with my mum, I went to a stall near our house and got lovely mehndi applied on our hands. Luckily, we were almost finished when a big group of girls and ladies arrived, otherwise we would have had to wait very long for our turn.

So when the mehndi was dry, we went to get my clothes from the tailor. It was stitched so beautifully and I loved my lilac silk shirt with the delicate sky-blue embroidery on it.

Feeling not the least tired due to the excitement of Eid, I asked dad to take us to eat gola ganda. My brother jumped in excitement. So when the gola ganda arrived, I carefully took it from the waiter from the car’s window, but my younger brother was too impatient and tried to snatch it from me. And unfortunately, it fell and dropped on my new Eid suit next to me on the car seat! There was stunned silence in the car as a reddish-green ugly stain spread quickly on the shirt. Then I let out a chilling cry as I watched in horror how swiftly my beautiful dress was ruined. As I continued to scream, my brother looked horrified, while mum tried to calm me by telling me that it was a mistake and she would get rid of it as soon as we arrived home.

We rushed home, mum started cleaning the stain with detergent, but her efforts were useless. Then my father rushed to a supermarket and got a special detergent.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep while still sobbing on the bed was dad and mum discussing how to clean it. The next day when I woke up, I saw my lilac shirt hanging on my cupboard door, as shining as new, it was ironed and immaculate as if the stain had never been there. I rushed to my mum and thanked her as she smiled at me happily and told me to get dressed as guests would arrive soon. Just then, I heard the doorbell ring and the fun began.

Despite a tragedy, all turned out well in the end so the day was as fun as Eid should be.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 1st, 2019