It was a stormy night. The sky was dark and grey. Lightning struck across the sky as the rain poured down heavily. We were all sitting in the living room, waiting for my father to return from work. It was already very late.

The phone rang suddenly, and we were told that my father had gotten into a brutal accident and had passed away.

It has been six months now since that awful night. Six months since I had cried so bitterly and terribly for the first time in my life. It had been a devastating shock to all of us. I had never imagined my life would change so suddenly. But still, life goes on. Everyone had eventually moved on. Everyone except me.

Of course, I didn’t cry as much, nor was I always sulky, but I was always angry. I had started to hate life and fate. Why did this have to happen to us? Why did my father have to leave this world so suddenly? We were all living such a happy life, so why?

I remained angry and I tried to hide it as best as I could, but people noticed the change in me. I didn’t smile, laugh or talk like I used to, and even though they tried to console me, it didn’t really help.

One day, my mother told me that my cousin and aunt were coming to stay with us for a while. Aunt Sarah was my mother’s sister and her only son, Haroon, was my cousin. He had been only one year old when his father passed away, so now it was just him and Aunt Sarah.

Aunt Sarah and Haroon lived in another city and, when they arrived, I wasn’t at home. When I did return, I saw the table set for supper. Aunt Sarah, Haroon and everyone else sat around the table, seemingly happy, enjoying their food. After offering my greetings, as I didn’t want to mingle, I excused myself. Haroon and I had always been friends, but I didn’t feel like talking to him either. Still, as I headed to my room, he followed.

As I sat on my bed, Haroon went and sat on the spinning chair in the corner of my room. “How’s everything going with you? You look real down in the dumps,” he asked.

“I am fine, just superb,” I lied.

“You don’t look fine or superb to me,” he said and I snapped.

“What did you expect me to say? You want me to say that my father is gone, and while everyone around me has moved on, I am still stuck. I can’t get over the fact of how cruel my fate has been. Why did my father have to die? Why did this have to happen? It’s so unfair,” I suddenly burst out.

“You know some pains are worth holding on to,” said Haroon, with a seriousness in his eyes that I had never seen before.

But this didn’t calm me down. Instead, I felt anger bubbling inside me. I felt like giving him a good beating.

“What are you saying, Haroon?” I almost yelled.

“Calm down, will you? And listen to me,” he said as he started explaining. “I never knew my father. I don’t remember his face, his personality, absolutely nothing. All I know of him is what I have learnt from my mother. I don’t remember a single moment spent with him. I don’t miss my father as you miss yours. I never have.

“I have a friend who has a really abusive father. Even though that man is healthy and alive, my friend doesn’t like him at all. I am not saying your pain is worthless. You have every right to be hurt, but the fact that you miss your father so much is because he was a good man who loved and cared for you deeply. You got to spend the best times with him. Look at me and look at my friend, then decide if fate really has been that cruel to you. Would you rather be me, my friend or yourself with the life you have been bestowed with?”

I blinked. I didn’t have an answer. I couldn’t bring myself to say that my fate, in which my father had passed away, was better. But at the same time, I would never want to be in Haroon’s or his friend’s place either. I had a great father and I wouldn’t ever want to trade those cherished memories with him for anything.

For the first time in a long time, I began to see things differently. I had always cried over my fate being cruel, but there were others with fates crueller than mine. I knew this pain and grief would never truly leave me. I understood Haroon’s words now.

Little things and moments remind me of my father, and I become slightly teary, but it meant I had had a great dad, and the times spent with him were truly amazing. I accepted the pain and grief as a part of who I was and no longer felt anger and hatred towards my fate.

Yes, some pains are bitter, but they are worth holding on to.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 23rd, 2026