Raha lived with her family in Kabul. The family had some happy days together. They laughed, and everyone made plans for a brighter future. Later, Raha’s brother Elias got married, and the family was overjoyed. No one imagined that, only a few months after the wedding, the same house would be filled with a heavy silence. Everything changed when Raha’s father fell ill. At first, no one thought his illness was serious. Raha sat beside him as she always did. She made him tea. Tried to put a smile on his face by making small jokes. He smiled. One evening, she took a few almonds in her hand and sat beside her father.
“Father, eat these. They are good for you,” she said.
He looked at her with a gentle smile.
“You all spoil me too much,” he said.
Raha smiled softly. She did not know that those would become some of her last peaceful memories with him. Days passed, and her father did not get any better. The test results arrived, revealing a truth that no one was prepared to hear. Her father had throat cancer. From that day onwards, the house was no longer the same. Raha cried every day and stayed beside her father every night. The man who had always been her mountain. Her father once made her feel safe. He was now lying in bed in pain. Her father was never like this before. He always spoke calmly, comforting others. He never allowed anyone to see fear in his eyes. One night, for the first time, Raha heard her father crying in pain. She was awake the entire night. Watching him suffer. With tears in her eyes, she raised her hands. She began to pray.
“God… if it is possible, take some of his pain and give it to me. Let him sleep peacefully, even if it’s just for one hour,” she whispered.
Five nights passed like this. Her father did not eat a proper meal for six days. His body became weaker. The pain was exhausting him more each day.
“Why is no one taking me to the hospital?” he whispered on the sixth night, and everyone became worried.
“We will take you, Father. We will,” they told him.
“Let tonight pass… we will go tomorrow,” he replied quietly.
But the tomorrow everyone was waiting for never came. That night, his condition became worse. The family took him to the hospital. Raha carried a hope in her heart. She believed the doctors could help her father. That her father would return home. At least for one night, the house would be silent. They would not listen to his cries of pain. Early the next morning, a harsh knock on the door woke everyone up. Raha’s mother opened the door quickly. Grandmother stood outside the door. Her face was filled with sorrow.
“You are still sleeping?” she said quietly. “Wake up… guests are coming.”
Raha looked at her with confusion.
“Guests? At this early hour?”
Her grandmother was silent for a moment.
“Raha… your father is gone,” she said softly.
For a few seconds, everything became silent. Raha only stared at her. Then she took a sharp breath.
“No… that is impossible. You are lying, aren’t you?” Her tears began to fall.
“He promised me… He said he would eat… He said he would get better…”
Raha’s mother’s hands trembled. She went to her son’s room and knocked on the door.
“My son… wake up. Your father is gone.”
A few hours later, her father’s body was brought home. For Raha it felt like the world had come to an end. Seeing her father lying in a coffin made her numb. She could no longer hear the voices around her. She only looked at his face. A face that once represented safety and strength. Raha saw a bruise on her father’s face. It was a reminder of the pain he had gone through.
“What happened?” she asked.
They told her that an object had fallen on his face inside the ambulance. When they checked, they realized he had passed away. Raha only sighed, then she cried out.
“Please don’t take him… my heart hurts…” she cried as they closed the coffin, preparing to carry him away.
But no one could stop time. After the funeral, upon returning home, the house was dark. Raha turned on the lights. In the corner of the hallway were her father’s freshly washed clothes. She slowly walked toward them. Picked them up and held them close. His scent was still there. That was the most painful part of losing someone. Some things remain even after the person is gone. Days passed, but the house was no longer the same. The same walls and doors remained. The same rooms. But something inside the home was missing. Raha was no longer the same girl.
Before his passing, she believed her father would always be there. Like a strong wall that no storm could destroy. But now she understood that even the strongest people become tired. After losing her father, her view of her mother changed. She no longer saw only a mother but a woman who had lost half of her heart. A woman who still stood strong for her children. Raha never raised her voice at her mother again. When her mother got tired, she sat beside her.
When her mother asked for help, she helped her without another word. Sometimes at night, she stood outside her mother’s room listening only to the sound of her breathing. A quiet fear had grown inside her. A fear that one day, someone would again knock on the door loudly, bringing news that would divide her life into before and after.
“Raha, why do you look at me like that?” her mother asked her one day.
Raha gave a small smile.
“Nothing, Mother… I just want to make sure you are here.”
Her mother held her hand.
“I am here,” she said.
Raha relaxed her head on her mother’s shoulder. She knew that after losing her father, nothing in life could feel certain again. At night, she stood by the window. She watched people outside her home. The street was still full of life. People were laughing and walking. They were making plans for tomorrow. Raha looked at the sky.
“God… please protect my mother. I cannot lose anyone else,” she whispered.
Just then she saw the light in her mother’s room still shining. For the first time in a long time, Raha felt safe. That maybe life, despite all its wounds, could continue.
