Sunflower Fields

B y : A y e s h a N a s i r , H a m i l t o n O n t a r i o

Baasim’s favourite part of the day were mornings. He had a habit of sleeping early and his parents let him know how proud they were that he woke up when the sun woke up.

Early in the mornings, Baasim would think about the dream he had the night before. The dreams that made him happy were those he looked most forward to. Sometimes he would think about them for a whole week.

“When I was younger, I did not understand why you and Mama asked me to sleep on time, Baba,” Baasim said to his father at breakfast one day.

Baba picked up the tea kettle and started pouring tea in the little cups that were Baasim’s mother’s favourites. He told Baasim that being able to get enough sleep was a blessing from Allah SWT.

“I get these amazing dreams too sometimes,” said Baasim, picking up the tray that Baba had prepared, taking it to Mama.

Mama was sitting in the garden under the shade of a tree. Her feet were swollen but the rest of her body seemed very fragile and small. She did not look like how Baasim remembered her being last year.

In a year’s time, Mama’s sudden illness had changed her greatly. She was not able to do her chores and both Baasim and Baba were helping out with running their home. Their family included Baba and Mama’ s parents too and looking after them was a responsibility that Baba was taking care of as well.

“In my latest dream, I saw that we were all running through a beautiful forest. Mama, you were running so fast that it seemed you were flying,” said Baasim.

“It looks like Allah SWT was gifting you a special dream last night. May

Allah make its outcome good,” said Mama.

As his parents sipped their tea, 11 year old Baasim thought about the forest in his dream and how it seemed to have opened into a field of sunflowers. He imagined what it must be like walking through that field.

“I wish I could take my family to a place like that,” thought Baasim.

Later that evening, Baasim went to his grandparents and met all four of them. They were all reading separately and sometimes together. His Nana enjoyed history and was reading out a page to his Nani. She had a newspaper in her hands. Meanwhile, Dada was reading fiction that Baasim had picked out for him. Baasim’s Dadi would laugh whenever he brought a new book home for his Dada. She would say Dada was too old to read books that were being published these days. But truthfully, it was Dadi who would enjoy reading magazines about new scientific research the most.

“Baasim, look what I found,” said Nani. “This is a letter your mother wrote to me when she was your age. She had gone to meet her aunt in another city. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Baasim enjoyed the letter very much. He did not realise Mama had been such a fun-loving and adventurous person even Dada: Paternal Grandfather as a child. He asked Nani if he could borrow the letter for a day. Nani agreed and said it belonged to him just as much as it belonged to her.

The next day, Baasim showed Mama the letter and they laughed about it a lot.

“Your mother has always been a great and imaginative writer, Baasim,” said Baba before he left the house for work. Baba worked many jobs in a week. Today his job was to photograph a rally that was being held in the city.

“I remember writing this letter and hoping it would reach your Nani against all odds,” said Mama. She said she told the local post office to take extra care of it and to make sure it reached its destination safely.

“You would go to the post office when you were my age?” Baasim asked.

“Yes, I loved sending letters to my family and friends. I would always save up money to buy postage stamps and envelopes,” said Mama. “I wrote a diary regularly too and it was somehow like I was writing a letter to the future me.”

Baasim thought about this for a minute. He had always thought of writing in a diary as a very girlish thing. But he thought the idea of writing letters to whoever you were when you were older was so great.

“Dear Baasim in the future,

I am writing to you from the past. I hope you remember what inspired you to write this letter. It was Mama and how creative and fun her letter to Nani was.

I hope you remember how much Mama loves you, even if she is not doing better in the future and can no longer sit in the garden with you when you have breakfast.

I hope you remember her like you saw her in a dream: racing through a forest to reach a field of sunflowers.

Please give my salaam and love to your family who I am sure will enjoy reading this in the future.

Sincerely,

You, when you were 11.”

Glossary:

Nana: Maternal grandfather

Nani: Maternal grandmother

Dada: Paternal Grandfather

Dadi: Paternal Grandmother