farooq shah
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Stories (17)
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''The Last Gift''
It was the morning of Eid, and the sun rose gently over the small town of Al Noor. The call to prayer echoed softly in the distance, mingling with the rustle of new clothes being laid out, the scent of cardamom-laced tea, and the warmth of freshly baked bread. In every home, laughter and light filled the air—every home except one.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Confessions
''The Mother I Never Expected''
I always believed that becoming a mother would be the most deliberate choice of my life. My husband, Aaron, and I spent years preparing—emotionally, financially, and legally—to adopt. After three heartbreaking failed matches, we were finally chosen by a young woman named Tasha. She was quiet, barely eighteen, with dark eyes that rarely made contact and hands that fidgeted constantly. She didn’t want an open adoption. She said she couldn’t handle it emotionally. We agreed, though a part of me mourned the loss of connection for our future child.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Families
''Whispers Before Goodbye''
I had never been close to my mother-in-law. Clara was the kind of woman who measured love in chores completed and meals cooked, not hugs or kind words. From the moment I married Daniel, I felt more like someone she tolerated than someone she welcomed. Still, we visited her every Sunday, faithfully, as Daniel had since he was a child. Over the years, our conversations remained surface-level—weather, the state of the garden, and the occasional unsolicited advice on parenting, though we had no children.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Families
''The Lie Detector Date''
When I signed up for the dating experiment, I thought it was a joke. “One night. One date. One lie detector.” the ad read, plastered across my feed in loud red and black font. I assumed it was some bizarre social experiment or a marketing stunt. But then I got the confirmation email with an NDA, a time, and a place.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Confessions
''She Sent Me a Message from the Afterlife''
They say grief comes in waves. For me, it came in code. Mara had been gone for exactly 83 days when I received the first message. I counted. I always counted. Every night since the accident, I’d sit by the window of our tiny apartment in Seattle, staring at her empty reading chair, the silence around me broken only by the creaks of the old building and the occasional low moan of the city wind.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Fiction
"The Wrong Reality"
When Marcus Trent awoke on June 12th, everything felt slightly... off. The alarm buzzed at 6:45 a.m., just like it had every weekday for the past five years. He rolled out of bed, brushing past his cat, Nimbus, who meowed in protest. The air smelled like burnt toast, even though his toaster was unplugged. In the mirror, his reflection blinked a moment after he did.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Fiction
''The Silence Pact''
When Clara Bell moved to Merrow’s Hollow, she thought the rumors were just part of the town’s eccentric charm. A place that didn’t allow speaking after dark? Probably some quirky superstition or leftover from a bygone era. The town did feel like it was frozen in time—wooden signs, no cell towers, and clocks that all struck the same soft chime at 7 p.m.
By farooq shah6 months ago in Fiction
"The Secret Beneath the Stones"
The sun dipped low over the Giza Plateau, casting long, golden shadows across the sand. Dr. Lena Morales squinted into the fading light, her boots crunching over the dry earth as she approached the southern face of the Great Pyramid. The world knew her as a brilliant archaeologist, but Lena wasn’t here for fame. She was here because of a mystery—one buried deeper than anyone had dared dig.
By farooq shah6 months ago in History
