Nafis Ahmed
Stories (4)
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“The Stranger at Table 9”
That day, the café was crowded. Not in a bad way, just loud enough to remind Emma that she wasn't alone even when she thought she was. As she watched the oat milk swirl into warm patterns, she stirred her coffee erratically. Her laptop flashed a blank Google Doc. “The Next Chapter” was written in the title bar. Ironic. She had even forgotten the title of the current chapter. Her ex-fiancé had been gone for three weeks. No note merely a neatly packed suitcase and a voicemail beginning, "I'm sorry." She felt like a shattered mosaic herself as she attempted to write a blog post for a lifestyle website called Unfiltered & Whole. She first noticed him at Table 9. He didn't pretend to read, type, or look at his phone. He was merely present. Hair was a little unkempt, tall. A patch on a denim jacket said, "Tell your story, even if your voice shakes." She was drawn to that patch. He noticed her staring when he looked up. He smiled instead of turning away. Kind, not in a flirtatious way. Open. As if he saw her. As if he knew. A barista came by with a muffin a minute later. She handed it to Emma and said, "From the guy at Table 9." He stated, "You appeared to be in need of something sweet that wasn't digital." Emma looked up. She was torn between laughing and crying. The guy and the barista had already left. Vanished.
By Nafis Ahmed9 months ago in Confessions
Beneath the Willow Tree
It was raining when Maya first saw Elias. She was seventeen and was sitting in the middle of the park under a willow tree, clutching a wet paperback and cursing the weather. She couldn't get home without getting completely soaked because her umbrella had broken in the wind. That's when tall, quiet Elias showed up, holding a red umbrella like a sword of salvation. His voice was as soft as the rain and he said, "You look like you could use a rescue." She was startled and looked up. He smiled with genuine warmth, not in a mocking manner. He moved closer without waiting for her response and extended the umbrella to cover them both. "This is Elias." “Maya.”
By Nafis Ahmed9 months ago in Chapters
Curiosity Rover Discovers Largest Organic Molecules Yet on Mars
The largest organic molecules ever discovered on Mars have been discovered by NASA's Curiosity rover, a landmark discovery that has the potential to reshape our understanding of the Red Planet's potential to support life. The molecules were detected in a 3.7-billion-year-old mudstone sample collected from Yellowknife Bay, an ancient lakebed nestled within the Gale Crater—a region long believed to have once hosted water and possibly even microbial life.
By Nafis Ahmed9 months ago in History
