"Excuse me, Ma'am," Thasneem said, standing at the doorway of her classroom.
"Come in!" Miss. Olivia Woods said smiling at her. "How do you feel now? What did Mrs Perera say about your wounds?"
"She didn't say anything about it, Ma'am," Thasneem said truthfully. "But it doesn't hurt much anymore."
"I hope you'll heal soon, dear!" Miss. Woods said with a caring look. "So that you'll be able to fully enjoy the annual trip next week."
All the children brightened up when they heard the word 'annual trip' and they all started to chatter loudly at once. "Children! Please, stop talking!!" Miss. Woods had to repeat this many times in a loud voice to finally silence them. "Thasneem, please go to your seat." She told her when the classroom had become quiet.
"Children, we have arranged a parent meeting on coming Thursday to talk about the trip." She said when Thasneem had gone to her place and sat down next to Maryam.
"Ma'am, where will we go?" Claire, a small girl with a short ponytail hair asked her.
"We are going to visit several places this year." Miss. Woods said. "We'll go to Nuwara Eliya District first. We'll visit the botanical garden and Ambewela farm there. And then we'll go to Rathnapura District. We are going to visit an adventurous village there. Do you have any more questions about the trip?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Pavithra raised her hand from the front row. "When are we going, Ma'am?"
"On coming Monday." She replied to her.
"What is the day today?" A boy from the back row asked loudly.
"It's Tuesday, Saman." Miss. Woods said to him with a smile. "The parents meeting will be held the day after tomorrow. Miss. Rose Harrison will make a call to all of your parents and inform them about the meeting, is that clear to all of you?"
"Yes, Ma'am!!" The children chorused happily.
"Alright!" Miss. Woods said as she put her hands together with a bright smile. "Dear, children! We've got a new boy in our class today. Let's welcome Mu'az Ibraheem! Mu'az, would you mind coming in front of the class for a minute?"
Mu'az started to feel anxious at once. He looked down, trying to avoid everyone's curious gaze. "It's okay." Maryam said, taking his hand, "I'll come with you."
"But, I can't," Mu'az said, almost in tears.
"Mu'az, we'll go together," Thasneem suggested and got up from her chair and Maryam stood up after her.
"I can't..." Mu'az said, looking gloomy, but still, he got up and followed both girls slowly to the front of the class. Miss. Woods looked at them with appreciation.
"Hello, Mu'az!" She said, smiling at him. "My name is Olivia Woods. I'm your class teacher. Where are you from?"
"Dubai, Ma'am," Mu'az said in a small voice, looking down at his black shoes.
"Well, Maryam and Thasneem have already become friends with him." Miss. Woods said, looking at the kids. "I hope all of you will be nice to him as well. Three of you can go now."
"Children, it's storytime!" Miss. Woods said when three of them had gone to their places. "Today I'm going to tell you the story of The Ginger Bread Man!" The children listened keenly as she continued to tell them the story.
___________________________________________
Thasneem, Maryam and Mu'az had their breakfasts at the break time and went out to play on the ground. They noticed a boy with a big bandage on his head sitting alone on a bench near the front gate.
"It's Umair," Thasneem told the others when she recognised him. "I saw him in the first aid room. He fell off the swing set and hit his forehead. Come, let's go and talk to him."
"Okay!" Maryam and Mu'az agreed together, and three of them started to walk towards Umair who was sniffing in his handkerchief.
"Assalamu alaikkum, Umair!" Thasneem greeted him with a smile when they neared him. "Wa alaikkum salam." He replied in a small voice and gave them a questioning look with his swollen red eyes.
"I saw you in the first aid room," Thasneem told him. "I was there to bandage my knees. How do you do now? Does your wound hurt a lot?"
"Yes, it hurts." He said, slightly touching his bandaged forehead. He sniffed into his handkerchief again.
"I'm sorry you are sad," Maryam said, feeling pity for him. "I hope you'll get well soon."
"I hope so too," Mu'az added, and Umair gave them a small smile.
"I'll be fine when I get home." He told them and glanced out of the gate.
"Are you going home earlier?" Thasneem asked him with surprise. The three of them noticed that he had his bag on the other side of the bench.
"Yes." He said, staring at the street. "Mrs Kumaran called my Daddy to tell him that I fell from the swing. And he said, he would come to pick me up earlier. That's why I'm waiting for him here."
"Oh! That's good!" Thasneem said, wishing that she could go home earlier too. Her knees had started to ache slightly now. "Why do you have bandages in your knees, Thasneem?" Umair asked, looking at Thasneem's bandaged knees.
"I fell when I was racing with Bilal." She said, frowning at Bilal who was swinging with his friends in the distance. Eventually, Bilal saw the four of them looking in his direction and made his way towards them.
"Umair, I saw blood on your shirt earlier," Thasneem said, noticing his clean white shirt. "But there's nothing on your shirt now! How did you do that?"
"Mrs Kumaran has told us to bring an extra uniform in our school bags."He explained.
"She helped me to change into my clean shirt when we got break time."
"Assalamu alaikkum!" Just then Bilal greeted from behind them, and they turned to look at him.
"Wa alaikkum salam!" They all said together even though they were not so happy to have him there.
"Have you come to pick a fight with us again?" Maryam asked him with a sulky look.
"No, I just came to see you all." He said, glancing at Thasneem's and Umair's bandaged wounds. "Thasneem, I'm sorry you fell."
"I fell only because of you!" She accused him with a frown.
"But I didn't do anything!" He protested, feeling hurt. "You just fell on your own!"
"Well, you are the one who asked me to race with you!" Thasneem said, folding her arms. "I would have won the race if I hadn't fallen."
"No, I was running first even before you fell," Bilal said with widened eyes. "I'm the winner!"
"It's only because my bag was_" Thasneem was interrupted by the sound of a car, stopping behind the gate. The security man opened the gate and went out to check who it was. A tall man with glasses got out of the silver BMW and talked to him.
"That's my Daddy!!" Umair said, hopping down from the bench and running towards the man who had arrived in the car. He quickly bent down and carried Umair in his arms and looked at his forehead with concern.
"I fell from the swing, Daddy," Umair told him. "A lot of blood came out of my forehead. Even my shirt got wet with the blood. Mrs Perera attended to my wound and wrapped this bandage around my head. Will Reeha baby get scared when she sees me with the bandage?"
"No, my little Prince!" The man said, kissing his head affectionately. "Mommy and Hala baby is waiting for you at home. You scared us so much! I'm glad you seem to be okay now."
"Oh, I'm sorry for scaring you!" Umair said, looking at his father's face with a smile.
"We'll call the doctor when we get back home and ask him to check you again to make sure that you are alright." He said, still looking worried. Then he noticed the other four children who had been watching them from the gate.
"They must be your little friends." He said to Umair and turned towards them again with a bright smile. "Hello, there! Assalamu alaikkum!"
"Wa alaikkum salam!!" They said together with shy smiles.
"Do you like chocolates?" He asked them as he went to his car and took out four chocolate bars. He handed the chocolates to the children, who took them with big grins.
"I think my Dada would have given us big chocolate bars if he had been here too!" Bilal said with so much admiration as he took his bar from Umair's father.
"Where is he now?" He asked him with a smile.
"My Mama says that he went to Allah when I was little," Bilal replied innocently. "I think he'd come back someday, maybe when I've grown up."
Umair's father fell silent at his words. "Well, son!" He said after a while, shuffling Bilal's wavy hair. "My name is Zafar Khalid. I'll be your friend from today, okay?"
"Really!?" Bilal asked him with wide eyes.
"Really!" Mr Khalid assured him with a bright smile. "I'll come to see you whenever I come to pick up Umair, alright?"
Bilal beamed at him as a reply.
Mr Khalid and Umair waved at them and got into the car. The children watched them leaving and waved at them until the car had disappeared from their view.