Whispers of the Soul by Nadia Nizam

  One Missed Call… And a Lifetime of Truth The Mirror Our Children Hold Up Yesterday, someone from our extended family called after decades of silence. At the time, my daughter was using my phone, so I remained unaware. Today, when I noticed the missed call and asked her about it, she replied calmly: “Mom, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t understand why they would call after so many years. Do they need something? Or is it some very special occasion? People like this don’t call out of love, they call when they need something.” I tried to defend them. I said it might be something important, that perhaps they wanted to say something meaningful, and that she should have answered the call. But her response stopped me in my tracks. “Mom,” she said gently, “I’m sorry if this hurts you, but as long as I can remember, such people reach out only on their own terms, when they need you, when it suits them. And once their need is fulfilled, they disappear. Sometimes they even point out your f...

It was evening. The sun was slowly setting beyond the horizon. A seventy-year-old man sat quietly in the courtyard of his old house. A cup of tea rested in his hands, but instead of drinking it, he stared silently into the distance. Years of his life were passing through his mind like scenes from a movie. He remembered how he had spent his entire youth working. Waking up early in the morning, returning home late at night, saving money, building assets, and struggling to secure the future of his children, this had become the routine of his life. He always told himself one thing: “When I grow old, I will finally live peacefully.” But today, when he had truly reached that stage of life, he realized something strange. He had not really lived his life, he had simply saved it for the future. Many of his friends were no longer in this world. His children were busy with their own lives. And now he had both time and wealth. But he no longer had the energy he once had in his youth. At that momen...