The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

Author:Shubnum Khan [Khan, Shubnum]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

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One evening, Akbar does not arrive at her room at his usual time. Meena Begum seats herself on the bed and waits. Then she walks around the room wondering what could have happened to make him late. She peers out the window into the darkness and then goes to the top of the stairs and tries to hear if anything is being said about his whereabouts. She finds herself annoyed and then overcome with an unexpected concern; perhaps he has tired of her rejection. Perhaps he has finally moved on.

She paces the room in agitation.

More than an hour later there is the usual knock on her door and Meena Begum hurries to the bed to sit casually in her spot. Akbar seats himself on the armchair opposite her. He lights his pipe, opens his newspaper, and makes himself comfortable. This time, Meena Begum is too wound up to even pretend she is reading. She keeps glancing up at him and then down at her book until finally Akbar puts his newspaper down and asks her if something is the matter.

“Where is you?” she asks.

“What do you mean?”

She stumbles. “You late.”

He pulls out the watch from his pocket and glances at it. “Ah, yes. It was work,” he says as he snaps the face shut and puts it back. He rubs his eyes tiredly. “There was a problem with the boiler—I had to stay late today,” he says as he pulls open his newspaper again.

Meena Begum does not know what makes her do it; it is a mixture of frustration and relief. While Akbar is speaking, she stands up and goes toward him. As he looks up at her she bends down and kisses him softly on his mouth, feeling the sharp bristles against her lips.

He is still for a moment, surprised.

Then he puts the paper down and kisses her back.

Outside the window that night, white petals begin to emerge like tissue paper from inside their buds.

Soon the air fills with the scent of jasmines in bloom.

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