Leaves from Heaven

The laptop is on the cushion and in front of it a girl is lying on her elbows. Light from the screen has illuminated her face. One finger on her chin and with the other hand she is scrolling the Laptop's keypad.

Long, straight, black hair was spread on her back. Her eyes were exactly like this. Black, big which had the shine of the moon, and her face like silk. White, soft, and bright.

She was busy scrolling the keypad. One click opened the next page and suddenly her moving finger stopped. Eyes that were focused on the screen suddenly had a worry and then discontentment. She hurriedly pressed two-three buttons.

Loading...

In the wait for the next page to load, she put away the hair falling on her face. A few seconds later, the page opened. She put her face close to the screen again the silky hair slipped from her shoulder and fell forward. As she started reading it, her black eyes popped open in surprise.

Her lips parted and her whole body jolted in surprise. It took a lot of time to convince herself that what she was reading, is truth and as her brain grasped what was happening, she got up immediately.

Her phone was on the side table.

She picked up the mobile phone lying on the side table and hurriedly started dialing a number. The pure silence of the night is disturbed by the clicking of the buttons. She held up the phone to her ear. On the other end, a bell could be heard.

"Hello Zara" The call was answered that's why she said excitedly "How are you? Were you sleeping? I am Haya"

On the other end, her friend was saying something. She took a second to listen to it and burst out laughing.

"Leave this talk! I have good news to tell you, listen to it first!" Habitually she was rolling on of her finger in her thick black hair. "I know you won't believe me"

"No it is not related to Dawood Bhai's marriage" On the other end Zara said something but she was quick to deny it "In fact you guess what I am about to tell you"

She pushed the laptop away with one hand put the pillow against the bed crown put her head against it and straightened her feet. Side by side she was denying everything Zara was saying.

"No, not at all"

"No, it is nothing like this"

"No I am not getting married"

"No, Iram is also not getting married"

"Seriously Zara! your thoughts are reserved for this. Now open your ears and listen to me. Do you remember the Erasmus Mundus Exchange Programme which I applied for? Can you believe it, Zara? I have been selected for the scholarship by the European Union?" On the other side, Zara screamed so loudly her voice echoed in my room despite the speaker being off.

"I am telling you the truth, Zara! I have just gotten the mail from the university 15 minutes ago"

She turned the laptop towards her and put her face close to the screen. "Yes, fifteen minutes ago, exactly nine to thirty I received the mail of my selection. You should check too as you have also applied. You must have gotten the mail too"

Holding the phone with one hand she turned off the laptop with another.

"No, Spain's Deusto University didn't select us it is the Sabanchi University Turkey who selected us. We are going to study in Istanbul for a semester for five months"

The laptop screen has gotten dark she closes it with her hand and puts it on the side table. "Yes, I have seen Sabanchi on the internet. It is very beautiful, but..." She got quiet for a second and then resumed.

"But there is a small problem, we will not tell our families about this" Speaking silently her neck turned towards the closed door "Actually in Sabanchi there is a ban on wearing head scarfs for girls. Covering your head is not allowed. It's better to hide this from our families. After all, we both don't wear headscarves.

Some noise came outside her window. Windows were covered by curtains. Maybe it was her imagination. She again lay with her back pressed to the bed and resumed her talk. "Thank god my father didn't force me to wear a scarf and Iram wears it outside her father Furqan is a bit strict"

"Permission is not a problem. Dad wouldn't have let me go to Spain but Aunt Sabeen lives in Turkey so he agreed. He trusts his daughter anyway"

She listened to her friend talk from the earpiece for some time. Zara got quiet she shook her head.

"Not tomorrow, Dawood Henna is the day after tomorrow are you coming?" "And yes I and Iram are wearing Lehangas"

"All the cousins are very excited! it is the first wedding in the family"

"Okay you go and check your mail, I will sleep too, it has gotten late" Saying goodbye she threw her phone on the pillow. She got up.

The lounge was dead silent. Haya closed her door silently and barefoot went to the kitchen. A black long shirt and black loose trousers made her look even taller than she was.

The kitchen was covered in darkness. She stopped near the door and switched on the lights. The whole kitchen was illuminated. She opened the refrigerator and bent to take out the water bottle. Her silky hair fell forward due to her position. Haya placed the bottle on the counter and poured the water into the glass. A stream of water can be seen going in the glass. Her eyes fell upon a white thing placed on the counter. She got alert. It was a white flower bouquet with a white envelope.

Haya picked up the bouquet and smelled it. Pleasure ran through her veins. The flowers were fresh, it was like they had been plucked a minute ago. Who placed it here?

She picked up the white envelope. "Haya Salman" was written on it. There was no sender's address on the back. Just a Courier service stamp was on it. The stamp was from yesterday.

Noone has sent flowers to her before like this. What is the matter? Confusedly, she tore the envelope. There was a thick paper inside. She put two fingers inside and pulled it out. The white paper was clean. No line, no design. In the middle three words were written.

"Welcome to Sabanci"