• January 21, Soraya’s Wedding

    The bashful bride stood beside the groom hand-in-hand. The priest stood before them, forming the sacred triangle. The parents of both the bride and groom were close to tears.

    “I hereby pronounce you as husband and–“

    “DON’T YOU DARE MARRY HER, YOU b*****d!” a shrill voice came from between the seats. A lean woman stood up between the crowds. Her eyes were gleaming with furiosity.

    “Asha?! What are you doing?” her mother yelled at her, clearly embarrassed by the scene “Why can’t you just let them marry in peace?!”

    “Because…” the woman stood nervously. Her voice began to crack. “Because I love her…”



    January 14, Merlin Park

    Asha leaned over Soraya’s shoulder while she stroked her hair tenderly.

    “Darling…” Soraya sighed, before continuing to murmur in her ears “I’m marrying Youssef next week…”

    “WHAT?!’’ Asha stood up, utterly shocked. “You can do that! Not with me by your side!”

    “You know it doesn’t work that way, honey. We’re different. We don’t belong in reality”

    “But we promised to—“

    Soraya chuckled “Look around you! We live in this close-minded world where marriage is more about our family’s reputation more so than what our heart really wants.”

    Asha was not near to surrendering “Remember Aaliyah?! She chose her own husband last year!”

    “Baby…” sighed Soraya for the umpteenth time “Can you imagine what my mother would say if I showed you as my chosen lover?”

    “But—“

    “No. We can’t do this anymore. Let’s just get over it, okay?”





    January 1, Soraya’s house

    “Happy New Year, my dear!” Soraya’s mother hugged her daughter tenderly. “I have a surprise for you. Get dressed right now, quickly”

    Soraya was shocked to see a handsome young man with thick eyebrows chatting lively with her parents in the living room. She stepped in cautiously with grace like what her mother taught her to do in the presence of a man.

    “Youssef, please meet my daughter Soraya” said her father, introducing her to the man.

    “Daughter, please take your time to get to know him. I believe that you two will be a handsome couple in the future.” he added.

    Soraya was taken aback, although she was expecting to hear some sort of this news soon after she turned eighteen. She tried to object, but she remembered her manners. Soraya sat gracefully between her parents and stared down; listening to them talking about how fine she is as a daughter, and most likely as a wife as well.

    Soraya’s heart burned with the injustice. How she would like to scream for her freedom! Her body, however, stayed in an upright position and didn’t dare to move a finger.

    “Now Soraya” said her mother “It is the time for you to express your own opinions. Your father and I are giving you the full freedom for you to love anyone.”(Her eyes glanced quickly at Youssef). “Now, be honest with yourself: Do you have any other man in your heart?”

    “No” Soraya uttered evasively.

    “Do you prefer any man in this land other than Youssef bin Thalib?”

    “No”

    “Are you in love with anyone else?”

    Soraya agitated in her seat. “No, Mother. I’m not in love with anyone else.”



    January 1, That Afternoon

    Soraya ran to her room and locked herself inside. Between her white pillows, she sobbed. Although her voice was muffled, her tumultuous breakdown was evident in the pool of tears down her pillows and mattress. She didn’t know what to do.

    She knew this dilemma would happen sooner or later. Asha and her—they decided to stand up for themselves when this happens. It struck her that she wasn’t being strong enough to defend her freedom to love in front of her parents and her future husband. She had surrendered. It turns out the she truly wasn’t the determined, independent woman that she always believed she was.

    Soraya rubbed her forehead. She could feel the words ‘DISGRACE’, ‘PROSTITUTE’, and ‘INFIDEL’ clearly embossed there, permanently labeling her. Other women in her culture got disowned, some threatened to death just because they love someone else outside their religion. And now she dared to love someone with the same sex?! How she wants to rip her heart into a million pieces so that she couldn’t feel love at all.

    Her phone rings. Soraya grabbed it, and saw Asha’s name on the screen. She clenched her grip and her teeth, as if she’s trying to squeeze her cultural norms away from herself. She failed. As she placed her phone on the bedside table, she threw herself to face away from it. She tried to sleep as her love of her life tried to call her again and again.



    January 21, Soraya’s Wedding

    “DON’T YOU DARE MARRY HER, YOU b*****d!” a shrill voice came from between the seats. A lean woman stood up between the crowds. Her eyes were gleaming with furiosity.

    “Asha?! What are you doing?” her mother yelled at her, clearly embarrassed by the scene “Why can’t you just let them marry in peace?!”

    “Because…” the woman stood nervously. Her voice began to crack. “Because I love her…”

    Soraya stared at the scene helplessly. She altered her gaze to Asha, whom like her, were panting deeply. Her mouth was agape, with nothing coming out except exhalations of carbon dioxide.

    “Soraya my love…” uttered Asha. The crowd let out a noisy gasp. “You know what to do…”

    It was like a fire that suddenly lit her eyes back to life. She jerked her hands away from Youssef and ran to grab Asha’s hands. They ran away from the scene, with the crowd behind them screaming curses and alleged Quranic verses that explained how they would rot in hell. Between the noisy uproar, Soraya heard her mother cursing at her saying how she is the biggest disappointment in her life.

    Asha grabbed Soraya’s arms even tighter and kissed it reassuringly. “Its okay, love. This is the right thing to do. We will escape from this country, this culture and this society to a new world where our freedom to love matters more than anything. I’ve heard of a place where they allow people like us to be ourselves. There would be no more masks. No more prison of norms and family reputations. From now on it’s just me, you, and the love between us soaring free.”