A Tale of Etha's adventures

It was a long night of walking. This was one of those days that didn’t go through as you had expected. Comparing the celebrations of Eid day in my country, the day seemed like any other ordinary day of Mecca, only difference was the decorative lighting on Zamzam tower that was brightening the moon on the sky. I was accompanying my mom on wheelchair and my two years old niece at the entrance of Masjid al-Haram. Sweet fragrance of unknown perfume was striking my nostril. I was hearing all kinds of languages, Urdu, Turkish, Hindi and unknown words in Arabic while waiting in the long queue; we were there to complete tawaf (seven times encircling the Ka’aba). Finally at 10 pm, we got the chance to get on the circular bridge that surrounds the Ka’aba. There were white marble floors everywhere. Completing tawaf and running seven times between Al Safa and Al-Marwah, took away all our energy. Drinking cold Zamzam water and eating cashews were the only food that kept us alive. It was 1:30 am when we were out of Masjid al-Haram. After having a quick snack and a glass of mango juice on the road, we joined our group to start for Mena. At 2 am, we were dropped by a rented microbus near the tunnel which leaded to Masjid al-Khaif in Mina. We started walking again. The tunnel was 2-3 km long, colorless, a short-cut path to reach Mena. Big exhaust fans were ensuring air supply for all the pilgrims in the tunnel. There were fountains of drinking water beside the roads. Empty water bottles, half eaten fruits were here and there. The road seemed to turn uphill. Pushing my mom and niece on the wheelchair was getting difficult and testing my stamina. I was praying and trying to move forward. After 30-45 minutes, I hardly could push the wheelchair any further. I told my mom, “Ma, now you have to walk by your own, I cannot push it any further.” My mom didn’t know what to do with my niece sleeping on her lap. Suddenly, two Turkish people asked me to handover the wheel chair to them; why would I refuse them? They were smiling at me, reassuring me and pushing my mom and my niece on the wheelchair to reach the end of the tunnel. Drops of tears were pouring out from my eyes and vanishing into the air; that’s the first time I saw two angels in my life. I was smiling back at them while walking beside. I didn’t know their language, neither they knew mine but it couldn’t be a barrier between us. We kept walking till the end of the tunnel to reach Mena. It was still dark at the outside.