Fireworks of a New Dawn by Raahima Waseem

2020, intense, anxiety, despair.

Was 2021 going to be the same?

It’s the night of 31st December’2020 and as per schedule, the lights went off at 10 pm.

I was rocking my Grandfather’s chair in the dark, quiet room with a dim candle being the only hope of light. This thought made me snort, what an irony! 2020 is at an end and here i am sitting in a room that is its perfect visual, or a doppelganger I might say. Gloomy, unlit and the wait of 2021 being the only tunnel of escape to a hopeful happy new year.

A thought twinned with the breeze and shivered down my spine, “What if 2021 held the same fate as its predecessor?”

“Pfft”, I rested my head back and starting rocking the chair again. “We’ll get through it again obviously”, I told myself sarcastically.

Bored, I picked up my phone. With no internet connection, I opened my gallery in hope of entertainment. With a staunch believe of not finding anything exciting in 2020, I started scrolling down to last year, when in between a picture of me laughing with my sisters caught my attention.

Feb 27th, 2020; my first attempt at baking and there i was with all the cake batter on the floor and my sisters laughing at the mess i had created. This memory autogenerated a smile on my face.

Then came the dreaded month of March, the month of losing a close friend, experiencing deaths in the family and the outrageous increase of Covid-19 cases that lead us all into a strict lockdown. By surprise a painting crossed my eye.

March 31st, 2020; a splash of colours and glitter on a paper that read, “with every hardship comes ease (94:6)”

Probably the ayah that gave me some strength to get through the trauma of losing close people, or perhaps the entire year.

Fast forward to October 29,2020, a perfectly baked and iced cake was in custody of my hands and a bright smile on my face gave it company.

November 12, 2020; a video of my family probably laughing at a very lame joke.

Looking at all of this birthed the positivity inside me. 2020 was perhaps a year full of tragedies, dreads and despairs. But didn’t we all get to unleash ourselves? Some of us became artists, while others became writers. Some learned to bake while others opened start-ups. We learned that even when life throws at us disasters of all kinds, it doesn’t come to a stop! I mean, at least studies don’t, Zoom became a hero to our schools!

We may have lost and fought but we got back up.

With every tear that rolled down our cheeks, we learned a new lesson.

2020 was a year of anguish and hopelessness for a whole lot, but it brought with it lessons of appreciation, gratitude and most of all, self-growth.

11.59 pm

I rushed to the window, fireworks were always a favourite sight.

12.00 am

Fireworks, firing, horns. Happiness radiated all around.

And most importantly, the lights came back.

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The perennial passion and positivity which exemplify Raahima Waseem’s character seep onto the page with every stroke of her pen as she weaves the beautifully poignant tale of an erratic year through a reminiscent lens.

Her piece “Fireworks of a New Dawn” mirrors the peaks and valleys of 2020, conveying the ups and downs of the months gone by, before culminating a powerful realization of emerging hope in every dim moment.

Raahima Waseem is an aspiring student in Grade XI-G (Gratitude).

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Cover Photo by Kyle Johnson on Unsplash