Photo by RDNE Stock project:
Sergeant Abdul Rahman had spent the past five years of his life serving his country overseas. His deployment in the army had taken him to the far east, far away from the comforts of his homeland and also from the loving embrace of his family. As their plane touched down on familiar soil, his heart raced with anticipation and anxiety. He was finally home and going to be with his family again.
He peered out the tiny plane window; the small-town airport looked the same as the last time he saw it. Always bustling with people, but all Abdul could think of were the beautiful faces of his family waiting for him at the airport gate.
His wife, Emily, with her warm smile and cute eyes, could convey a thousand emotions with just a single glance. And their little kids, Zara and Ali, whom he could barely remember their faces now. They were infants when he left them all alone with their mom.
The war had changed him, as it did all soldiers. He had done and witnessed things that would haunt his dreams for years, and he had also become hardened in life by the harsh realities of combat. He knew within himself that the man who he was when he left his family for war was not the same man who had just returned.
He picked up his bags as they began alighting from the plane, and he scanned the crowd with his eyes, searching for his family.
"Abdul!" He heard a familiar voice yell. He looked, and it was Emily; she had spotted him first.
His face lit up as she rushed towards him, her steps quickening with each passing second. She reached him, and they embraced in a tender and fierce manner; it was as if they were trying to make up for all the lost years in a single hug.
"I missed you so much," Emily whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"I missed you too," Abdul replied, his voice thick with emotion. He found it hard to hide his emotions.
He looked down to see Zara and Ali. They were no longer the young kids he remembered. Zara was now a teenager, though with a petite frame, she was gradually becoming a young woman. Ali, on the other hand, was now a tall, huge boy with a shy smile.
He could sense it; as he had long feared, the connection wasn't there. It was as if they were strangers trying to find common ground. A painful reminder of all the beautiful moments of their lives he had missed, from birthdays to holidays, and the everyday joy of a parent watching his children grow up. They barely recognized him
The ride home was filled with a mix of silence and failed attempts at conversation. Emily and the kids had built a totally different, healthy life without him. They had their routines and silly inside jokes that only they could understand. He felt like a stranger to his family.
Over the next few weeks, Abdul did all he could to rebuild the connection with his family. He attended Zara's dance lessons and helped Ali with his homework. He listened to Emily tell stories about their town and he struggled to catch up on the lives of the people he used to know. But the distance between them felt too big to close up.
Abdul had watched them on several occasions from his backyard as they cooked together, laughing and playing. One sound he had missed for so long. Then he realized how happy they had built their lives in his absence and wondered if he'd be able to fit in.
On one occasion, Abdul sat in the backyard watching his family. Emily, his wife, had walked up to him unknowingly and sat on the porch swing with him; she held his hands, looked him in the eye, and said
"I know it's not easy," she said, her eyes filled with empathy. "A lot might have changed over the years between you, me, and the kids. But we love you, and we want you to be a part of our lives."
Without a word, Abdul looked at his wife. Tears welled up in his eyes as it occurred to him that he had been so focused on thinking he had lost his family without seeing that his family still loved him despite the years of separation.
Abdul vowed to do better. He made efforts this time to connect more deeply with his family. He shared stories of his time overseas and listened to theirs. He did his best to engage in every activity as a family. He shrugged off the thought that he wasn't loved anymore at home. And like magic, their bond grew stronger.
One evening, after dinner, as they sat around the dinner table playing cards and listening to Abdul tell stories of his time overseas, Zara looked at her father and said,
"I'm proud of you, Dad. You're my hero."
And just as before, tears welled up in Abdul's eyes again, but this time they were not tears of regret but tears of gratitude. He had come home—not just to a place but to the hearts of the people who mattered most to him.
In that moment, as their laughter filled the room, Abdul knew that they were not just reuniting after a long time. They were also rebuilding their lives stronger and more in love than ever before. And this time together.
This is a prompt on The ink well.