Zahra's body was prepared with quiet reverence.
Yugh's mother, along with a few elderly women from the family, gathered around her one last time. With trembling hands and tear-filled eyes, they washed her gently, as tradition demanded,every movement slow, careful, as if afraid to hurt her even now. Once cleansed, Zahra was dressed in simple yet graceful clothing, modest and elegant, just as she had always been in life.đ
Her two big toes were tied together softly, a final ritual of stillness. Red and yellow flowers were placed all around her body, their colors painfully alive against the silence of death. Then she was laid upon a glass-topped platform, allowing those who came to pay their last respects to see her face one final time; to believe, even for a moment, that she was only sleeping.
When the priest arrived, the air filled with the sound of sacred chants. Mantras rose and fell, carrying prayers for Zahra's soul, guiding it toward peace and release. The flames had not yet touched her, but farewell had already begun. đ
After the prayers, Yugh's father, his brother Yusuf, and two close male friends stepped forward. Together, they lifted Zahra's body from the platform, carrying her carefully toward the funeral pyre prepared outside. The wooden structure stood waiting, silent and unforgiving, beneath the open sky.
Zahra was laid upon it. đł
At that moment, Yusuf hurried away to find Yugh.
He found him barely conscious, his eyes empty, his body unsteady,grief having stripped him of reason. Holding him firmly, Yusuf guided him forward, almost carrying him to the place where duty awaited.
A burning torch was placed into Yugh's trembling hand. đ„
Time seemed to pause.
With no tears left to cry and no strength left to resist, Yugh let the torch fall onto the pyre. The fire caught quickly, flames rising, consuming wood,and everything his life had been built around. đ
As the fire grew stronger, Yugh staggered back, swaying as if the ground itself had betrayed him. Without a word, without looking back, he turned away and walked off unsteadily,leaving behind smoke, fire, and a love that would now exist only in memory. đ