Apo wake up!" My 5 year old sister Maryam comes up to me and calls me loudly in my ear. I'm already awake early still in my bed, but my mom is speaking to the relatives on my phone, hollering which makes it impossible for me to sleep. Another reason I'm unable to sleep is due to my restless nature. I wonder if I'll be able to stay awake all day. Rubina, my mom wakes up first, then Maryam, who is very excited, and eagerly says salaam to my relatives. Maryam goes to Hamza and Imran's room calling them to wake up, while I get up from my bed, wash my face and do wudu. I do my hair and get ready for the trip, I wear my jeans and peinted kurta while my brothers are still asleep. I start praying Dhuhr, but then my mom tells me not to, as it is not the time. I have a very good habit of praying Salah before the Salah time even starts. My family jokes about it, noting that if I was a guy, I would've gone to the masjid before the adhaan.  As everyone packs bags and my dad Abbu puts them into the car, I get ready by changing my clothes and tie my hair. It's Dhuhr time, and Ammi tells me and my brothers to pray. I pray, then put on abeyyah, my mask for being protected from Covid 19 and my hijab, which I put a lot of effort in fastening it with the pin. Imran puts on his bright blue clothes and asks each of us separately if grey trousers or black trousers would look better, I choose black as it matches perfectly, then Imran argues with Ammi over trousers who thinks that grey is better. I put on my bag and I'm ready while Ammi is still folding my extra abeyyah, and telling me to hurry up. As I get ready, I feel a strange pang of sadness, loneliness for some unknown reasons. Maryam is the first one to excitedly get up and get out of the house, forgetting her bag and Ammi is angry at her for it. I take her bag and go outside the building. It's extremely hot outside with bright sunshine at the dawn of afternoon, but none of us are sweating thankfully. I hand the bags to Abbu, and sit in the grey big car with the number plate 375 RTH. We are still in Al  Khaleej, Jubail Industrial City, get Saudi Arabia and everyone of us is mentally prepared for a long road trip ahead to Medina. Only the adults, including Ammi and Abbu will go for Umrah in Mecca, while we will stay here. The adults will take turns on taking care of us while we stay here. We go in the car, while Ammi's speech starts "Zoya and Hamza don't say any harsh words, be respectful, and don't say anything disrespectful to Khadijah Khala, her and her daughter Jumana have these little fights you don't need to barge in, and Zoya say salaam to Mustafa uncle, you rarely say salaam to him." Khadijah Khala is my mom's friend and her husband Mustafa uncle is my dad's friend. Our families are very close and we knew each other since Ammi and Abbu first came from Pakistan to Hafrul Batin. They are very relaxed and don't worry as much as our family does. Ammi's rules of courtesy and respect don't fit my outspoken nature. Ammi reminds us to take a huge box of chips which has three tasali chips and some candies stored. "Share with others, when you go to someone else's car, you cate about others and you give it to them", were her words as we were on our way to Khadijah Khala'a house which was in Jalmudah in the heat of summer in May. Hamza and I, the two oldest ones were going in Mustafa uncle's spacious car which was very suitable for road trip with Mustafa uncle and Khadijah Khala, as well as their three children, their prized son, Wahab bhai who will study in US for university, who was four months younger than me, but I had to still call him bhai in respect, although he never called me Zoya api, his cheerful younger sister Jumana, with whom I was very close and fond of me as much as I was of her, who was excited to go on the road trip with us, and his energetic younger brother Hammad, who was the youngest. The youngest ones, Imran and Maryam were going with my parents and two other families, Judy Auntie and Tariq uncle who had no children, and Amna Auntie and Ammar uncle who had two children, Haziq, who was the same age as Imran and his younger sister Kinza, the two families who are also close to us lived in Dammam, so they were going to Dammam to settle our luggage and everything. Imran tells Maryam to say farewell to us, which Maryam says in her cute, bubbly voice. She asks why, and we explain to her that we are going with them. When we reach there Ammi hands us the packet of chips and I take my bag. Ammi hugs and kisses me and Hamza goodbye as we enter the apartment. We enter the lift which goes to floor 4, where Khadijah Khala flat is. We ring the bell but Khadijah Khala tells us it's open, and we greet her.
Khadijah Khala's house
Khadijah Khala'a kitchen and common room is the first thing that appears, the main meeting point of every desi household, or maybe every household. Some clothes, bedsheets, ihram and towel are scattered over the sofas. Khadijah Khala, I and Hamza sit on sofas. Khadijah Khala has packed almost everything, there are a few things left. She's the only one awake. Mustafa uncle is still in bed, and Hammad is still asleep, he sleeps for a very long time like me, Imran and Ammi. Wahab bhai and Jumana are still in the bathroom taking shower. Wahab bhai takes so much time almost 1 hour and 30 minutes, and then we see the presence of his majesty after a very long time. We tell each other about our preparations of the road trip. Khadijah Khala tells how Hammad told  her to wake him up when we arrive, but she would not wake him up, which makes us laugh. Hamza tells how Maryam called him and Imran to wake up, but Hamza tells her not to, so she says she will turn on the light to wake him up. Hamza narrates the story to Jumana and Wahab bhai many times. Maryam is only 5, the youngest of us, but this doesn't stop her from being spoiled. She has sass, and sarcasm, and she speaks like an adult, lecturing us as if she's the mom of the house. Still she's very lovable and adorable who gets the attention of everyone.  Jumana comes from the house with her wet hair tied into the braid. She smells nice which I compliment about her. Khadijah Khala folds some clothes and towels and I ask her and help her in the sense of courtesy and respect. Hammad comes half asleep to greet Hamza and me. Hamza and Hammad then both go to Wahab bhai's room to play Minecraft on PS4. Jumana and I talk excitedly about the trip. Khadijah Khala tells us to pray Asr before Asr even starts, as it will be accepted during travel. I have never heard this from Ammi before, but I pray anyway. Then I say salaam to Mustafa uncle who tells us to get ready before. I put on my abeyyah and struggle with fastening my hijab, but I finally succeed. We tell Hammad and  Hamza that we prayed Asr and we tell Hamza why we prayed Asr before and Hamza pretends not to understand much to Jumana's annoyance. Hamza's favourite thing to do is to annoy the heck out of Jumana, Wahab bhai, and Hammad. He does it evertytime he enters their house, which adds life and humor in our visits to their house. Jumana tells us about Netflix's new way of portrayal of Muslims in America, showing us a YouTube video clip of a girl breaking her fast with a shot which is in Smile2Jannah's YouTube channel, an Islamic channel which Hamza and I watch sometimes. It adds disgust to my and Hamza's face.  My heart personally breaks after seeing people doing drugs and I feel sick,  I want to vomit. I try to get it out of my mind, while thinking that if there was a last thing that Netflix needed to learn, it was how to portray Muslims, although Muslims have given guidelines million times on how to portray Muslims. Netflix is just a stupid film company who portrays Muslim from their perspective, same old unconvincing, stereotypical cliche, a hijabi Muslimah oppressed by her faith and parents, and then takes off her hijab, and leaves everything for a white guy. A trash feeling familiar isn't it. Well that's Netflix, and Muslims in America have their own hardship, while Muslims over here have their own hardship. Jumana tells us on how they prepare for trips at the last moments, panicking, but this time everything was done accordingly and smoothly. Hamza does his favourite hobby, sitting on Wahab bhai's head and annoying him by asking him, why he still plays fortnite, although it's old and boring, and by begging him to let him play. Meanwhile Khadijah Khala tells us that it's time to leave.
Afternoon to Maghreb
We enter the spacious car of Mustafa uncle. I and Jumana sit at the back, while Wahab bhai, Hamza and Hammad sit on the middle, and Mustafa uncle is driving the car, while Khadijah Khala is sitting beside him. I read my Quran, and do Zikr on my phone. Hamza jokingly says I'm showing off my phone. As we reach Dammam, I feel feverish and sick. We wear seat belts. I feel sick, my stomach is aching. Its probably due to the fact that I ate biryani for sehri. I try to write my memoir "A trip to Medina", an idea which came to me strikingly out of nowhere at Khadijah Khala's house as we prepared for the trip, on my phone, but I don't feel well. I put my phone back in the bag. TraveI sickness isn't that much serious, but its genuinely annoying. Both Hamza and I have it, we get sick vomit a lot when we travel during the heat of summer. I sleep in the car, which jumps along the bumpy road, it looks like a roller coaster ride. We reach the King Fahd Airport, which brings back many nostalgic memories. I wake up to join in the discussion of how the airport brings back memories. It sometimes reminds me of my Nani's old house. After a few moments, I take off my seat belt as Jumana puts on the shade at the window for me so that I don't feel the heat. I lie down on Jumana's lap for a little while, as I tell her strange hilarious stories of Sheikh Chilli and Chacha Chakkan that our mamoo used to tell us back at our Nani's old house. I tell her about how Sheikh Chilli went to the bath and told his servant to wash all clothes. After the bath, him and his family had no clothes to wear, so they wrapped themselves in towels. Another story was that Sheikh Chilli or Chacha Chakkan was carrying some eggs for a huge sum of  money. He was daydreaming about what he would buy with that huge sum of money, he was so lost in daydreaming that he broke the eggs. Hamza informs us on the news of how on Laylat Ul Qadr, the Israelites bombed and destroyed Masjid Al Aqsa, yes Israel, the country that doesn't exist, the fake nation that pretends to be Palestine, while Palestine is the actual country. I feel bad for the Muslims, I make dual for them everyday, hoping that they would get justice, and their oppressors would learn a lesson, Inshallah by Allah's will. Jumana informs us how a debris fell on some place,  and that she feels scared that it would fall on us, but it wouldn't Inshallah, I hope. Mustafa uncle calls Tariq uncle on his phone joking with him, on how he would go in circles, calling him guwacha ga probably meaning the lost one in Urdu. We all laugh and enjoy the joke. Jumana speaks in Hindco sometimes as Khadijah Khala's family are from Peshawar, Pakistan. We are Biharis from Karachi, Pakistan. We then stop at gas station along with the other car full of people who are going with us but are not in our car. I get out of the car to greet Ammi, and Maryam rushes up to hug me. The fresh air, and the smells of samosas ehich Judy Auntie brings and gives to Khadijah Khala heal me, making me feel better. I tell Ammi that I felt a bit sick, which makes both Ammi and Abbu concerned. Ammi gives me shopping bags in case I vomit, advising me lovingly to eat some samosas, so that I can adjust a bit while travelling to the trip. Abbu buys me my favourite biscuits, and Ammi reminds me to share biscuits with everyone in courtesy and respect. The weather is getting better, the heat is decreasing. We sit back in our cars, and Jumana and Wahab bhai read  books, and Hamza reads comics. Mustafa uncle orders Wahab bhai to read the tafsir of the Quran, while the rest of us listen. Then it's iftar time as it's 27th Ramadan. We will come back from Medina after celebrating Eid. We break our fasts with dates, I eat my favourite biscuit, some gravesend some sandwiches that Amna Auntie gave me at the gas station. I eat very little, as I don't feel like eating a lot on the trip. I then try to write my memoir, hoping that it would serve a guidance on how to write books later on. I wrote books before, but they turned out to be terrible, and that's why I try to write my memoir, as well to pursue my literary ambitions. I might as well publish it by the time I reach the hotel in Teen Ink, the magazine, where I publish my poetry, which I think is easier than writing stories or books. The deserts, camps, the camels, gas stations and some little buildings continue to follow our way. The car smells of food, and Mustafa uncle sprays Air freshener which is strong. We then stop at another gas station, along with the other car. Everyone goes to the washroom which is dirty and stinks a lot, but Ammi says that I have to tolerate, if I have to survive the trip. After the washroom, we go to pray. The walls of the masjid is filled with graffiti of duas, God's name, and the masjid is huge. We all pray, except Maryam who sits on the chair. Khadijah Khala prays on the chair beside her. After we pray Abbu buys burger from Burger King for Hamza, Imran, maryam and I. Ammi and the ladies complain about headaches, because they didn't drink chai. After everyone gets their food and chai, Hamza and I take our food and go back to the car.  Khadijah Khala takes our selfies two times so that we can keep the picture as a keepsake, a memory for our travel.
Maghreb to Isha
Hamza tells me to wait until we are ready to continue our trip to start eating. We eat Burger King, while Hammad, Wahab bhai and Jumana eat Domino's pizza. The sandwich tastes fine to me, its not that spicy, but it's crunchy. We also eat fries which are thick and tasty. Jumana recitee Surat Yaseen, which she knows most of the ayaats, its impressive. She also reads the tafsir. When the religious environment diminishes, we talk about Hindco and Punjabi, which Hamza will learn easily as we will stay with them for a week. We also joke and laugh about a conversation between a Hindco guy and an Urdu speaking guy. Khadijah Khala narrates about an anecdote on how she and Jumana were praying taraweeh near to the fan, but more women came so they started feeling hot while they were praying for a long time. We stop at a restaurant. We eat from there and then continue on our trip to Medina.