The Kindness That Came Back

1. Chapter One: The Boy on the Bench
2. That day Imaan had brought her drawing book.
3. Akhlaaq looked at it and groaned dramatically.
4. "You brought homework to the park?"
5. "It is not homework," Imaan replied.
6. "It is a sketch."
7. He seemed about their age.
8. He was not watching the football match or the swings.
9. He was crouched beside a thin orange cat.
10. "Do not be afraid," he murmured.
11. The cat crept forward and began to eat.
12. Akhlaaq stopped joking.
13. "That looked like his own snack."
14. The unfamiliar boy reached her first.
15. "JazakAllahu Khaira, beta," the woman said.
16. "May Allah reward you."
17. The boy smiled and returned to the bench.
18. Imaan closed her drawing book.
19. "Now I want to know who he is."
20. They walked over.
21. "Assalam o Alaikum," Imaan said.
22. The boy looked up.
23. "Wa Alaikum Assalam."
24. "I am Imaan, and this is my brother, Akhlaaq.
25. We have not seen you here before."
26. "My name is Rayyan," he replied.
27. "I came to Amanpur recently."
28. Imaan's curiosity rushed ahead of her manners.
29. "Where do you live?
30. Which school do you go to?
31. Who do you live with?"
32. Rayyan's smile became smaller.
33. Akhlaaq noticed.
34. Imaan sometimes asks questions in groups of seven."
35. Imaan frowned at him, then looked back at Rayyan.
36. She realised he was right.
37. "Sorry," she said.
38. "You can tell us only what you want to tell us."
39. Rayyan nodded, relieved.
40. "Would you like to play football?"
41. Akhlaaq asked.
42. "Maybe another day."
43. "That is fine," Akhlaaq said.
44. "You can sit with us."
45. For a few minutes they did exactly that.

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