Stormy Fast

Stormy Fast

I woke up early in the morning, around 4:00 a.m. to start my fast as in not eating or drinking. It was Friday, two days after a 10 second earthquake that was felt from Virginia to Canada! My aunt had told the information on Wednesday, August 24, 2011. It happened at 2 o’ clock in the afternoon. Anyways, I ate my breakfast which was egg & flatbread. Then I did sunrise prayers & talked about what I learned throughout my practice fasts.  Then I talked to my uncle who lives in India on my aunt’s mobile phone. Then I went back to sleep. At around 8 o’clock in the morning, I woke up and I finished reading a book that I started last night. I was still kind of depressed because there had been news on Wednesday that Hurricane Irene was coming towards New Jersey and New York on Saturday, August 27, 2011. I was going to have a party that day!  That’s when we started making arrangements on Friday.

        I took a shower and changed my attire into a sea green dress and wore a scarf. My aunt made my hair into one ponytail and I wore bangles. I also wore a gold necklace a pair of silver heart earrings for my first fast. Okay, this paragraph seems to make no sense for you but I’ll explain clearly. I am going to celebrate my first fast with my family by going out and shop for extra supplies like water and food. I know that sounds funny but it was actually fun! We first headed for TJ Maxx to get some plates. Then we went to the nearby Path Mark and got some food. After wards, we went to Shop Rite, which is right in front of my street in the Renaissance. We got more food and six gallons of water. We went home and put the things in its place like pasta in the pantry, water on the table, frozen food in the freezer, etc. I then did prayers and relaxed by coloring. I watched some T.V, broke my fast, and ate dinner. I ate Panner Poppers, Samosa, which was kind of like a pocket pizza. I ate a Kabob with a flatbread. My mom then said to me that she is proud of me and so Ayaan said “I kept a fast too!” when he did not. For fun, my mother said “I am also proud of you.” I hid my face and giggled, but unfortunately, Ayaan heard me and got furious, so he was about to do the jabs punch on me. “Okay, Okay, Hands up sorry, sorry, Ayaan, sorry Everything-Man, sorry everything.” And I made a bubble face. Then Ayaan air popped it. Soon, we had our pictures taken and enjoyed the night. Then, I changed into my night suit and went to sleep.

        The next morning, the sky was gray and clouds were merging together. We turned on the weather news and it said that Hurricane Irene will come to New Jersey at night and that at Sunday morning, it would reach New York. We did our regular things, although I was a bit terrified from the news. At night time, I was really petrified. Then, my mom said to come out and sleep. I still was restless and could not sleep most of the night so I was sent back to bed. I had scared myself to sleep. The hurricane past and became a tropical storm in New York. The news reporters told us the effects and they also said that by the time the storm reaches Maine or Massachusetts (I don’t clearly remember), it would turn into a tornado. I decided then that if it still goes upward, it would just be windy and then die down and go away. It also said in the news that Hurricane Irene had broken the records as the biggest (or longest) storm after somewhere in the 1930s’. Now I was so happy it was gone but also felt a sorry for the service workers, like the police, nurses, doctors, guards, fire fighters, etc. They all had helped people and risked their own lives. They are true heroes that go through floods and other major storms. I relaxed and all my fear was gone. It was not safe to go out so we stayed home and did our work. The storm was gone and there was no more trouble. I focused and helped with housework. Night passed and on Monday, I saw daylight. I was excited because Monday, it was going to be Eid, a happy celebration in which we break our fast. Phew, that was a very, very, very big stormy fast.