Journey to Moonlight

There was a full moon recently, a supermoon, a silvery orb rising majestically in the clear sky. I left my curtains open that night and gazed at it and at the gardens bathed in moonlight, maybe not the best idea when sleep doesn’t come easily, but too beautiful to miss, as the light shined on …

A Day By The Sea

“Oh, ye! Who have your eyeballs vexed and tired, Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;” One Friday in June we decided to go to the seaside. Exam season over, a day off work, sunny weather; all added up to the need for simple enjoyment and distraction from the day to day pressures of …

Jalsa on Site, Jalsa at Home

Watching Jalsa Salana on MTA As the Covid-19 restrictions eased in 2021, large scale events began to take place. One such was Jalsa Salana, the Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which takes place every summer with over 35,000 people attending from the UK and around the world. The 2021 event was very different, …

To Mask Or Not To Mask?

March saw the second anniversary of the first lockdown, with the few remaining UK restrictions being lifted on 1st April. Now there is no requirement to mask or vaccinate and anyone testing positive for Covid-19 is only asked to ‘try’ to avoid going out. It feels a little strange thinking of going out without a …

Times Like These

As March ends, the weather has turned warm with sunny intervals, as the weather forecasters might describe it. The war in Ukraine dominates the news and it's not difficult to forget there was ever a thing called Covid-19. But we all seem to know people who have tested positive around us, showing while it's grip …

The Negative of a Positive

She tested positive. A wave crashes through me as I read the long text from the NHS. It explains what to do, how long for, information sites. But I can't remember any of that; all I am aware of is that her test result is positive. She'd actually been feeling better since Tuesday, lower temperature …

Diary of An Isolator

By Danila (Tuesday 22 Dec) I am currently sitting in my room listening to Fly to my Room and waiting for someone to bring me breakfast.  It’s 10:29, the song has changed, and I’ve just returned from having my first ever coronavirus test. For a few days I’d been feeling under the weather and though …

Bubbles

"I'm forever blowing bubblesPretty bubbles everywhere…" Bubbles were fun, just dip the wand into the bottle, draw it out and blow gently; the result, round, clear, wobbly balls would float off into the distance. Just the sight of them, the simple process and the fact they lasted such a short time, was magical; if we …

Ramadan, Lockdown and a Confusing Time

My Day in a Surreal World, by Danila Laughter erupts from the other room, where the TV is playing and the household members without work enjoy their luxury to the utmost. I ignore my every instinct to go and see what's funny, and plough on with my school work. It sounds sad enough, but it's …

The Storm Clouds are Bursting

Once I was travelling to Aldershot from the West London area and from the M25, in the distance towards the right, where sometimes a glimpse of Windsor Castle would appear, I could see the sky was a solid dark grey with thick cloud although above my head was blue sky. As we continued driving it …