Saudah woke up that Saturday morning and realized that all she had seen herself do was a mere dream. She dreamt of dancing naked in the market place. As she opened her eyes and strained to read the hand of the alarm clock on the bedside table, it was already time for the madarasah she had joined just last week. She realized the strange feeling that always follows every dream. Rubbing her eyes with palm, she threw her feet over the edge of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

After switching on the light, she stared at her own reflection in the mirror and scowled. Her admirers were right, after all---she was irresistibly beautiful. Taking a quick shower, she dressed casually and stepped out of the room with her bag strapped along her shoulder. She was wearing a black hijaab and stepped out of her room. She arrived in a bloomy living room filled with laughter and happiness.

“Good morning everyone,” she greeted as she sat beside her elder sister, Zainab.

“Morning, how was your night?” Muhammad asked.

‘Wasn’t good at all’ she wanted to say. “It was fine.” She replied before turning her gaze to her parents. “Good morning Mum, good morning Dad.”

“Kin tashi lafiya?” (How was your night?) her mum replied while her dad only nod his head in response.

“Lafiya qlw,” (Fine), she replied as she drank the warm pap from her cup. “As it is, I am already late for madarasah. I’ll be going now.”

“But you’ve not even eaten much of your breakfast,” her mum protested.

“I’ll be fine mum, don’t worry,” Saudah replied stubbornly and stood up. “See you all later.” And she left.

Walking down the quiet street towards the madarasah, Saudah tried reflecting on the things that had been happening to her. Is it safe to tell someone about her problems, or should she keep holding it all alone? She was deep in thought and didn’t even notice that she had arrived at her destination. Sighing, Saudah stepped into the classroom she was assigned to. She keeps dreading her encounter with one of her teachers there.

The man teaching fiqh has an aura around him that speaks of respect, attitude, and seriousness. He was handsome quiet alright and she had overheard the females in her class talking about him and how obsessed they were with him. It was new to her, hearing ladies talk about a man they like openly and even planning on how to approach him.

He was the one standing in front of the class, and that was when she remembered he was the one they were having the first thing that Saturday morning.

“As-salaam Alaikum,” she greeted him and made her way to her seat.

“Find a way out of my class please.” She heard him say, “you are fifteen minutes late and I don’t tolerate lateness in my class. Now, go please.”

Saudah was too humiliated to even utter a word. She turned quickly, tears already blurring her eyes, and left the classroom. Sitting outside, she buried her face in her knees and cried her eyes out. She had never been humiliated this way by anyone, and it hurts so much for someone as low as him to humiliate her.

A sudden feeling of hatred settled at the bit of her stomach, and she could swear she could pierce him with a knife if given one. The invisible one kept increasing the level of hate in her, sending her flashy messages of beating him to a plump or causing him to have sleepless and restless nights. The images kept flashing, and Saudah felt herself shaking with anger. She decided to stand up, go to the teacher, and confront him for what he did to her. But as she stood up, Saudah felt her legs wobbling and she fell to the ground. A thunderous pain thundered in her head and she screamed loudly before falling down completely.

Some students who were close by ran towards her, and those from her class kept coming out with the teacher hot on their heels. As they all stood over Saudah looking at the strange movements her body is making and the strange sound coming out of her throat, they all moved back in fear. Malam Yusuf, the fiqh teacher hissed loudly before turning away.

“That’s how you all do each time you are punished for making mistakes. There’s nothing to look here, now you all should get back to class.”

But as they all turned to leave, Saudah suddenly started moving like a snake and that baffled them all. Malam Yusuf went on his knees and grabbed her and felt her shaking. “get Malam Abba here” he shouted to no one in particular and picked Saudah in his hands back to the classroom.

They were familiar with things like this, but this was a little different for them. They kept reciting the Qur’an and Saudah kept fighting vehemently for them to let go. It was hard for them all, but at long last, she was calmed and went into obliviousness .

*

A filthy world, peopled by dreams of different classes that had converged from trees, river parts, heaps of garbages, deep forests, graveyards, and some human habitations to witness her arrival. As they gathered in their horrible looks, she observed, judging from their murmurs, they were contemplating on what she could be. She was dragged forcefully to a dark forest, and then she suddenly saw herself thrown into a large ocean. She was then tossed on the floor like garbage. She looked up and her eyes locked with, and he smiled, and she lost all consciousness again.

*

Her mother sat beside her as Malam Yusuf and Malam Abbah explained the situation to her. Her face emotionless and she couldn’t even begin to explain how she felt.

“Jinns?” she asked, still not wanting to believe what she has been told.

“Yes. That’s the only thing we can say for now. You have to find a person who knows much about things like this to examine her. From all indication, it is very stubborn.”

“I see,” Hajiya said again. “I’ll talk to her dad when he gets back. Thank you so much.”